Hindu Festivals: Gudi Padwa and Its Rituals

Gudi Padwa celebrates new beginnings for many communities in India. The Indian New Year, unlike its Western counterpart, also commemorates the start of something positive while ushering in auspicious tidings. Gudi Padwa is also celebrated in other parts of India in the form of Telugu New Year (traditionally known as Ugadi), Kannada New Year (Yugadi), Sindhi New Year (Cheti Chand), and Kashmiri New Year (Navreh).

Some of the rituals if carefully followed will not only help in bringing positive energies but will also help in boosting the immune system.

On this day, houses are adorned with the auspicious Swastika, a powerful symbols in Hinduism, with turmeric and vermillion.

Women decorate the entrance doors with rangolis of different patterns and colours. Most rangoli symbols are meant to protect homes from negative energies.

The Gudi Flag is placed on the right side of the main entrance to keep negativity away and bring luck and prosperity.

Usually family members get together to clean the house and prepare for the spring season. Removal of clutter generates positive energies which in turn makes the mind positive and charged. Cleaning the house and premises is also important so that germs and microbes don’t get accumulated and cause illnesses.

A customary oil-bath is a must on this day. Wearing new clothes, especially traditional kurta-pajamas and sarees also form an integral part of the custom. Oil baths are generally medicated oils, which help in boosting the immunity of the body while new clothes signify cleanliness and good hygiene.

A significant ritual is to consume neem leaves, a custom that marks the beginning of the festival. The leaves can be eaten raw or can be prepared as a chutney by grinding it and then mixing jaggery and other seeds with it.

According to Ayurveda, neem is the best way to purify impurities in the blood. It triggers physical stamina to great heights. Neem also helps in boosting the immune system.

Other dishes that are prepared on this day are shrikhand -- a sweet that is consumed with poori; puran poli, chana, and soonth panak (an ingredient helpful in keeping the respiratory tract clear)

Similarly, sweets and different dishes are cooked from seasonal food materials to improve metabolism of the body, whereas spiritual offerings and rituals bring sanctity to the soul.

Gudi Padwa is best celebrated with friends and family.

Article by Dr Raviraj Ahirrao | Source: Rediff

Hinduism: How Can Hindus Eat Meat on Holi

Someone asked how could non-vegetarian Hindus eat meat on the day of Holi festival. Is the festival not supposed to be religious in nature and hence non-veg food should be avoided? That is a fair question and we should think about it. 

First of all, vegetarians and non-vegetarians folks exist in all religions. India and Hindus have a diverse society. Different sets of Hindus can practice different practices and are still Hindus. This aspect of Hinduism can become confusing to those with Western ideological influence. But, it can be understood with time. Hinduism is not an exclusivist or a rigid religion - it allows its practitioners to follow different 'paths' and still work towards the same 'goal'. Therefore, one should never be surprised to find two Hindus, one vegetarian and one non-vegetarian, and both trying to say how their habits are good and as per their religion. So we shall leave it at that. 

Eating habits are personal choices and influenced by several factors like cultural, regional, economic and market driven. I believe along with a lot others that vegetarianism is much better option and must be practiced by all as much as possible. At the same time, when I find non-vegetarians, I do not ridicule or call them evil. 

In general, even non-vegetarian or meat-eating Hindus avoid eating non-veg food or meat on the days of religious festivals. A lot of them also do not eat meat on some specific days of the week which have religious significance - e.g. Tuesdays or Thursdays. 

Now, coming to Holi. The festival of Holi is not a 'one day' event. It spreads over several days depending on the region and local cultural. But most important and popular days are two. One day of "Holika Dahan" on which Holika is symbolically burnt as a symbol of all things evil and bad burning and only the truthful and pious surviving. This is done in the evening or night time. The next day after the Holika Dahan night is called "Rang Utsav" or even Dulheldi and some other names depending on the region. On this day, celebration is made with "color". This is why Holi is called "festival of colors". 

Like most other Hindu festivals, the timing of Holi festival is "scientific". Holi marks the "spring" season and is popularly called "festival of spring" (Vasant Utsav). The festival signifies the arrival of spring, the end of winter, and a festive day to meet others, play and laugh, forget and forgive, and repair broken relationships. The festival also celebrates the beginning of a good harvest season; given that India was an agrarian society. 

