Avani Avittam and Hayagreeva Jayanthi

Avani Avittam

Lord Hyagreeva

Avani Avittam falls on August 19 2024 Yajur Upakarma

Avani Avittam / Upakarma is the annual Brahmin festival of changing their sacred thread , it is also a confession, or atonement, a day of expiation and restoration. On this day Brahmins change their sacred threads and confess that they have fallen from their status as Brahmins and make a resolve to (hopefully) strive to fulfill their vows, duties and obligations as required by their social position as guides for the rest of society.

 Avani Avittam is mainly for the Seven Rishis. All Brahmins belong to either one of the Gothras. So you will automatically fall in one Gothra.

All the Sages are not Brahmins by Birth. But they choose and the choice is called as Varna For Example Viswamitra is a King actually but later choose to become a Brahmin.

The Gothra is a center of a Rishi and the Sanctity (not power) is counted by the number of Cows and the Hermitage involves woman too. The life is so disciplined and a person belongs to one clan cannot marry within that Gothra because all the members become siblings. Sagodharan, Sagodhari means siblings!

Avani Avittam is actually performed the Day before Vinayagar Chathurthi (he is Brahma) but most of the Brahmins do it in the month of Aadi .

Avani means the month of Avani in Tamil calendar and Avittam is one among the 27 stars / nakshatras.

It is said the day is of great significansce to Brahmins who change the holy thread as it equals to opening of wisdom .It is also celeberated in some states like Orissa , Maharashtra among Brahmins .

Yajurveda Upakarma falls on the Purnima (full moon day) in the month of Shravana, also called as Shravana Purnima day (considered as one of the most auspicious day for the Hindus). In Gregorian calendar, this day is normally observed in the month of July or August. Calculated according to the Hindu calendar, Yajurveda Upakarma in the year 2024 on 19 th August

It should be noted that Upakarma for different Vedas, i.e., Yajurveda, Rigveda, Samaveda and Atharvaveda are observed on different days. Followers of Rigveda observe the Upakarma on Shravana Nakshatra day in the month of Shravana. Samaveda Upakarma day usually falls after fortnight of Yajurveda and Rigveda Upakarma day.

Hayagriva Jayanti and Gayatri Jayanti

On the day of Yajurveda Upakarma, Hayagriva Jayanti and Gayatri Jayanti are also observed. Lord Hayagriva is an avatar of Lord Vishnu and the god of knowledge and wisdom, who restored the Vedas stolen from Brahma. Hayagriva was incarnated on the day of Upakarma and therefore it is observed as Hayagriva Jayanti. Goddess Gayatri, also known as the Mother of the Vedas, is believed to be born on the day of Yajurveda Upakarma and therefore Upakarma is also observed as Gayatri Jayanti.

Legends :

The look of Lord Hyagreeva is unique with the head of a horse or Haya hence the name Hyagreeva . The head of the horse alslo symbolises knowledge or higher power and wisdom .Hence praying to Lord Hayagreeva is said to to give us wisdom and intelligence and knowledge .

Legend: Hayagreeva Jayanthi and Avani Avittam

Puranas mention that Hyagreeva is said to be the son of Kashyapa Prajapati who performed severe austerities and penance . He was blessed that he would not be harmed by any man or even God and that he could be defeated only by another Hyagreeva .

As a result Hayagreeva started misusing his powers , the Devas were in a state of panic and commotion , it was then Lord Vishnu rested his head on his bow, when the strings broke and snapped , therefore Lord Vishnu s head was severed from his body , Godess Durga who knew the purpose asked Lord Brahma to attach a head of a horse to Lord Vishnus severed body . Then Lord Vishnu now with the head of a Haya , a horse was born as another Hayagareeva who could now defeat the other Hayagreeva who was causing so much panic and misbehaving in a demonic way .

It is also said that Lord Hayagreevar took this form to recover the stolen Vedas from Lord Brahma by the two demons Madhu and Kaitabha while Lord Brahma was asleep .

