Rishi Panchami

Rishi Panchami is a vrata of reverence for the Saptarishis—Kashyapa, Atri, Bharadvaja, Vishvamitra, Gautama, Jamadagni and Vashishtha. A traditional katha tells of the Brahmin Uttanga, his wife Sushila and their widowed daughter. When the daughter suffered a mysterious affliction, Uttanga meditated and explained it through the ritual-purity ideas of an earlier birth and her previous disregard for the Rishi Panchami vrata. He then taught the family to honour the seven sages through bathing, worship, arghya, simple food and disciplined conduct. The older story reflects historical concepts of menstrual purity that many people today understand in their cultural context rather than as a judgement on women. The enduring devotional core of Rishi Panchami is gratitude to the sages who preserved knowledge and the opportunity to reflect on mistakes, cleanliness, restraint and respect for spiritual learning.

Rishi Panchami is valued for devotion, family tradition and the spiritual or seasonal meaning attached to the day.

Nothing grown with the plough is eaten. What is cooked is samo, moraiyo and other grains that grow without one, with milk and fruit. Women bathe with the leaves of the aghedo plant in the morning and the seven rishis are worshipped as a row of seven.