The day on which people celebrate it with color; is the day of unhindered enjoyment and fun. This is essentially "unrestricted". On this day, there is no boundary of rich and poor; educated and illiterate; fair skinned or dark skinned, or elders and youngers. Everyone is "same" on this day. Symbolically, after face is painted with color, no one can identify the other and hence all become one and equal. This is why Holi is called festival of communal harmony. There is no surprise that Holi is not only celebrated by Hindus alone but by people from other religions in India as well. 

Now, on this day, the non-vegetarian Hindus prepare special non-vegetarian dishes and enjoy. This is very similar to the fact that the vegetarian Hindus prepare special vegetarian dishes and enjoy. "Pua" is a special delicacy and "dahi vada" is another one; especially prepared on this day. No one looks at such food prepared to treat family and guests as "vegetarian" or "non vegetarian" food. Whatever is the food, it must be best on this day.

Now coming to the specific question about "how meat can be cooked on the day of a festival". First of all, Holi's Rang Utsav day on which color is played; no special "religious" pooja or other religious practices are followed. Holi is not a typical religious day to "pray" and "worship". It is rather the day to celebrate life. Therefore, this "vegetarian" or "non-vegetarian" differentiation between food is not a valid question at all on this day. We should leave it as one's personal choice to eat vegetarian or non-vegetarian food on this day too.  

Happy Holi to all! 

- Rahul 

#Hinduism: Daughter lighting funeral pyre of Atal Bihari Vajpayee

After demise of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, one of India's best and most respected Prime Ministers on 16^th of August, his foster daughter Namita Kaul Bhattacharya lit the funeral pyre ^[1]. That created some buzz in the media as media is always eager to cover as many aspects of the ‘news of the hour’ as possible. Media reported about the fact that a daughter lighting funeral pyre is not common among Hindus; which is correct. But it is important to note that the reason behind the custom is not any bias against women but a different one altogether.

First, Hinduism as a religion does not ban women from attending cremation or a female from lighting funeral pyres. A lot of women have done so across the times. This practice of not allowing women at the cremation site is more of a cultural practice or a social custom. The reasons can be explained in many ways.

The major reason is that daughters are perceived to be emotional and too attached to their parents and hence may not be able to carry the whole process as strongly as a son would be able to do. This should not be seen as a sign of ‘weakness’ as modern feminist could judge it as. Any custom that society makes considers the general welfare of people. In several cases a daughter may be strong enough or stronger than the son but those would be exceptional cases.

Anu Lall writes in her article ^[2] titled "Why Hindu Women don’t light funeral pyres":

"As the fire leapt up, the pandit handed over a bamboo stick for the Kapaal Kriya — breaking the skull to release the soul from the body. Several times in the process, buckets of water were poured on me, or I was asked to pour on myself. Shivering to the spine, in the cold November rain, breaking my dad’s skull, my senses were numb, maybe heart stopped beating. I must be breathing. Must have, coz I didn’t die. We came back, drenched to the bone, my soul and mind paralysed."

This just gives an account of kind of experience the doer of the rituals have to go through.

You can go through the whole process or rituals in this article on Hindu Jagriti website  ^[3].

It is an arduous task.

Even if daughters or females were allowed to do the rituals, all of them may not like to do it. Hence sons or male members of the family would take care of the process. It is very important to note that this custom is to "safeguard" the women from the trouble.

Many a time when the deceased does not have a male family member, one of the daughters or a female family member does the process. No Hindu organization issues a "fatwa" against them or any other sort of protest.

To conclude, this custom of not allowing females from doing the cremation rites is social in nature, not religious. And this custom was made to safeguard the females from the inconvenience and ordeal due to a cumbersome process, not as a form of any gender discrimination.

:: Rahul Tiwary 

References:

1.     https://www.news18.com/news/india/atal-bihari-vajpayee-funeral-live-updates-daughter-lights-pyre-of-former-pm-nation-bids-teary-adieu-1847293.html

2.      https://medium.com/@anulall/why-indian-women-dont-light-funeral-pyres-48580e52dd0d

3.      https://www.hindujagruti.org/hinduism/rituals-to-be-performed-prior-to-and-during-cremation-of-a-dead-body

Disclaimer: Views are personal.

#Society: How Many Children Hindus Should Have?

Every now and then media catches some Hindu leader suggesting Hindus to have more kids so as not to get outnumbered by other religions and then hell breaks loose. (E.g. News1; News2) Getting carried away by the mainstream media (mainly TV news), people like us also criticize such persons on social media expressing disgust and the underlying basic principle is - "it is our personal choice to have as many kids as we want and any other person or organization does not have any right to suggest me or persuade me about it". Isn't it so?

