अनंत चतुर्दशी
Anant Chaturdashi
The tenth and final day of Das Lakshana, given to the virtue of celibacy and marked with the fullest observance of the ten days.
The tenth and last day of Das Lakshana, given to brahmacharya — the virtue that closes the sequence, and the one the other nine are usually taken to prepare for.
It carries the fullest observance of the ten days: the largest attendance, the longest fast, and in many places a procession. In Digambara practice it is also the day on which the ten days’ resolutions are completed rather than abandoned, which is the point of putting the hardest virtue last.
The day is observed under the same name and on the same tithi by Hindu communities, for entirely unrelated reasons. The coincidence is worth knowing when reading anything about crowds and processions on this date.
How it is kept
- The tenth virtue, brahmacharya, is taken as the day’s subject.
- Fasting is widespread, and long fasts kept across the ten days are completed on or after this day.
- Processions are held in many towns; the following day is Kshamavani.