Annaprashan-Anika's first meal

Today my girl is big enough to taste her first solid meal and i am already in tears of joy knowing how quickly she grew up! In India no auspicious moment ever begins or ends up ordinarily. Whether small or big, rich or poor, every event deserves a grand celebration. So we had a long, fun, laughter and love filled traditional ceremony called MUKHE BHAAT(rice in your mouth). Glad that on this major day my mom and mom in law were present to add more enthusiasm and festivity.

Welcome to Annaprashan, a Sanskrit term meaning “grain initiation”. For baby girls, Annaprashan is performed on odd months (of their life, not the calendar year), generally the 5th or the 7th month. For boys, the ritual is performed on even months, either on the 6th or the 8th month. After fixing an auspicious date from the Panjika (Almanac), paying homage and respect to the gods and goddesses, our ancestors all were ready to bless Anika on 17th Dec 2018.

The ceremony is carried out in the child’s paternal home where Mama (Maternal Uncle) or Dadu (Maternal Grandfather) does the honor of feeding the ‘First Grain of Rice’! Unfortunately my very own brother is living overseas and could not join us. I missed him so much that day. My brother in law Ganga da, did the honor instead and feed Anika her first rice.

I was very particular to celebrate it in the exact way i have been seeing in my home with all the siblings(me coming from joint family). The night before I made Alpona on the floor placing a beautiful cloth seat(Ashon). I was more worried about getting topor(crown) for Anika in such short time period. Wasting no time online and ransacking shops i did DIY with foam plates instead; embellish it with red paint and tied ribbon to its end. My eureka moment when it came out real good!!

Lamps were lit the old fashioned way, with oil, and a cotton wick warding off all evils and darkness.

Foods were served on silver plates and bowls, with a silver cup for water and a silver spoon for the child! The centerpiece of the food is Payesh, a sweet dessert made with rice, milk & sugar. The importance of the Payesh cannot be overstated for Bengali. It is the first solid that goes into a Bengali child. Similar to cake cutting on birthdays, it is a must for all special occasions.

Including the payesh there is a royal seven course meal with 5 kinds of bhaja or fries, aloo bhaja (potato fries), begun bhaja (eggplant fry), kumro bhaja (pumpkin fries), ucche bhaja (bitter-gourd fries), saag bhaja( spinach), and machh bhaja (fish fry). The fries are decorated all around a small mound of rice with a few drops of Ghee (clarified butter) gracing the plate.

Surrounding the plate we had four more bowls of delicacy, Daal – a lentil soup; choice of vegetable; maangsho(meat curry) and the main attraction, the Fish dish – sometimes including the fish head and the tail following with Dessert – sweets or sweet yogurt most popularly known as mishti doi.It was a pity that we missed the Chaatni(chutney) – a spicy condiment made of sugar and spice savored like a side dish.
Ahem am i salivating already?!

Dressed as a mini bride decked in pint sized jewelry and flower ornaments with sandalwood dots on forehead enters the super star. With Ganga da seated on the Ashon, and Anika in his lap, he proudly places a tiny morsel of Payesh on her mouth. The look on her face was worth laughing at. It was more of a big ewww than a wowwww!!

With ululuuu filling the air and conch shell blowing the elders blessed the child with ‘dhaan’ (rice with husk seeds) and a few blades of durba (green grass stalks) on her head – a symbolic wish for good health and prosperity.

The ceremony ended with a fun game. Anika was offered a tray containing certain ritual objects: a lump of earth (symbolizing property, also signifies fertility for girls), a book (symbolizing learning), a pen (symbolizing wisdom) and a silver coin(symbolizing wealth). Traditional belief: the object picked up by the baby represents his/her area of interest in the future. Thankfully Anika picked up book believing one day she will go through all my blog posts.

Some candid pics post event.

Thanking

-Ganga Da for initiating the event
-Mother in law for aashirwad
-Mom for everything i cannot count
-Anindya for being the perfect make up artist
and to all the well wishers in India.