Upakarma – The annual thread Ceremony.

With the approach of the full moon day in the month of Shraavana – the day when the male Yajurvedis change their sacred thread, brings back memories of the function that was being celebrated in our house.

The formal ceremony consists of a fire – ritual (Homa); puja of the rishis; tarpana (offering of water in a particular way) to the rishis and the change of the sacred thread – a sort of renewal of the pledge to undertake the path of Vedic Adhyayana (Vedic Learning). Uptill 1976, this ritual was being organized in our house. We would have about 20 – 30 people from our neighbourhood and some relatives too congregating for the ritual.

The purohit would come in at 5.30 in the morning and the rituals would go on till 8.00. So the preparations would have to be completed the previous night itself. This was an occasion which we looked out for. I had my initiation (Upanayana) in 1974. But right from the age of about 6 years I was involved in the ritual – as I was allowed to wear the “yagnopaveeta” (janivaara – holy thread) – albeit a “kaLLa janivaara (illegal janivara).

I would be woken up at 5.15 in the morning, made to complete the morning duties, wrapped with a silk “maguta”, smeared with “vibhuti” (the holy ash) and would take my reserved place beside our father and grandfather.

The wooden planks would be arranged inside the periphery of the hall accommodating about 18 persons. There was one aged person who used to attend but unable to squat on the ground. We used to give him a wooden chair and table to do the rituals and he would be seated on one of the adjoining rooms. Additional persons were accommodated in the verandah.

The “homa kunDa” and the platform for the “rishi pooja” would be in arranged the previous night itself. I was allowed to do the puja and most of the rituals except the “rishi tarpana” until 1974 – as I was still not initiated.

The first interesting part was when we were required to do the “yagnopaveeta daana” – giving a set of the sacred thread along with “dakshine” to elders and take their blessings before “yagnopaveeta dharaNa” – the process of putting on the sacred thread. Our grandfather would provide me with my own set of 10 sacred threads and coins for the process.

The second interesting part was when all the participants would circle around the “homa kunDa” and the “rishis” in “pradakshiNa”. As we walked around to the chanting of mantrams, the wooden planks would make a sound wheneven someone stepped on the edges and the plank would rise and fall. It was merriment for me as the planks would keep going “katak-katak” during the entire process of about 5 minutes by the time we completed three rounds.

The puja would end with the distribution of “prasadam” - “satvada hittu” – a combination of rice flour, til seeds, ghee and cut fruits (banana, guava, sweet lime, fresh grapes, etc.).

The guests would have breakfast of hot “tatte” idlis and chutney accompanied by hot coffee before leaving. Always coming back the next year.

This event, unfortunately, stopped on the demise of our grandfather in 1976 and our family purohit a few years later. The ususal guests started to go to temples for the ritual or like me, started changing the sacred thread in their house itself with a simple 5 minute process.

I was fortunate to attend a similar elaborate ritual when a neighbour of ours, Mr. Aralikatte Chandrashekar, took up the initiative and has started it in his house. The ritual came back to our house of one year – during which Mr. Chandrashekar’s mother had expired.

Every year during the Upakarma day, whether I am able to attend the elaborate ritual or not, the memories of the Upakarma in our house remains fresh.