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Pargat Diwas, or Valmiki Jayanti, is an annual Indian festival celebrated in particular by the Balmikism religious group, to commemorate the birth of the ancient Indian poet and philosopher Valmiki, who is thought to have lived around 500 BCE.Bibek Debroy (2017). 9789387326262, Penguin Random House India Private Limited. . ISBN 9789387326262 The festival date is determined by the Vikram Samvat, and falls on the full moon (Purnima) of the month of Ashvin, typically in late September or early October.
Valmiki is revered in India as the author of the Indian epic poem Ramayana, and is also worshipped as the avatar of God by members of the Balmiki. Valmiki himself appears as a major character in the Ramayana, as a monk who receives the banished queen Sita into his hermitage and acts as teacher to her twin sons, Lava and Kusha. The "epic metre" in traditional Indian poetry is attributed to Valmiki, with verses consisting of memorable rhyming couplets, suggesting that the poem was intended for public recitation, a common Indian oral tradition.
On Pargat Diwas, portraits of Valmiki, typically depicted as a monk wearing saffron-coloured robes and holding a quill and paper, are paraded in processions called Shobha Yatra through the main streets of the Balmiki sect's locality, accompanied by street devotional singing.
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