Mumbai, August 6, 2013: Shravan, the fifth month of the Hindu calendar as followed in Maharashtra, is considered the holiest month in the year. A period thought to coincide with Shiva's consumption of halahal poison as it came out of the sea during samudra manthan, this is a month dedicated to his worship. Samudra manthan is a famous Hindu mythological episode, where the Gods and the demons churn the oceans in order to acquire a drink to immortality. However, one of the things that is also churned out is this deadly poison which needs to be disposed of.     

Shravan is a month loaded with festivals ranging from nagapanchami, gokulashtami to raksha  bandhan. However, this is also a month most well known for the strictures it comes with.  People undertake fasts and abstain from consuming meat and alcohol. Some men even stop shaving. Some follow all this as tradition while others try to rationalise it. But whatever the reasons, today, Maharashtrians have found their own ways of negotiating with the month's customs.

There are some who are absolutely particular. 49-year-old Jyoti Sakpal, for instance, says, “ I strictly do not allow meat and alcohol in the house.”  She also says, “This is the time when animals breed; consuming such meat is not healthy.  Moreover, thanks to the rain, the sea is in turmoil. Fisherfolk do not go to sea.” 

23-year-old Jahnavi Kharat also observes the strictures of the month, but only partially. Her mother and father do not consume meat and alcohol during this month-long period. Jahnavi neither has meat inside the house nor is she allowed to get it home. But she is free to consume it outside. While her mother offers bela leaves to Lord Shiva during this month as part of her Monday pooja, her father does not shave—again as a form of deference to the God who is considered a "tapasvi," according to Jahnavi. 

Then there is 55-year-old Megha Samant. She believes that abstinence is a part of this month's customs as it has so many festivals and holy days that call for fasting. “How can you have non-vegetarian food and alcohol at a time you fast?,” she asks. Samant, who used to fast on Fridays, also used to abstain till about two years ago. “But then I stopped fasting. So now I don't mind having meat.” Her family also has meat during Shravan now.

In Shravan, fasts are undertaken on Mondays as a part of worshipping Lord Shiva. Friday fasts, on the other hand, are undertaken for the well-being of children.

Source: DNA, August 6, 2013