Dussehra Celebration

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Dussehra festival is celebrated for 9 days every year.

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Significance of Dussehra:

There are many stories about the significance of Dussehra celebration. One is the victory of good over evil. Goddess Durga fought with a demon Mahishasura for all these 9 days and killed him on Vijaya Dasami. There is also a legend that Rama fought with Ravana and killed him on Vijaya Dasami.

Celebration: 

We celebrate this festival for 9 days by performing puja to Goddess Durga in 9 forms. We offer different prasadams on each day and perform pooja. Many women read Lalitha Sahasra namam and do kumkuma Archana in the evenings.

Day	Avatara	Naivedyam (Offering)
1	Shailaputri Navadurga	Chalimidi (Sweet with rice flour), Vadapappu(soaked moong dal) and Payasam (Kheer)
2	Balatripura Sundari	Sweet Boondi and chickpeas
3	Gayatri Devi	Ravva Kesari and Pulihora
4	Lalita Tripura Sundari Devi	Pulihora (Tamarind Rice) and Pesara Boorelu (Wadas made of lentils)
5	Saraswati Devi	Dadhojanam (Curd rice)/  Atukulu (puffed rice), Jaggery (bellam), Sanagapappu (split skinless chickpeas)
6	Annapurna Devi	Pongal
7	Sri Maha Lakshmi	Ksheerannam (Sweet with rice and milk)/ Jaggery Rice
8	Sri Durga Devi	Gaarelu (Wada) , Lemon rice with Ginger
9	Mahishasura Mardhini	Chakkara Pongali (Sweet made with rice, milk, and Jaggery)

On the 10th day, we worship Sri Rajarajeswari Devi by offering Pulihora (Tamarind Rice) and Garelu (Wada) as naivedyam.

Source: https://hindupad.com/nine-types-of-naivedyam-for-navaratri-in-south-india/

Happy Dussehra

Here are some books to explain Dussehra to Kids:

Other than the puja, we also do Ayudha puja on the ninth day of Navratri, which means, we perform pooja to machines, instruments, weapons, and vehicles. Pooja is done for books and musical instruments also on that day.

Another important celebration is Bommala koluvu. Many idols of different colors and idols of Gods and Goddesses are arranged in a hierarchical way. Hosts arrange small gathering and invite girls and women. During this festival, a few also perform puja to small girls treating them as Goddess Durga and offer them bangles and flowers.

Here are some home decor items for the festival season!

5 piece Marigold garlands

Indian Background decor

Goddess Durga Face cutout

Rangoli Floor decor

So, this is how we celebrate Dussehra in our household. I hope, this Dussehra brings health and happiness to your households.

Until next time,

Evade Subramanyam [Telugu movie review] - An enchanting experience

This is the first Telugu movie that I am watching after a long gap. It might be 10 months ago or more when I watched a movie in theatre. 

Evade Subramanyam movie has a thought provoking message. Movie is fun throughout to watch and leaves you with a strong message at the end. I have become a fan of Nani from "Ashta chamma" itself and this is one of the reasons I felt it is worth watching :-)

*** Spoiler alert*** 

Plot is about how Nani, a to be partner of a big company who is always money minded from childhood turns out to be a new person with humanity and good moral values after an unexpected travel to Dhoodh kasi in Himalayas. Subramanyam(Nani) thinks, he has everything in his life and future is bright with awaiting promotion to be a partner of a company and marriage with boss's daughter and super model Ria. Life seems cool with everything he aspired for from childhood. Unexpectedly, his childhood best friend Rishi enters his life. Rishi loves to enjoy every minute of his life. He doesn't want to work for money and doesn't have any ambition to settle in his life. He is sensitive to people's problems and sufferings and always gives his helping hand. They meet a girl Anandi and become friends. Subramanyam maintains friendship with Anandi to get some important shares from her which help him in his business. When Subramanyam and Rishi couldn't save a child who met with an accident, Rishi takes it up to the heart that they could have saved a life if some one would have taken to doctor just 10 mins before. It kills Rishi to see the insensitivity of people on the road when some one meets with an accident. When he expresses his feelings, Subramnayam doesn't agree with him and he sends him out from his house after a fight. 

Rishi dies in an accident after this incident and story takes a new turn when Anandi decides to take Rishi's ashes to Dhudhkasi as Rishi always dreamed of going there with Subramanyam. She somehow convinces Subramanyam to accompany her, considering the trip as Rishi's last wish. Subramanyam realizes the value of humanity, the beauty of nature, happiness in living for others or happiness in giving etc., It was like a caterpillar changing to a butterfly and flying freely. He realizes that, having one person loving you is the most fortunate thing and helping others gives a wonderful feeling than earning millions. 

Veteran actor Krishnam raju played an important role and it is definitely a plus for the movie. The beauty of Himalayas mesmerise us in the second half. Though movie seems to be dragging at some places, it won't make you bored. There are few drawbacks too. We cannot understand how a couple can go for such an adventurous and dangerous trip without much planning - like food, clothing, money etc., Trekking in Himalayas is not easy for a normal person without being trained to bear such dangerous weather conditions. 

Overall rating: 4/5

Loved the movie for Nani's acting, story, direction, photography and last but not the least, the virtual tour of Himalayas :-)

Until next time,

Vinayaka Chavithi Celebrations - in Andhra style

Vinayaka Chavithi is a unique festival for Telugu people because of the way it is celebrated with family members. 

It is fun time especially for kids, decorating clay idol, Palavelli (Wooden frame to tie fruits), marking all notebooks with Om or Swastik symbol with watery vermilion paste, praying Lord Ganesha with different types of leaves (patri), helping mother in preparation of special dishes for the day - Vundrallu and talukalu.

