Festivals of India - Vishu

Vishu festival is the astrological New Year of people of Kerala. Vishu is celebrated on the first day of the Medam month of Malayalam calendar. Vishu is the harvest festival for welcoming the spring season and it falls on 14^th April.  This day is celebrated as New Year in different parts of India, very significant to their own traditions. Puthandu in Tamil Nadu, Baisakhi in Punjab, Rongaali Bihu in Assam & Naba Barsa in Bengal. Although we lived in Tamil Nadu, since Appa & Amma were from Kerala, we celebrated Vishu.

Since Vishu is the starting of the New Year, I believe this day is significant for the coming whole year. The previous night, I remember Amma decorating the Swami room with all the festival arrangements. There was a big mirror placed in the forefront and rice, pulses, vegetables, fruits, flowers, gold ornaments and coins were all strategically placed in front of the mirror on a plate covered with silk cloth. Silver and brass lamps were polished and kept on either side in such a way it imparts a golden yellow hue to the kani-ambience, when lighted the next morning.

On the day of Vishu, Amma would wake up around 4 am to see the Vishukanni  and light the lamps. The lighting of the deepam welcomes God into our lives and is also symbolic of spiritual knowledge – the remover of the darkness of ignorance. Amma would then wake us up one by one making sure we kept our eyes closed so that the Vishukkani was the first thing we saw. I remember hearing P.Leela’s “Kani Kaanum Neram” and “Pularaan ezhara naazhigayil” song in the background. Amma helped me down the stairs carefully, holding my hand, so that I wont trip or bang on the walls. Once she brought me right in front of the arrangements, I was asked to open my eyes and visually take in everything. I was overwhelmed by the brilliance of all the colourful decorations. The subdued yellow splendour of the lamps, the brilliant reflections of the brass and silver lamps, the luster of the gold ornaments, the abundance of the yellow clusters of flowers and the beauty of the yellow clad divine Lord Krishna seen through the mirror is a sight to behold. When one opens the eyes for the first time to look at this glorious image, where is the chance that any thing can go wrong for the rest of the year?

Vishukkaineettam, the distribution of wealth, is another aspect of the festival. It should be given freely and accepted with reverence. I love this part of the festival. We visit friends and relatives and fall at the feet of our elders to do Namaskaram so we can get Vishukkaineettam. As youngsters, since we were not given pocket money on a regular basis at home, we looked forward to occasions like this where we get our own money to spend.

Vishukkani points to a year of abundance - both spiritually and materially. Food, light, money, knowledge - all should fill our life. Taking in the Vishukkani we should pray that the vision remains with us throughout the year. With the auspicious start of the year that has come to us due to the grace of beginning it with a divine vision, and the joy we take from viewing the Vishukkani, we can continue to spread this love, happiness and hope to everyone around us.

No Indian festival is complete without the exotic food variety consumed during each occasion. Vishu is also a day of feasting and Amma usually made all our favourite Kerala dishes like Ada Pradhaman, Avial, Kaalan, etc. and a traditional feast called Sadya is set up.

Ada Pradhaman

Ingredients:

1 packet Ada, 2 cups milk, ¼ cup sugar, 1 can condensed milk, 1tsp crushed cardamom

Method:
Cook the ada in water and then rinse well in cold water to make sure that the flakes don't stick together. Boil the milk with sugar & add the cooked ada to it. Cook until it thickens and add the condensed milk to it. Add cardamom.

Avial

Ingredients:

2 cups vegetables (carrot, beans, potato, cauliflower, peas), ½ tsp turmeric powder, ½ cup grated coconut, 4-5 tbsp yoghurt, 2-3 green chillies, ½ tsp cumin seeds, 1tsp coconut oil, Salt to taste

Method:

Boil veggies in water with turmeric powder. Grind the coconut, chillies, & cumin seeds. Add this to the boiled veggies. Add yoghurt and salt to taste. Top with coconut oil.

Kaalan

Ingredients:
½ winter melon - peeled, deseeded & cubed, ½ tsp turmeric powder, ½ cup grated coconut, ½ tsp pepper corns, 2 green chillies, ½ tsp cumin seeds, ½ cup yoghurt, ½ tsp fenugreek, 1 tsp mustard seeds, curry leaves, salt to taste.

Method:

Boil the melon in water with turmeric powder. Grind together the coconut, peppercorns, green chillies & cumin seeds and mix it with the yoghurt. Drain the melon. In a pan, add the melons, yoghurt mix and salt and heat. Again, do not bring to a boil. Dry roast the fenugreek seeds and crush them and add them to the pan. Add tempered mustard seeds and curry leaves.