The festival and Its Observance
Ashokaashtami is one of the less
known festivals. It is celebrated on the eighth day of the bright fortnight in
the month of Chaitra (March-April) and the flowers of the Ashoka tree have been
specially recommended for worship, Goddess Durga, the deity of worship. Hence
the festival is named Ashokaashtami.
The day is considered to be cautious if it happens to be a Wednesday with the Punarvasu nakshatra (seventh lunar mansion consisting of two stars). On this day, housewives believe that, by eating the tiny buds of the Ashoka tree they will be free from shoka or sorrow (a-shoka = free from sorrow). A bath in the Brahmaputra river on this day is considered as very sacred, yielding the same fruit as the performance of the Vajapeya sacrifice.