PRATHAMASTAMI is celebrated in Margasira month mostly in Odisha. On this occasion, the eldest child of the family is honoured by gifting new clothes (majorly given by maternal uncle). The ritual starts in the morning when after taking bath, the child is seated on pidha (wooden low seat) & mother wishes him/her by holding an earthen pot filled with water & placing in on handful of paddy. And, above it a branch of mango leaves and a coconut is placed & Satthi Maa, the goddess who saves children from all evils, is worshipped. The social significance of this festival is that its the first borns who take up the burden of the family after the death of parents & for this obvious reason, the eldest child is honoured on prathamastami to occupy the respectable place in the family. In BBSR, Lord Chandrasekhar (Lingaraj’s living god) goes to his maternal uncle’s house (near Papanasini tank) to have Prathamsatami rituals & of course devour haldi flavoured enduri pitha (idli like cake made from black gram-rice batter with coconut stuffing inside wrapped in turmeric leaves and steamed). Turmeric leaves is a herb, which has got lot of medicinal properties, it gives distinctive flavor to food and also helps in preventing coughs, cold, aches and pains. Interestingly, seeing the elders being honoured, the younger siblings also demand for fresh dresses. Happy Prthamastami :) ! Photo:Tarani
Posted on: Fri, 14 Nov 2014 17:41:35 +0000
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