In Kerala, Saraswathi pooja- the 9th day of the Navrathri, is an auspicious day . On the 7th day of Navrathri, students keep their books for Pooja and pray to the Goddess Saraswati to bestow wisdom and knowledge. Along with books, we keep tools related to work as your car keys, camera, laptop or even your Ghungroo at the deity’s feet.
Oh, I miss keeping my Ghungroo for Pooja. 😦
We do Pooja and keep kumkum on all these to get the Goddess’ blessings. As a kid, I loved the Pooja Days, especially because you are not supposed to read or write anything on all the three days. 😉 The books are kept on an auspicious occasion and we believe the Goddess is reading our books and thus our parents and teachers simply cannot ask you to study.
I couldn’t get a Saraswati Deity. My Durga Maa is all I got ….
On Vijaya Dashami, i.e. the 9th day of Navrathri, we do the pooja and take the books to read, then and there in front of the Goddess. We believe that we thereby get the blessings of the Goddess of learning. As kids, my sister and I were asked to sit down in front of the deity with a piece of paper and pen. Guess what? We write ABCs, the numbers from 1 to 100, the Malayalam Alphabets or even Hindi alphabets.
I still do that on all Sarawati Pooja days.
We also make Rice Kheer for offerings or as Naivedhyam. Recipe coming soon.
In Kerala, Vijayadashmi Day also observes the tradition of Vidyaarambham or Ezhuthiniruthu (The beginning of Knowledge), where in, children aged two to five are introduced to the world of letters- the world of knowledge. Thousands of kids visit a Saraswati Temple on this occasion. The priest writes the Vidyarambha mantra, “Om Hari Shri Ganapathaye Namah” on the child’s tongue with a coin or a stick. The same is written on a bed of grains representing progressive learning. The famous temples in Kerala for performing this ceremony are Mookambika Temple, Panashikaadu Temple and Vadakkunatha Temple. Since it would be crowded with thousands of children and their parents, instead of the priest, it would be your Dad performing the ceremony.
Oh, yeah, That’s me- some good 25 years back 🙂
So, how do you celebrate Saraswati Pooja or Dussehra? Let me know….
Kohl-Eyed Me 
I am a Bengali and we celebrate Saraswati pujo on a seperate day known as Basant panchami during spring (Jan -Feb)
It’s one of my favourite deity and I always have an idol of her with me wherever I have stayed
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Oh. I didn’t know of a separate Saraswati Pujo. I will have to read about it.
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Sweet post. You look cute on your Vidya aarambham. Children love this festival because they don’t have to study for three days.
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I read about introduction to education ritual (Saraswati Pooja) in one more blog. You are looking too pretty in that pic (ofcourse even more in your Display pic).
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Aww.. thanks a lot Shesha. I love your name!! Never heard it before 🙂
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My son would certainly LOVE that! HA HA I love reading about your customs and traditions! ♥
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Interesting rituals. In north, we don’t have the Saraswati Puja during the Navratri period. Saraswati Puja is done on Basant Panchmi which is usually in Feb/March. Happy Dushera and Saraswati Puja to you and your family, Shalini 🙂
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u r awesome! And that payasam…slurp!!
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One of my favorite festivals 😉 Same reason that no one will ask you to study during pooja days 😀
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Those three days of bliss when parents and teachers cannot ask you to study! I miss those days. 😦 When I was a child, everyone used to celebrate Saraswati pooja. For the believers, it was the blessing of the goddess and for non-believers, it was the colours, sweets and merriment. And now, I live in a world where religious boundaries are so prominent that simple joys of life, festivals, food and celebrations are discriminated, telling who should be celebrating what. 😦
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You are too fast mam…hats off…i am a fan of your motivation to keep coming back every day…Happy Saraswati pooja n Dussehera 🙂
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🙂 Thanks, Manas.. Happy Dussehra 🙂
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