Datta Jayanti: Lord Dattatreya was the son of the sage Atri and his wife Anasuya.
Datta Jayanti, also known as Dattatreya Jayanti, is birth anniversary of Lord Dattatreya, the divine trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, also known as Trimurti. Datta Jayanti is celebrated on the full moon day or Purnima of the Margashirsha. The day is primarily celebrated in Maharashtara. On this day, devotees wake up early morning and take bath and then keep fast throughout the day. The day is spent singing devotional songs (bhajan) and naam jaap, remembering Lord Dattatreya. Sacred books Avadhuta Gita and Jivanmukta Gita are read to mark Datta Jayanti. In 2020, Datta Jayanti or Dattatreya Jayanti will be observed on December 29.
Know Datta Jayanti or Dattatreya Jayanti timings:
According to drikpanchang.com, Dattatreya Jayanti Date: December 11, 2019
Purnima Tithi Begins - 10:59 am on December 11, 2019
Purnima Tithi Ends - 10:42 am on December 12, 2019
Know the legend Behind Datta Jayanti:
Lord Dattatreya was the son of the sage Atri and his wife Anasuya. His mother performed tapas or severe moral live abstaining from carnal pleasures, to get a son with qualities of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. Per the legend, seeing Anasuya perform severe austerities, Saraswati, Lakshmi and Parvati became jealous and asked their husbands - Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva - to test her virtuousness.
Disguised as ascetics, the three appeared in front of Anasuya and asked her to give alms in a naked condition. Confused for a while Anasauya uttered a mantra and sprinkled water on the three ascetics and turned them into babies. She then fed them breast milk naked. When sage Atri returned and heard about the incident, he hugged the three babies to his heart and transformed them into a single baby with three heads and six arms.
When Saraswati, Lakshmi and Parvati got to know about the incident, she begged for forgiveness and requested Anasuya to return their husbands. Anasuya accepted their request. The Trimurti then appeared in their true form before Atri and Anasuya, and blessed them with a son Dattatreya.