First, if you follow news, such suggestions are made by leaders from all religions. A few days after last time media had made Sakshi Maharaj famous, Pope himself had made a very similar statement. But media does not criticize other religions for the same charge because Indian media's main audience are Hindus and Hindus would naturally find criticism of their own religion more "appealing" than of others - which helps channels's TRP. If I write a facebook post criticizing Hindus, I will get 30 'likes' but if I write one criticizing other religions, I would perhaps get only 3 - because my friends are majorly Hindus. Secondly, data tells that Muslims population is indeed growing faster than Hindus' and hence if some Hindu leaders are educated enough to make sense out of the data and the trend analysis, we should not get angry with them for it.

Lastly, do we really get so upset with anyone suggesting us about how many kids to have? Are not our Govts doing the same for decades - by asking us to breed only "2"? Slogans like "Ham do hamare do" were thrust into our ears for years; and our own (tax-payers') money was spent to teach us the benefits of "small family" - If your father has 100 acres of land and you are 2 kids, you get 50 acres each; but if you are 10 kids, you get only 10 acres each - hence by appealing to our "greed", Govt was able to convince Hindus and other liberal religions to have small families. On the other hand, govt is officially busy increasing the population of minority religions like Parsis by officially using tax payers' money; and inflating the budget of so called "Minority Affair Ministries" while there have been no "Majority Affairs Ministry".

When govt said, "have 2 kids or less", we found it "fine"; but when a Hindu leader says, "have more than 2 kids", why do we find it revolting while logically both are suggesting us to have a "right number of kids" according to their own "perspectives"? If you think rationally and logically, both statements - "have 2 kids or less" and "have 4 kids" are of same "kind" and "characteristic"! But thanks to the media which cares only about TRP and has thrown its brain down the drain; our "perception" is molded so that we find Govt's slogan fine while religious leaders' statement as bad.

- Rahul

Let us meet some Hindu Monks

Over the time we tend to make generalizations about everything around us. Psychologically such preconceived notions and biases help us live at peace because we no longer are “scared of surprises”. People want to avoid the suspense of discovering new things every day and have deep down fear of the unseen, unheard and new things. Hence, making generalizations and simplistic opinion about matters and things, even if prejudiced or unlearned, helps them with a psychological comfort. One of such biased generalizations is about Sanyasis, Sadhus, Yogis or whom some even call “godmen”.

Someone I know enjoys perhaps sadistic pleasures at calling all Sadhus and Yogis as “illiterates”. If we point out all the engineers from IITs, management grads from IIMs and other exceptionally highly qualified individuals who are part of ISKCON or Art of Living, my friend would definitely correct his position if he were sensible. Just a week back when I was in Bengaluru, I had heard about Nirmalanandanatha Swami who had been anointed as the pontiff (head priest) of Adichunchanagiri Mutt.

Born as Nagaraj Gowda, Nirmalanandanatha Swami completed his MTech degree in structural engineering from the prestigious IIT Chennai. He had lost his father at a tender age and completed his engineering under difficult financial conditions. He was selected as a research scholar at IISc, Bangalore, but he chose to become a monk instead! Having inspirations from Swami Vivekananda since his childhood, he approached Adichunchanagiri Mutt to embrace Sanyasa. As a monk also, he brought out an educational revolution in Kolar and other places and started numerous educational institutions! Therefore Shri Balagangadharanatha Swami chose him to lead the 1,000-year-old mutt…

Ongoing Kumbh Mela in ancient city Prayag Raj also resulted in some of such inspirational news coming up in front of us.

Swami Anandlila Giri was formerly known as Olga in Russia where she was a top fashion designer! Around 13 years ago she got a call for renunciation on the inspiration of her guru Vishnudevanandji Maharaj, the first Russian Mahamandaleshwar of Shri Dasanaam Juna Akhada (Akharas are religious orders of the Hindu religion). And now, Anandlila Giri would be ordained the Mahamandaleshwar (scholarly saint) of Juna akhada at the Kumbh mela! She would be the first Russian woman Mahamandaleshwar (scholarly saint) of the akhada and she considers it a great honor. She said, "I will try to spread the light of sanatan dharm in different parts of the world".

