chitragupta puja

Special prayers are offered to 17th son of Lord Brahma, the Lord Chitragupta, on the auspicious day of Yam-Dwitiya.

Chitragupta is the Hindu god, who is assigned with the task to keep complete record of deeds of human beings and after their death judge them to send to hell or heaven depending on their actions on earth. In some beliefs Chitragupta is the creation of Lord Brahma and the younger brother of death god, Yama.

According to Hindu mythology Brahma is the creator of the whole world. He first created sixteen sons from the different parts of his body. Then lord Brahma created his seventeenth son Chitragupta from his belly. Chitragupta is also called `Kayastha` since he was created from the Kaya(body) of Lord Brahma. He is the divine incarnation in human form. Chitragupta has eight sons namely Gorh, Mathur,Bhatnagar, Saxena, Asthana, Srivastava, Ambastha and Karn.

People of the Kayastha community offer puja to Lord Chitragupt for world peace, justice, knowledge and literacy. These are the four primary virtues depicted by the form of Shree Chitraguptjee.

This is also called Dawaat (Inkpot) puja. The books and pen are worshipped on this occasion. This symbolizes that study is very important in the life of a Kayastha.

On this occasion, during the Chitragupt Puja, earning members of the kayastha families give details about their earning. They also write to Chitragupt Maharaj for the additional amount of money they need to run the household, next year.