By Aunindita Bhatia

There is nothing more touching than a mother’s love. It is only appropriate that her selfless love, dedication and sacrifice be recognized and celebrated. A mother’s love is indeed undeterred and has remained constant throughout the ages and within all the different cultures on the globe.

Mother’s day is celebrated in many countries around the world, although not always on the same day. In India Mother’s Day falls on the second Sunday of the month of May.

Although many attribute the original formal celebration of Mother’s Day to the Greeks as they honored Rhea, goddess of fertility, it is presumed that all cultures have had a special custom to commemorate motherhood.

Mother’s Day celebration is equally common in India. There is no precise date as to when Indians began celebrating Durga Puja, a ten days long festival in the month of October in honour of the divinity of the mother goddess, but what is known is that the tradition prevails. This occasion also lends to the reverence of the mother goddess Kali . According to Hindu scripture, Kali invented writing using alphabets, pictographs which depicted sacred images.

Even Gautam Buddha himself has admired the sanctity of a mother who would even risk her own life in order to save her child’s. According to Buddha, “such a culmination of love cannot be seen in any other relationship.”

Just as with any other culture, today’s Indian traditions mingles the past with the present, not only honouring the divine mother, but also personalizing it to reflect the love and devotion for one’s own mother. So it is that every 2nd Sunday of October, she who not only gives birth but stands by her offsprings through thick and thin, is remembered and honoured.

हैप्पी मातृ दिवस! (Hindi)