Swami Jasraj Puri, originally Jason from Sydney, Australia, was to become a physiotherapist and was also a hockey player. But fate had it otherwise. He took Sannyas and joined as a disciple of Swami Maheshwarananda. At the age of 42 today, he is to become the first foreign-born Mahamandaleshwar (scholarly saint) of Shri Panchyati Mahanirwani Akhara. Swami Jasraj Puri looks over schools, a 100-bed hospital and around 4-5 gaushalas (cow sheds). He also travels to various parts of world delivering discourses on Yoga and religion.

We also got to know about some more foreign-born Sanyasins, thanks to this year’s Kumbh Mela:

Sadhvi Adityananda Saraswati was a journalist based in Chicago, USA, when she met her Guru Chidanand Saraswati. She currently works with Parmarth Niketan, Rishikesh, and is handling one of the most important projects of the Niketan related to girl child.

Baba Rampuri, who had come from USA and joined the order of Naga Sadhus more than 40 years ago, has been given the title of international Shri Mahant by Juna akhara.

There is a famous Hindi phrase, “Jaat na puchho Sadhu ki” meaning “Do not ask the caste/creed of a Saint”. But I wrote about their background and nationalities only to make a point - Next time when you hear about some Sadhu or a Yogi, or see someone wearing Saffron dress, do not make a guess just like that!

- Rahul

Note: Views are personal and do not represent views of any organization associated with the author. [Detailed disclaimer]

References:

- Hindustan Times, ‘Russian woman to lead Juna akhada’; January 15, 2013 [URL] accessed on 24-01-2013

- Indian Express, ‘East & West alike, foreigners take pole positions in akharas’, January 19, 2013 [URL] accessed on 24-01-2013

- Bangalore Mirror, ‘Mutt’s new pontiff is an IIT graduate’, January 15, 2013, [URL] accessed on 24-01-2013

Why do Ladies Sing ‘Gaali ke Geet’ (slang-songs) during Marriage Ceremonies?

One of my Marathi friends went to attend his friend’s marriage in Banaras (Varanasi), UP and came back surprised. He asked me “Tumare side me shaadi ke samay gaali ke gaane kyon gaye jate hain?” (Why do they sing gaali (slang) songs during marriage ceremonies?)

The practice of singing taunting slang songs during marriage is prevalent in many parts of India. It can even be seen in Hindi movies, when bride’s friends sing that kind of songs to taunt the bridegroom and his friends/relatives. The usual practice is that the ladies on the bride’s side sing such slang-songs when the baarat (bridegroom’s party) arrives at the groom’s place. It is an interesting part of “welcome” ceremonies. It creates a funny situation, often embarrassing for the bridegroom and his friends. Such songs provoke groom’s side too and even they can answer the taunting songs with their own taunting songs thrown back towards the bride’s side. At times it becomes a curious pitted battle between the two sides. The reason why such a practice exists is not difficult to understand. Most importantly it “breaks the ice” between the two parties. As not all friends/relatives of bride and groom know each other, and this kind of a battle results in they dropping their ego and connecting with each other. At times, memories of such gaali-wars remain with both sides for a long time. Whenever they remember those, they can’t stop without smiling…

It is also to remember that this custom of singing slang-songs is only a part of the gamut of marriage ceremonies which involve lots of fun and adventures. For example, friends of the bride steal the shoes of the groom and they won’t return them back until the groom pleads to them (and of course sheds some weight from his purse). Next, the girls do “dwaar-chhekaai” when they cover the door and won’t allow the groom to enter the house. They will let him in only if he pleases them with whatever they demanded, for example singing a song, telling them a joke, or again, giving them some currency notes! Such teasing and harassing not only lightens up the environment, but also makes the ceremonies adventurous and fun. (May be psychologically this helps the bride-side to cope up with the sorrow of their daughter leaving them forever for a new place/family.)

Returning back to (gaali) slang-songs; as I said, it is part of the “welcome” ceremony alone. Afterwards when actual puja or hawan starts when sacred light is lit and offerings are made to gods after invoking the deities, such slang-songs are never repeated. When puja starts, ladies sing “mangal-gaan” (auspicious songs). There is a very clear distinction between the slang-songs (gaali ke geet) and the auspicious-songs (mangal-geet) which are sung as part of the marriage ceremonies. If we forget their distinct purpose and don’t notice the phase and time of the ceremonies when these are sung respectively, we would probably misunderstand the intentions involved…

While I explained this to the extent possible to my friends who had questioned it, I wanted some backing. Today, I got what I needed. (It is said that whenever you have doubts, read out random pages from our holy scriptures and you will get the answer.) Today, I read a page of Ramcharitmanas written by Tulsidas (published by Gita Press, Gorakhpur, with Hindi translation) and it gave me exact evidence and explanation behind this custom.

