Each day of a week is dedicated to a particular god in the Hindu pantheon. Apart from the special Vratas and Upvaas, many Hindus also fast on a particular day in a week. So, if you want to worship all avatras and forms of god in particular, you get one whole day to shower your devotion to the god! Lord Surya or Suryanarayana – the Sun God, the deity of the sun rules Sunday.
Shloka of the day :
जपाकुसुमसंकाशं काश्यपेयं महाद्युतिम् ।
तमोऽरिंम सर्वपापघ्नं प्रणतोऽस्मि दिवाकरम् ।।
Japa Kusuma Sankasham, Kashyapeyam Mahadyutim
Tamorim Sarva Papaghnam Pranatosmi Divakaram
Surya first appears in the Rig Vedas and throughout centuries of revised myths accumulates 108 names, indicating he is a God of complete existence. However, there are only 23 names given for him throughout Hindu mythology:
Aditya, Adideva, Angaraka, Arka, Bhaga, Brahma, Dhanwantari, Dharmadhwaja, Dhatri, Dhumaketu, Indra, Jaya, Maitreya, Prabhakara, Ravi, Rudra, Savitri, Soma, Teja, Vaisravana, Vanhi, Varun and Vishnu.
Twenty-three is a sacred number that reflects the karmic laws of nature. It can bring good luck or bad luck depending on your prior actions. If you have projected positive energy into things you want to manifest, you will experience positive results. The same applies with negative energy and bad luck.
The significance of the number 23 with Surya bears a direct relation to his role as a Sun God. The sun provides vital energy that supports life. But over indulgence of the sun results in illness.
In ancient symbolism, the sun also represents male energies that relate to the mind and also the chakras that also produce vital energy. It is the subtle energy we produce through out chakras : by thoughts, emotions and actions : that project on the physical plane as reality.
Ravivar, or Sunday, is dedicated to Lord Surya or Suryanarayana. Upvaas or fasting on the day is dedicated to the Sun God. Red is the color of the day. Devotees offer red color flowers to Surya and apply red sandalwood paste as ’tilak’ on their forehead. Ravivar Vrat or Sunday fasts help in fulfilling one’s wishes and it is believed that all kinds of skin diseases get cured. In Vedic astrology, the Sun represents vitality, willpower and the soul. The rays from Earth’s sun provide nourishing energy which allows life to flourish. It also makes us feel more confident, and its fiery nature is the fuel that gives us the willpower to achieve our goals.
As the Sun God, Surya is presented as the source of all life which grows from the seeds of thought planted by Brahma. He is responsible for preservation and survival of all living things. Surya is portrayed as be slightly volatile in Hindu myth. This is due to the Gods’ dual nature which exists in everything. Our chakras are also over active or under active and the energy they produce manifest on the physical plane, often as illness in the body. All the chakras result in manifestation, and in the stories of Surya, we see this reflected in his two sons, Shani the judges of human life, karma, and Yama, the God of death and rebirth.
The energy you manifest results on your actions and attitudes which either over activate your chakras or under nourish them. The goal is to bring you chakras into balance. We see this in the myth of Surya, the sun god representing male energy and his wife Sanjana, the moon or female energy. So devotees visit any Surya temple nearby and offer prayers to Lord Surya.
