MAGNIFY & AMPLIFY by Siva Priya

RICE FEEDING CEREMONY

Rice feeding or Annaprashana literally means putting solid food or rice into a child's mouth for the first time. Anna means rice and prashana means eating.

The ceremony is conducted after the sixth month and should be done before the first year of the infant’s life. This milestone ritualizes the start of a nursing child's additional solid, developed out of the physical need of the child for more nourishment. It also established a point in the child's development at which the mother should consider beginning to wean him.

This ceremony is a simple ceremony that is celebrated amongst close relatives. The ceremony should be conducted in a temple. After the normal pooja and a simple offering of a tray of fruits and flowers, the child is sat on the lap of the father. The father then feeds the child his first sweet rice or sakkarai satham. This feeding is then followed by the mother of the child and then by the other elders who are present.

Many believe that different types of food with a variety of flavours should be fed to the child as different qualities of the food will be imparted to the child. However, sweet rice is recommended by the Puranas as it is considered to be the perfect food as it is easy to digest. The sweetness in the sakkarai satham symbolizes a sweet beginning to the child’s culinary adventures.

TOOTH PEEK....

The teething ceremony, popularly known as the pallu kozhukattai ceremony, should be done when the child’s first tooth begins to appear. Pallu means teeth and kozhukattai – for those who seriously don’t know – is a delicious South Indian cake that is made out of rice flour with sweet coconut and brown sugar filling.

The significance of this ceremony is to mark the child’s first tooth appearance, and also to pray for the child to be bestowed with teeth as beautiful and straight as the edge of the kozhukattai – hence the name pallu kozhukattai.

The ceremony may be conducted at home, and if need, a homam can be done first to invoke the blessing of the Almighty. However, the ceremony can be conducted without a priest. During the ceremony, the child is sat inside an arasi muram (a rattan sieve used to shift rice grains) with a white cloth placed on his head. The kozhukattai is then dropped over the child’s head.

While preparing the kozhukattai, a coin would have been placed in one of the many kozhukattai. The child is expected to pick up the kozhukattai with the coin inside it, but whatever the child picks up; everyone will cheer as the child slowly nibbles on the sweet kozhukattai with his brand new teeth.

WRITING ON RICE

Edhu ezhuthirathu or writing on rice grains is a ceremony that marks a significant milestone in a child’s life.

This ceremony is done in the temples on the tenth day of the Navarathiri festival i.e. Vijayathasami day. Since Vijayathasami is the day that Goddess Mahishasuramardini killed Mahishasuran, this day is often associated with success. Thus the child’s education is officiated on this auspicious day with the hope that his life-long pursuit of education will be a successful one.

Children who are about to begin their formal education i.e. going to preschool should perform this ceremony at the temple. The child is sat on the lap of the Guru or priest. The Guru then guides the finger of the child and traces the first letter of the Tamil alphabet on the rice grains placed in a tray.

Rice grains are used to invoke the sense of touch in the child. As the alphabet is traced, the child is made to pronounce the alphabet, thus invoking his sense of hearing. His sense of sight is invoked as he sees the alphabet being formed in the rice grains.

MAGNIFY & AMPLIFY by Siva Priya

What exactly is prayer?

Prayer is an act of glorifying God, either by chanting His name or by singing His glory. Prayer is when we offer flowers and incense sticks and theeba arathi while ringing the holy bell. Prayer is when we press our palms together in humble recognition of how insignificant we are in front of God’s enormous creations. Prayer is when we close our eyes and meditate on the omnipresent presence we have all been thought to revere and respect. Prayer is when, head bent, we silently tell God our problems, hopes and state our gratitude.

Prayer is motivation.

Picture this. A student is determined to achieve straight A’s in his examination. After doing all the necessary studying and preparations, he spends a couple of minutes in a day telling God, while in prayer, to ‘help’ him achieve his goal. The student tells God, “Please help me achieve all A’s, Lord Muruga.” And he repeats this everyday. This goal becomes in-grained in his mind and he will eventually attain his goal. As the saying goes, the mind conceives the actions we do.

Now paint another picture. At the starting line, seconds before the gun is shot, there is silence. And the world class athlete tells herself, “I’m wearing the gold medal”. She’s motivating herself, but actually what she is subconsciously doing, is praying.

“The rite of a simple prayer was created to put our minds into a state of utter concentration“

When someone prays, that is, repeats his goals/ ambitions/ hopes in a state of utter concentration, it is believed that the positive vibrations created out of positive thought will travel to a future time and place when that goal should be achieved. Vibrations are energy and energy cannot be destroyed. When a prayer is repeated over and over again, the positive vibes will return to the person praying or who is being prayed for, infusing them with hope and determination, and thus making the goal or hope a reality.

That’s why when you pray for the well being of someone who is thousands of miles away, the prayer actually takes effect. The positive energy from your thoughts will travel to the intended destination.

The rite of a simple prayer was created to put our minds into a state of utter concentration. This is normally the best time to motivate yourself - some people call this meditation - but in reality again, meditation is also an act of repeating to yourself your goals and invoking positive energy to enter your being.

Prayer is also a reminder that we are not alone in this universe, and there’s a solution to every problem.

Here’s an extract from a story I once read. A man who seldom prayed was dying from cancer. The day before his death, the doctor sat at his bedside. The dying man knew he had little time left and he chose his words carefully, speaking in a hoarse whisper. He revealed to the doctor that recently he had begun to pray frequently. "What do you pray for?" the doctor asked gently. "I don't pray for anything, Doctor," he responded, "How would I know what to ask for?" The doctor was surprised. Surely this dying man could think of some request. "If prayer is not for asking, then what is it for?” the doctor asked him. "It isn't 'for' anything," the dying man said. "It reminds me I am not alone. And I find magnanimous strength in that thought alone." ■