New Delhi: Makar Sankranti was a special day for former prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee. He saw his 1000th full moon on this day.
A public felicitation was organised in the capital with the President, Prime Minister, several cabinet ministers and top BJP leaders in attendance.
The 'Lakshman' of the BJP, Pramod Mahajan, was in charge of the ceremony.
The function included the religious ritual of 'Sahasrachandra Darshan'. This is due to the belief that by the time a person turns 80, he has seen more than a thousand full moons.
Vajpayee, who turned 82 on December 25, has witnessed 972 full moons, in addition to 27 blue moons, which happens every three years and the January 14 full moon would be his 1000th sighting, an occasion widely celebrated in southern India and Maharashtra.
President APJ Abdul Kalam and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, among others, felicitated the veteran politician on this occasion.
The programme began with melifluous Bhajans of Pandit Jasraj, and then witnessed Kalam presenting a memento to 82-year-old Vajpayee portraying the moon and the seven stars known as 'Saptarishis' and two leaves of a book on which Maithili Sharan Gupta’s famous Hindi poem Charu Chandra Ki Chanchal Kirane and a Sanskrit shloka would be inscribed.
The last time such a celebration was held was to commemorate 1000th full moon sightings by then RSS Chief Rajju Bhaiya.
(With PTI inputs)
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