✨Ashok Sasthi - अशोक षष्ठी

❀ The day marks the worship of Devi Shashthi for the well-being, longevity, and happiness of children.
❀ According to Bhakti Bharat mothers observe fasts and rituals seeking blessings for their sons and daughters.
❀ The word “Ashok” means “without sorrow,” symbolizing the wish for a sorrow-free life for one’s children.

❀ Married women, especially mothers, wake up early, bathe, and perform puja to Goddess Shashthi under an Ashoka tree (Saraca asoca), which is sacred on this day.
❀ They offer fruits, sweets, rice, turmeric, and flowers, and tie red threads around the Ashoka tree as a mark of devotion.
❀ Devotees avoid rice during these days and consume buckwheat flour or sabudana.
❀ The Ashoka leaves are also used in the ritual, believed to drive away sorrow (Ashok = “no sorrow”).
❀ Some regions observe storytelling sessions narrating the Shashthi Brata Katha, emphasizing the goddess’s protective powers.