Guru Purnima 2027: the full moon of the guru
Guru Purnima, the full moon of Ashadha, is kept to honour the guru: the spiritual teacher, and every teacher who has guided us. It is also Vyasa Purnima, kept for Ved Vyasa.
When it falls next
Guru Purnima in each region
What Guru Purnima is
In the tradition, the guru is the one who leads from darkness to light, and the bond of guru and disciple is among the most honoured. On this full moon disciples go to their guru with offerings and take blessings.
The day is also remembered as the birthday of Ved Vyasa, who arranged the Vedas, composed the Mahabharata and is held to be the teacher of teachers, so it is also called Vyasa Purnima.
It falls in the rains, at the start of chaturmas, when wandering teachers in the old way stayed in one place and taught.
How families keep it at home
Families who follow a guru visit the guru's math or ashram, or worship the guru's padukas, the sandals, or picture at home with flowers, sandalwood and a lamp.
Students honour their teachers with a flower or a small gift, and many touch the feet of their parents, the first teachers.
In Maharashtra devotees of Datta, Sai Baba and the saints of the Varkari tradition go to their temples and samadhis, and many begin a reading of the Gurucharitra or the Dnyaneshwari.
Families without a guru of their own honour the tradition of teachers by reading the Guru Gita, or by giving to a teacher or a school.
How it differs by region
In Maharashtra the day is kept at the great Datta and Sai temples and at the math of each sampradaya.
In music and dance traditions across India students honour their gurus on this day, and in many schools it is a day for teachers.
Buddhists keep the same full moon as the day of the Buddha's first sermon.
How its date is set
Guru Purnima is the purnima of Ashadha, kept on the day the purnima holds at sunrise, or across the day's first part.
Because chaturmas begins with Ashadhi Ekadashi four days earlier, Guru Purnima falls in the first week of the four months.
Read the Datta aarti, for Dattatreya, the guru of gurus, and the Vishnu Sahasranama, from Vyasa's Mahabharata.