The Hindu traditional
way of celebrating ‘Varsha Pratipada’…
‘The New Year’
Recently Varsha
Pratipada; The New Year’s day according to the Hindu calendar, was celebrated by
traditional Hindus all over the world including USA, Canada and UK . It was the first day of Chaitra
Shukla, the first month of the Hindu lunar year which happened to be on March 31, 2014.
Whereas the New Year’s
Day of Christian era (January 1st) is celebrated with eating and dancing
joyfully in parties and exchanging fancy gifts, the traditional Hindu way of
celebrating their New Year’s Day is quite different.
Traditionally, the tender leaves of Neem (lime tree) mixed with Jaggery ** (Gurh) are distributed
as Prasaadam (gift) on this occasion.
It has a great
symbolic meaning.
First, the neem-jaggery blend is offered to Ishwar (God) as Naivedya.
Then it is distributed among the family and friends as Prasaad.
This is one of the highest philosophical attitudes taught by
the ancient Hindu spiritual masters.
The Neem, extremely bitter in taste, and jaggery sweet and
delicious, signify the two conflicting aspects of human life —Joy and sorrow,
success and failure, ecstasy and agony.
It is a reminder
that the life is not always ‘Bitter’ or ‘Sweet’ all the time. It is a combination
of the two and so might be the coming New Year.
By first offering
this bitter-sweet blend to God and then accepting it as
Prasaad, has a symbolic meaning; of preparing ourselves to face, and by the grace
of God, accept whatever may happen in the future.
By exchanging the
gift of this ‘bitter-sweet blend’ with friends and loved ones,
we acknowledge that the relationships may also have some sweet and bitter moments
that by God’s grace, can be accepted as part of life and solved mutually.
We usually tend to disregard the old traditions as ‘out of
date’ or even non-sense, but if we try to understand them, we will find that many
traditions have some deep and meaningful hidden messages.
May God
bless us all.
‘Rajan Sachdeva’
** jaggery ….. Chunks
of raw sugar made from sugarcane.
Indeed, "We usually tend to disregard the old traditions as ‘out of date’ or even non-sense, but if we try to understand them, we will find that many traditions have some deep and meaningful hidden messages."
ReplyDeleteAs these traditions and celebrations are passed down the generations,the true intention and purpose behind the true concept gets distorted,misunderstood or lost. These get labeled as mere rituals because people just see the process and are oblivious of the true intention,purpose or the hidden driving force. As one walks down the path of spirituality, it is the understanding,acceptance and tolerance of different cultures by the seeker that helps to harmonize and unify One and all.
Once the objective and the purpose is made clear to the learner ,it helps the learner to visualize clearly and stay focussed on the path of self realization equipped not with beliefs but with true Knowing.
Thank you for explaining varsha pratipada.
Felicitations! Nav varsh sabhi ke liye mangalmay ho!
Thank you Sadwal ji
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