I came home yesterday and Amma said "good... you are home... Today is Karthigai Deepam". I had almost forgotten. Its one of the days I used to look forward to the most as a child. It comes on a full moon day about a month after Diwali - Diwali is on a new moon day ofcourse. It is the one day of the year that we light up our homes with oil filled "agal vilaku" or diyas. I dont know if this is there in Andhra, Karnataka.. should find out. Legend has it that there was once a tussle between Shiva and Vishnu as to who was supreme. Brahma played moderator and said whoever proves to be the bigger of the two will be declared supreme. Shiva took the form of a "Jothi" and spanned the entire universe. Brahma took the form of a swan and set out to measure him and never reached the top or bottom of the fire. I remember only this part of the story - time to revisit what happened to Vishnu.. (Funny that I dont remember when I proclaim I like Lord Krishna). This is the story behind the lighting of the lamp at Thiruvannamalai - the "big hill" where a giant lamp is made out of hundreds of yards of thick cloth and tonnes of oil. Those who see this are considered to attain "moksha". History aside, what appealed to me the most were the festivities. Getting to wear shiny pavadais and danglers, lighting up lamps till my hands ache, grandmas delicious "pori" and "vellappam" and the best part - bursting leftover Deepavali crackers. All homes set aside a part of the crackers for Karthigai Deepam and it is fun to finish off the remainders.
My home faces North - the direction in which winds blow in this season and it is hard to keep the lamps from going off. I would first line up our long walls, window sils and terrace steps with lamps. Then came the tough part - keeping them alight. Thambi and I would go to each lamp, check the oil, light ones that go off in the wind, nudge the wicks to make them burn brighter. Then we'd go admire our work from a distance. It is a spectacle to watch your home all lit up with natural lamps. Those faint glowing, flickering flames have a magic that no serial light setting or chandelier can come close to. We then joined our neighbourhood friends, going around the colony, comparing lights and kolams at other houses, visiting friends and distributing sweets. To me, Karthigai was always more fun than Deepavali itself. The lamp lighting goes on for three days, gradually reducing the number of lamps each day. Religion was no bar - even our Christian friends would light up a few lamps on their stairways and our first sweet packets would be to their homes.
After I moved to the city to join my job, I had almost forgotten the fun on Karthigai day. It usually comes on weekdays and we dont have an off to come home anyway. Three years passed and I never came home on Karthigai - the first year, I was in staying with my friends and we went and got lamps to light up in our apartment. Thats when I realised that I could hardly light up 10 lamps in an apartment and hardly any place to burst crackers. At home, it used to be 75 atleast and I always complained that we should have more.
Yesterday, I re-lived those days- complete with pooja and sweets and lamps, just because I happened to be at home. Life is one big compromise is'nt it? Why is that we dont take pride in carrying on our tradition? Why does it stop with certain days of the year - like Diwali or Navaratri? Why are we in such a hurry to lose our identity? I do think about all this.. but mostly it stops with thinking. The other day, we had a guest lecture in which the speaker asked "Do you all have cornflakes for breakfast or you still have the same old idli dosa?". I was quite taken aback..We no longer take time to cook and consider traditional food as "old" and fast food as the "in thing". All these little occasions are not mindless rituals - not another day to make sweets, rather a way of spreading happiness, and remembering our rich past. How many lesser known special occasions like this one are we going to lose in the future?
My home faces North - the direction in which winds blow in this season and it is hard to keep the lamps from going off. I would first line up our long walls, window sils and terrace steps with lamps. Then came the tough part - keeping them alight. Thambi and I would go to each lamp, check the oil, light ones that go off in the wind, nudge the wicks to make them burn brighter. Then we'd go admire our work from a distance. It is a spectacle to watch your home all lit up with natural lamps. Those faint glowing, flickering flames have a magic that no serial light setting or chandelier can come close to. We then joined our neighbourhood friends, going around the colony, comparing lights and kolams at other houses, visiting friends and distributing sweets. To me, Karthigai was always more fun than Deepavali itself. The lamp lighting goes on for three days, gradually reducing the number of lamps each day. Religion was no bar - even our Christian friends would light up a few lamps on their stairways and our first sweet packets would be to their homes.
After I moved to the city to join my job, I had almost forgotten the fun on Karthigai day. It usually comes on weekdays and we dont have an off to come home anyway. Three years passed and I never came home on Karthigai - the first year, I was in staying with my friends and we went and got lamps to light up in our apartment. Thats when I realised that I could hardly light up 10 lamps in an apartment and hardly any place to burst crackers. At home, it used to be 75 atleast and I always complained that we should have more.
Yesterday, I re-lived those days- complete with pooja and sweets and lamps, just because I happened to be at home. Life is one big compromise is'nt it? Why is that we dont take pride in carrying on our tradition? Why does it stop with certain days of the year - like Diwali or Navaratri? Why are we in such a hurry to lose our identity? I do think about all this.. but mostly it stops with thinking. The other day, we had a guest lecture in which the speaker asked "Do you all have cornflakes for breakfast or you still have the same old idli dosa?". I was quite taken aback..We no longer take time to cook and consider traditional food as "old" and fast food as the "in thing". All these little occasions are not mindless rituals - not another day to make sweets, rather a way of spreading happiness, and remembering our rich past. How many lesser known special occasions like this one are we going to lose in the future?
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ReplyDeleteHeavy thoughts!I personally think that our forms and ways of celebrating our culture may change but our roots are too strong to be eroded by time.
ReplyDeletebtw the story AFAIK is -
1. Vishnu & Brahma become egoistic and had a fight abt who s superior
2. siva came in to mediate & teach a lesson
3. he showed a pillar of fire & said "who ever finds the top and the bottom of this pillar of fire is the best"
4. vishnu becomes a boar and digs in to the ground
5. Brahma transforms to swan and goes searching 4 the top
6. No one wins & they realise the pillar is lord siva himslef. Then they let go off their ego.
7. Then siva wished his followers in the form of fire itself at thiruvanamalai. Thats why karthigai deepam is also called anamalai deepam.