Leading upto the the marriage, we had several pujas at home, starting with the Sumangali(a woman whose husband is alive, or was alive during her lifetime) puja. This puja is done in honor of the departed Sumangalis from our extended family. On this occassion, the mangalyam ("thaali"), which is to be tied around the bride's neck, is worshipped and blessings are sought to esnure that the new bride and groom have a long married life together. Friday was chosen as it is an auspicious day and our home was filled with floral decorations, delicious food and several relatives and guests.
On Saturday, we had the "Thaluvu" to seek the blessings from Lord Venkateshwara (Vishnu). We started the day early and had a "naamam" painted on our foreheads. As part of the custom, the males in the family need to seek alms (of rice) from the neighbors. This rice is then used to prepare 5 different rice dishes and offered to the Lord. We made tamarind rice, lemon rice, pongal, sweet pongal and curd rice.
Sunday was fun - we had 2 pujas that day. In the morning it was the Maariyaatha puja dedicated to Mariamma, the Goddess of well-being. She is the guardian against illnesses, particularly measles and chicken pox. During summer months when these diseases are most virulent, this Goddess is placated. Villages typically have large gatherings near temples where women make "koozhu" (a semi-solid dish made from boiled rice and ragi) and distribute them. Notice the right-most vessel containing the koozhu alongside with karamani kozhambhu, plantain, kootu, kozhukattai and keerai. Yummy!
Finally, we had the Muneeswara puja in the afternoon. If you drive by the villages, chances are you'd see a large statue of this God at the outskirts. He is a well-built, fearsome looking God with a large mustache and is often seen riding a horse. He is feared as much as He is revered. This nocturnally-active God is supposed to protect people from the things that they fear most, especially at night. Interestingly, unlike other Hindu Gods, people traditionally serve cigars, toddy (an alcoholic drink) and non-vegetarian food as part of the offerings! At our house, it was just the cigars :-) Some of the relatives who were gathered there claimed to have seen Him at nights. I was fascinated to listen to the several first-person accounts about sightings of him at night. It all seemed so unreal.
On a different note, I'm off to Chennai tomorrow morning for the wedding. We're so close to the D-Day. My brother is getting married ... I cannot believe that we've all grown up so quickly and ready to start our own families. The days that we went to school together, played cricket on the streets and fought over the silliest of things seem like yesterday! Time indeed flies ... or rather times fly.
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