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Bhimaratha Shanti

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Published 2026-09-04 · region: pan-Hindu · Saath Wikilifecycle

Calendar timing

~70th year

Stories & history

The chariot the rite is named forpan-Hindu

The name is the reason for the rite. A bhima-ratha is a fearsome chariot, and the seventieth year is spoken of as the year one comes within its reach; the shanti is performed to turn it aside. Nothing in the occasion refers to the Mahabharata's Bhima, though the similarity of the names invites the mistake, and the mistake is common enough to be worth naming.

Held up by the generations belowwidely told

What families remember of the day is who was in the room: children, grandchildren, and often great-grandchildren, present because their presence is the point. The rite asks for length of life, and it asks in front of the people that length of life produced.

Symbolism & meaning

Core symbolism
The seventieth year steadied — a shanti performed to turn aside what the fearsome chariot stands for.
Meaning
The second of the three later-life occasions, held on the seventieth birthday or, in many traditions, at seventy years, seven months and seven days. The tradition regards the seventieth year as a threshold to be crossed carefully, and the rite is a shanti for long life rather than a celebration of a number — typically a Mrityunjaya or ayushya homa, with the couple or the elder seated before the fire and the whole descending family present. Where Shashtiabdapoorthi is often a party, this one is more usually a homa with a meal afterwards.

Procedure

  1. Auspicious opening. Ganesha and the family deity are invoked and the household's ancestors are honoured.
  2. Sankalpa. The intention is stated for the elder's long life and freedom from affliction in the years ahead.
  3. Shanti homa. The homa for long life is performed, most commonly with the Mrityunjaya invocation, the elder seated before the fire.
  4. Abhisheka. Where the tradition keeps it, the elder or the couple are bathed with consecrated water by the children and grandchildren.
  5. Blessing and the meal. The elder blesses the descending generations, dana is given, and the family eats together.

Materials needed

  • Homa kunda, firewood, ghee and havan samagri
  • Kalasha, coconut and mango leaves for the consecrated water
  • New clothing for the elder or the couple, gifted by the children
  • Garlands, akshata, haldi and kumkum
  • Items for dana, as the family's custom provides

Family participation

  • Receives the shanti — The elder, or the couple where both are living
  • Conducts the homa and recites — Purohit
  • Perform the abhisheka and give the new clothing — Children of the elder
  • Attend and receive the elder's blessing — Grandchildren

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