Did you know that Rice, a sacred grain which has spiritual heritage in India, represents Prajapati or Janardana, as it is one of the earliest cereals known to humanity?
Rice, a sacred grain in India with the ancient scripture Vedas referring to it as simply 'annam', meaning food, represents vedic deity Prajapati (lord and protector of creation) or Janardana (monicker of Vishnu) as it is one of the earliest cereals known to humanity, and thus, is held in great reverence and is used in most religious activities of Hindus.
According to Dr Richaria, a well known rice scientist, in India 400,000 varieties of rice existed during the Vedic period, and even at present the number is reported to be 200,000; the Indian state of Chhatisgarh alone is stated to have 20,000 types. Atharva Veda defines rice as the "sons of heaven who never die". According to Taittiriya Brhamana, the god of rice is called Annadevata, the ancestor of the sacrifice, and also admonishes people not decry the role of rice. Shatapata Brahmana says rice emerged from the body of Indra and further elaborates:"From his marrow his drink, the soma juice flowed, and became rice: in this way his enrgies, or vital power, went from him". Hindu goddesses Annapoorna (meaning 'full of rice') and Lakshmi (goddess of wealth), and the combination of the two goddesses called AnnaLakshmi represent rice; Dhanya Lakshmi is another name for the Goddess who is depicted with a few sheaves of paddy in her hand. In Mahabharata epic, Lord Krishna gifted a vessel to Draupadi which would always be filled with rice and hence the vessel is named Akshayapathre. Archaeological findings indicate that rice was first cultivated in the region around the holiest city of Kashi.
Rice grains are used in the form of blessings as 'akshata'. Dry Rice is smeared with red vermilion and applied on the forehead of persons as it is said to bestow favourable charachteristics. It is one of the Navadanya, nine sacred grains, used in sacred ceremonies. During Hindu religious ceremonies, another use is as a 'havis' offering of cooked rice to the sacrificial fire in Yagna kund, propitiating gods. Rice smeared with turmeric powder is sprinkled by all the elders present in the marriage venue, on the newly married couple as a blessing. Only rice can form the base 'Aasanam' or seat for placing the sacred Kalasham (pot) upon it during religious celebrations. In certaian regions of India, the bride and bridegroom are made to even stand on a heap of rice during the marriage ceremony. Also, in many states of India, when a bride enters her husband's house, she is made to first push with her right foot from the threshold of the house a small metal jar or vessel of rice; this symbolises that with the spilled rice, she would usher prosperity to her new adopted house.
Rice is also used in the life rite of Namakarana or naming ceremony of the new born child which is done by writing the child's name on a plate filled with paddy or rice. Rice is also vital in the Annaprashana, a ritualistic first feeding of a child, which is conducted in the child's sixth or seventh month of life. Mashed cooked rice or a sweet rice pudding called kheer (Payasa in Kannada) is generally fed by the parents to their child with the priest chanting mantras. When elders of the family bless their kin, they wish that their life be full of dhan (wealth) and dhanya ((rice); the two words rhyming well. In some communities in South India, the bride and the groom, during the wedding, pour rice in heaps on each other signifying blessings of wealth and happiness of progeny.
In Tamil Nadu, Ponni Amman is the rice goddess who is worshiped in some regions of the state during July- August. Legend says that prayers by farmers to Ponni Amman saved paddy crop from devastation by floods and following this farmers erected a statue in her honour.
In Manipur, in Northeast India, Rice cultivation rites form an important part in the life of the farmer. Loutaba is a rite performed for rice before the start of agricultaral operations in their fields, in which a fistful of rice with flowers, eight Burma agrimony (Eupatorium birmanicum) buds, and sweets are made to gods with the prayer that the yield should be double of the previous year's yield. The Chengluk lubak kaiba rite on the wedding day is when the bridegroom brings a basket of rice to the bride's house.
The biggest harvest festivals in India are linked to the time when rice is harvested; invariably held during mid January. Bihu in Assam, Pongal in Tamil Nadu, Makara Sankranthi in Karnataka and in Northern and Western states of India are all festivals where newly harvested rice is offered to the gods amidst lots fanfare that stretches over 2-4 days. In Pongal festival in Tamil Nadu, the day's celebrations include a morning ceremony of boiling rice with milk and jaggery , dish called Sakkarai pongal in Tamil, in clay pots individually or as a community, which is allowed to boil over, signifying prosperity. There are also smaller festivals linked to pre-transplanting, transplanting, invoking the rain gods, protecting and pre-harvesting. Pongal was the biggest and still the most celebrated festival in India. This festival is also called as Thai/Tai Pongal, which is a four days festival
and is dedicated to the Sun god and corresponds to Makara Sankranti (day of trasit of Sun into Makara (Capricorn) rasi.
On the Makara Sankranthi day, cows and bullocks are washed and beautifully decorated, clothed, horns painted, decked with flowers and fed with Pongal thus honouring their total involvement in the agricultural process of giving milk and tilling the land. In the evening, the cows and bullocks are jumped over a fire lit with paddy chaff, called 'Kitchaisodu' in Kannada. But the counterpart Jallikattu festival held in Tamilnadu, though much more popular, but bulls and men participaing in the sport are invariably grievously hurt.
Among the Meitei people of Manipur, Rice is considered a magico-religious offering used during festivals to dispel spirits or ghosts from their homes. It is offered to the clan deity and on a variety of other festive events. The 'Chengluk lubak kaiba' is a custom on the wedding day when the bridegroom brings a basket of rice to the bride's house.They also make a food offering of rice to their ancestors during September- October for fifteeen days after the Full Moon day.
In Coorg district in Karnataka, a festival called the Huttari festival with 'pudda ari' meaning "new rice" is celebrated by Coorgi community during the rice harvest season in mid January with great fervour. There is no Brahmin interference at this time as the celebration held for a number of days as after tasting fresh rice includes extensive consumption brandy and pork.
Narasipur Char