 I have many wonderful memories associated with this festival from childhood. As children, we used to wait for this day for whole year.




Importance of festival:

Before I touch upon our way of celebrating this festival, let me tell you the importance of the festival in our lives.

 This festival is celebrated as the birth date of Lord Ganesha, Son of Lord Parameswara and Goddess Parvathi. Ganesha is also known as Vighnadhipathi, which means first God to be prayed before starting any work to avoid obstacles and bring success.




Story behind Puja:

The legend is that Moon God laughed at Vinayaka on his birthday watching him walking slowly because of over eating his favorite dish Vundrallu, which made Vinayaka's belly burst. 

Goddess Parvathi is upset with this and cursed that no one should see moon from now on, or else, they will face many obstacles/problems. 

When all other devatas requested her for a remedy, she changed curse saying that whoever watches moon on Vinayaka Chavithi without performing puja to Lord Ganesha and without wearing akshinthalu (rice with turmeric powder kept in puja), will face problems. 

So, it has become a custom in Telugu household to perform puja on that day morning to Lord Ganesha, by taking head bath, wearing new dresses, preparing and offering dishes which please Ganesha, listening to the above story and wearing those puja akshinthalu at the end.


Puja process:

We buy Ganesh idol made of clay, different types of fruits available and different types of leaves(patri) to perform puja. 

We prepare and offer Vundrallu/ Kudumulu, Chalividi, Vadapappu, Panakam and a sweet called 'Talukalu' prepared either with jaggery or sugar and milk. 

Each fruit bought for Puja will be cleaned, applied with vermilion paste and kumkuma and tied to Palavelli (a wooden frame), which is tied above the Ganesha idol. 

All fruits are tied symmetrically as shown in images. Some also buy and place an umbrella above clay idol. 

We usually write Om/ swastik symbol on academic note books of children with vermilion paste and kumkum and keep before God during puja. 

After performing puja, we listen to the story about Vinayaka's birth and wear akshinthalu at the end. We end the puja with harathi and distribute prasadam. 

Usually, we keep God decorated in the household and pray for at least 3 days and leave the puja remains along with idol in a lake, which is known as 'Nimajjanam'. 

A Few people perform puja at home daily for 7 or 9 days before immersing idol in the lake on 10th day. 

Because of performing puja and wearing akkshinthalu on head on that day, it is believed that no problem arises even by seeing moon by mistake.

 That's how we celebrate this festival by making every family member participate actively.


Let me know how you celebrate this festival :)


Until next time,

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తెలుగు భాషా దినోత్సవం

ఈ రోజు  తెలుగు భాషా దినోత్సవం . తెలుగు వారందరికీ  శుభాకాంక్షలు.. 

చాలా మందికి మనసులో సందేహం - ఈ రోజు ఎందుకు పండగలా జరుపుకోవాలి అని. నిజానికి అవసరం లేదు. కాని, మాతృభాష తెలుగై ఉన్నవారు కూడా తెలుగు సరిగ్గా మాట్లాడలేకపోతున్న ఈ రోజుల్లో, మన మాతృభాష గుర్తుకుతెచ్చుకోవడానికి ఒక రోజు ఉండడంలో తప్పు లేదనిపిస్తుంది. ఏమంటారు?

స్కూల్స్ లో, కార్యాలయాలలో తెలుగే మాట్లాడాలి, రాయాలి  అని నేను అనను  గాని, తెలుగు మర్చిపోకుండా ఉంటే, అది  చాలు. చిన్న చిన్న విషయాలు పాటించడం వలన ఇది  సాధ్యం అవుతుంది. 

1. మన పిల్లలికి  అమ్మ , నాన్న అనే పదాలు నేర్పిద్దాం (మమ్మీ, డాడీ బదులు )
2. ఇంట్లో తెలుగు మాట్లాడదాం 
3. తెలుగు సాహిత్యాన్ని పరిచయం చేద్దాం (పంచతంత్రం, రామాయణం, భాగవతం లాంటి కధలు తెలుగులో నేర్పిద్దాం )
4. తెలుగు అక్షరాలు, సంధులు, ,సమాసాలు, వేమన పద్యాలూ పరిచయం చేద్దాం. 
5. వార్తా  పత్రికల్లో వచ్చే తెలుగు కధలు చదవమని పిల్లలిని ప్రోత్సహిద్దాం.  

ఏదో ఒక సినిమాలో (పిల్ల జమిందార్ - నాని సినిమా అనుకుంటా  ) చెప్పినట్టు, తెలుగు అంటే అత్తెసరు మార్కులతో పాసవడం కాదు, అది అమ్మతో  మన అనుబంధం పంచుకోవడం. 
ఏమంటారు ?

ఇట్లు 
మహతీ  రమ్య 

Happy Sankranthi/ Pongal - Post in telugu

సంక్రాంతి తెలుగు వాళ్ళ పెద్ద పండుగ. ఈ సంవత్సరం మొదటి బ్లాగ్ పోస్ట్ తెలుగులో రాయడం ఆనందంగా ఉంది.

సంక్రాంతి అంటే భోగి పళ్ళు , భోగి మంటలు, హరిదాసు కీర్తనలు, గంగిరెద్దు నాట్యాలు, చుక్కల ముగ్గులు, పిండివంటలు, కొత్త అల్లుళ్ళు , అంతా సందడే మరి :)

సూర్యుడు మకర రాశి లో ప్రవేశించే  సందర్భంగా జరుపుకునే ఈ పండుగ మీ అందరికీ మంచి ఆరోగ్యం, సిరి సంపదలు తీసుకురావాలని కోరుకుంటూ..

సంక్రాంతి శుభాకాంక్షలు :)

ఇట్లు,
మహతీ రమ్య 

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