The following verses from Tulsidas’ Ramcharitmanas (baal-kaand) tell about the marriage ceremony of Shiva and Parvati:

“Vividh paanti baithi jevnaara| Laage parusan nipun suaaraa||

Naarivrind sur jewant jaani| Lagin den gaarin mridu baani||”

Meaning in Hindi:

“Bhojan karne walon ki bahut si pangaten baithin. Chatur rasoiye parosne lage. Striyon ki mandaliyan devtaon ko bhojan karte jaankar komal vaani se gaaliyan dene lagin.” ||4||

Meaning in English:

“They (gods in groom-side) sat down in many rows to eat. Smart waiters started to serve the food to them. When groups of ladies (from bride’s side) saw the gods eat, they started to sing slang-songs in soft voices.”

Next verse is like this:

Gaari madhur swar dehin sundari vyingya Vachan sunaavahin|

Bhojan karahin sur ati vilambu vinodu suni sabu paavahin||

Jewant jo badhyo aanandu so much kotihun na parai kahyo|

Achwai dinhe paan gavne baas Jahan Jaako rahyo||

Meaning in Hindi:

“Sundar striyan meethe swar me gaaliyan dene lagin aur vyangya bhare vachan sunaane lagin. Devgan vyangya sun kar bahut sukh Anubhav karte hain, is lie bhojan karne me badi der lagaa rahe hain. Bhojan ke samay jo anand badha woh karodon much se bhi nahi kahaa ja sakta. (Bhojan kar chukne par) sabke haath-muh dhula kar paan diye gaye. Fir sab log, jo jahan thahre the wahan chale gaye.”

Meaning in English:

Beautiful ladies started singing slang-songs and speaking taunting jokes in sweet voices. The gods were pleased with the humor in their songs and hence they were taking longer time to finish their food. The pleasantry spread during the time of food was such that it can’t be described even by 10 million mouths. After they finished their food, they were offered water for cleaning hands and then they were served with beetle leaves (paan). After that everyone went back to their place where they had stayed.

(Notice that the custom to offer paan to our guests has survived thousands of years of time; it was present during Shiva-Parvati marriage and is present even today.)

After one more verse, Ramcharitmanas tells that when marriage ceremony started with Vedic methods, the ladies started singing “mangal-geet” (auspicious songs). This is the exact sequence in which the custom is still followed in the present times.

So what do we conclude? I think after seeing this episode from Sri Ramcharitmanas, we understand that this custom is very old. Even gods (all gods including Vishnu and Brahma had come as part of Shiva’s baaraat) and Rishis accepted this gesture of slang-songs (gaali-ke-geet) in the right spirits. They didn’t mind being ridiculed in the ladies’ songs. When gods didn’t mind it but if we mind it today, it would show only our own lack of understanding of our culture and the true meanings behind customs and traditions. I am sure many of us don’t take this custom in the positive sense and would even ridicule UPites or those regions where such a custom even exists today. I wish they showed a better understanding of this tradition.

Now a day our children are studying in English schools and imitate the Western way of life. It is not surprising if our ladies don’t even know a single traditional song to sing on any such occasion! When they can’t sing a “mangal-geet” also, it is highly likely that they won’t know or show any inclination to sing these slang-songs too! (Though this custom has survived in our Hindi movies and can be seen in many TV soaps also. It indicates that may be this custom will not die forever). But there are chances that this custom can die, like many other harmless customs and traditions are on the verge of becoming extinct since they don’t fit with our young generation’s way of life and aspirations. But I would wish to see each one of us showing some respect in case we witness such customs and traditions still being practiced…

I strongly believe that today there is the greatest need for us to spread the true meaning of our religion (Hinduism), its customs, our culture and everything around it. If people don’t know true meaning behind the customs and abandon those, they are not totally at fault! I hope the above elaboration and quotation from Sri Ramcharitmanas would have been an eye-opener for many. Let us all prove that we care for our culture and traditions and trying to know the real meanings of things is part of that care…

Note: I have written the above article using my little experience and exposure. Your comments sharing your knowledge on this issue are highly welcome.

(Kumar Rahul Tiwary)