Agrasen Jayanti (literally "Agrasen's birthday") is the birth anniversary celebration of a legendary

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

king Agrasen Maharaj. He was king of Agroha, and it was from him that the

Agrawal Agrawal (anglicised as Agarwal, Agerwal, Agrawala, Agarwala, Agarwalla, Aggarwal, Agarawal, Agarawala) is a Bania community found throughout northern, central and western India, mainly in the states of Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab, Chandigarh, Hi ...

caste originated. Agrasen Jayanti is observed on the fourth day of

Ashwin Ashvin or Ashwin or Ashwan (; bn, আশ্বিন; hi, आश्विन; or, ଆଶ୍ୱିନ; Malay/Indonesian: ''Aswin''; Thai: ''Asawin''), also known as Aswayuja, is the seventh month of the lunisolar Hindu calendar, the solar Tam ...

month of

Hindu calendar The Hindu calendar, Panchanga () or Panjika is one of various lunisolar calendars that are traditionally used in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, with further regional variations for social and Hindu religious purposes. They adopt a s ...

. The Government of India issued a postage stamp in honor of Maharaja Agresen in 1976 on occasion of his 5100th Jayanti.

Public holiday

The UP state Government has officially declared holiday on the occasion of Agrasen Jayanti in

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

. In North Indian state of

Haryana Haryana (; ) is an Indian state located in the northern part of the country. It was carved out of the former state of East Punjab on 1 Nov 1966 on a linguistic basis. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with less than 1.4% () of India's land ar ...

, there is also a

public holiday A public holiday, national holiday, or legal holiday is a holiday generally established by law and is usually a non-working day during the year. Sovereign nations and territories observe holidays based on events of significance to their history, ...

on Agrasen Jayanti. This day is a gazetted holiday in the state of Punjab and Haryana.

Celebration

Devotees make special preparations to make Maharaja Agrasen Jayanti special. The birth anniversary of divine leader Maharaja Agrasen with colorful procession and various cultural programmes which is conducted throughout the day at different places of the India. The Jayanti is celebrated by the

Vaishya Vaishya (Sanskrit: वैश्य, ''vaiśya'') is one of the four Varna (Hinduism), varnas of the Hinduism, Hindu social order in India. Vaishyas are classed third in the order of caste hierarchy. The occupation of Vaishyas consists mainly ...

community with full religious devotion. Agrasena jayanti is celebrated in across India among Agrahari,

and

Jain Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religion. Jainism traces its spiritual ideas and history through the succession of twenty-four tirthankaras (supreme preachers of ''Dharma''), with the first in the current time cycle being ...

. On this day, descendants of Agrasena busy themselves in social welfare activities. Free medical camps, food distribution and several cultural functions and program are taken up to spread the message of equality and brotherhood. They honor Agrasen for his ideals in life and try to follow his footsteps.

References

{{Reflist, 2 Hindu festivals September observances October observances Religious festivals in India