Shashtiabdhapoorthi

Shashtiabdhapoorthi is a Sanskrit name for a special ceremony on a person's sixtieth birthday.

Shashtiabdhapoorti is celebrated on completion of 60 years of age of a person. This term is derived from Sanskrit in which Shashti means sixty; Abda–year; Poorthi-completion. It marks completion of half the years of one's lifetime, 120 years is considered the life span of a human being as per Vedas. The sixtieth year in one’s life is a significant milestone. In fact, the hindu calender has 60 years (named Prabhava, Vibhava, etc.) that repeat themselves after every 60 years in a sequence. Shashtiabdapoorthi marks the completion of one such cycle. For example, a person born in the year Prabhava and has lived for 60 years will have seen all the 60 years in the calendar once fully. This milestone marks celebration and gratitude for life given by God. So once his birthday arrives in Prabhava year, he performs his Shashtiabdapoorthi.

One more important aspect of Shashtiabdhapoorthi is that all the planets in the zodiac come to the same positions or occupy the same houses of zodiac as compared to the actual date of birth of the individual. These planets take the same position as they were on the date of birth of the individual after 60 years. That is why the celebration is performed on the same lunar day when the moon conjoins the birth star of the individual on the same month and the same year in which he was born.

The veda says “Janmaabde, Janmamaasecha Swajanmadivase tathaa, Janmarshe chaiva kartavyaa shanti rugrarathaahvayaa, Devaalaye nadeeteere swagruhe vaa shubhasthale”

The sages and the rishis of lore have acknowledged the sanctity of the sixtieth year in one’s life and have drawn out elaborate rituals to mark this special event. They looked at it as rebirth and suggested the repetition of those rituals performed at one’s birth. Hence this celebration at this point of life is a sacred part of vedic culture.

The Shastiabdapoorthi Shanti should be performed in the sixty first year and in the same month and day of birth according to the Indian Zodiac. This is considered to be the best option. In case it is not possible to time it exactly on the same day, allowance is given to perform it on a convenient day during and before the completion of sixtieth year. The choice of the place to carry out this tradition could be a pilgrim town, a temple, a river bank or even one's residence.