Happy Dasara to you!! Dasara/Vijayadashmi is being celebrated across India today and we are glad to celebrate it with you. The "vijayadasami" day marks the end of the Navarathri festival, a festival spanning 10 days starting on the first day of the Ashvin month of the Lunar Calender.
In Kerala, we consider this as the most auspicious day for "vidyarambham" (beginning of education letters, music or dance).
I especially would like to talk about the day before "Vijayadasami,” "Saraswathi Pooja. Saraswathi pooja as the name suggests is the worship of goddess Saraswathi the goddess of knowledge, art and music. As a custom we wrap all our books together and keep it in our prayer rooms to be blessed on this day. For the next two days we are not supposed to read or study and you can imagine a school goers excitement and relief in such a situation.
I remember my school days, we would wrap all our books together in brown paper or newspaper, pray and come off all excited in our minds about all the games we can play over the two days. Family and friends would get together and play all day. We would either be on our swing outdoors or play some indoor games. You get the picture? No reading, studying but just plain play. Ha! Those blissful days! This is the time of the year when my mother wouldn’t bat an eye over our going about.
Now, I have my own little people at home. One who has to go to school and the other too young to start his education. However, in a couple of years he will be ready on Vijayadashmi to be wrapped in the off white mundu lined with golden zari and sit on his Fathers lap and start writing his first word. Thereafter, his father or an elderly person will write on his tongue with a gold coin if we have one handy or with any other coin. With these rituals we believe he will be blessed by Saraswathi Devi with all the talents and he will excel in them. It is a wonderful day for new beginnings and I hope you, yes you who are reading this now will have a day of new beginnings, new blessings. A day to let go of your fears and troubles and embrace new joys and new blessings.
Contributor: Namitha P.S: We will be back with lip smacking recipes tomorrow.
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nami, i was remebering my days as a kid back in kannur where we used to look forward to keeping r books for pooja and not studying! good write up girl!
ReplyDeleteHappy Dasara girls! Wonderful! wonderful! time.. I remember in my school days to how inspite of being a non-Hindu how we used to enjoy Pooja holidays! Kiddos out there have a wonderful time.
ReplyDeleteYou get the picture? No reading, studying but just plain play.. . . . . . . .
ReplyDeleteHa ha ha anything to get away from the studies.......I used to invent reasons not to study :-)