Hayagreeva Jayanthi

Hayagreeva

The legend goes that Lord Brahma was full of pride and arrogance that he knew the full Vedas . Lord Vishnu decided to destroy that pride and teach him a lesson for being arrogant and proud, , so he created two demons Madhu and Kaitabha to steal the Vedas from Lord Brahma, Lord Brahma could not protect the Vedas and he approached Lord Vishnu for help in recovering the Vedas.

Lord Vishnu relented and took the form of Hyagreeva , restored the Vedas to Lord Brahma, having suppressed the pride of Lord Brahma .

Hence this day is also known for restoring knowledge , as Lord Hyagreeva is associated with knowledge and wisdom . Restoration of the Vedas marks a new beginning .It is also known as Hyagreeva Jayanathi .

Brahmin men take a holy dip, and with the help of their elders and Brahmin Guru / sastrigal will change the thread with some shlokas ,Special pooja and Homam is performed for this ritual. It is called Yagnopaveetham dhaaranam .

Shukla is White and the white thread is changed during that period. Now this is the specaility of Avani Avittam.

Recipes for Avani Avittam

for Avani avittam a typical festival menu is prepared such as a payasam,boli, some pachadis, poriyals, kootu, kosumalli, paruppu vadia, appalam.

below is a typical meal for Avaniavittam on a modest scale with dishes such as

Sweet Millets semiya baath
Elaneer payasam ( tender coconut payasam )
Medu vadas
Kadamba sambar
Tomato rasam
Lady finger thayir pachadi
Rawplantain roast
Mixed veg molagootal
Curd rice pickles.

Recipe for Elaneerpayasam( tender coconut )

Elaneer payasam

Elaneer payasam

Ingredients:

1 cup tender coconut flesh

chop 3 tbsp of this chopped tender coconut flesh

1 cup Tender Coconut Water

1/2 litre thick boiled cooled milk

1 cup condensed milk

Cardamom Powder - 1 tsp

1/2 cup coconut milk

Method:

1. make a puree of the tender coconut flesh

with tender coconut water

2. boil milk in a pan , reduce flame, add condensed milk , cardamom powder

switch off flame, add the tender coconut puree, and coconut ,milk, mix well.

add few pieces of tender coconut

garnish with cashewnuts and raisins .

serve warm or chilled.

Avani Avittam lunch

Avani Avittam lunch

Typical Dishes prepared are :

Rice

Paruppu

Varutharccha kuzhambu ,

Tomato rasam.

Podalangai kootu

Potato spicy curry

Sakkarrai Pongal

Semiya payasam

Ulundh vadai

Ven. pongal

Cucumber pachadi

Raw moong mango kosambari

Vazhakkai podi

Pappadam

Chips

Lime pickle..

many such recipes are here in the blog, do check the recipe links index in the blog .many reicpes are already posted in Aadi pandigai and Aadi ammavasai and recipes blog posts . Click on the red links to go the blog post which has lists of many recipes

Hayagreeva Jayanthi

Hayagriva or Hayagreeva Jayanti will be observed on 30 August 2023. Haya in Sanskrit means horse and Greeva means neck. Therefore, Lord Hayagreeva believed to be one of the incarnations of Lord Vishnu.

Hayagriva, also spelt Hayagreeva is a horse-headed avatar of the Lord Vishnu in Hinduism.

Hayagreeva Jayanti is observed to remind us that on this day Lord Hayagreeva descended on earth to retrieve the Vedas from demons as they had stolen the Vedas from Lord Brahma.

Brahmatantra Swatantra Parakala Mutt is one of the sacred mutts for Srivaishnavas. Lord Sri Lakshmi Hayagreeva Swamy is the presiding deity of this shrine ,established in the year 1378.

The Mattu Gulla is large, round brinjal. Gulla means round in Tulu, the local language. It has light green stripes, thin skin and a good amount of pulp with a few seeds. The stalk has a few thorns, and this is an aspect that makes it distinct from other Gullas. It is said that saint Vaadiraja Thirta (1480-1600) used to offer a prasad called Hayagreeva Maddi (made with Bengal gram, jaggery, ghee and grated coconut) to Lord Hayagreeva (a white horse) every day.

the story goes that Sri Vadirajatheertha of sri Krishna Mutt a great devotee of Lord Hayagreeva , used to prepare this chana dal halwa , maddi for neivediya and carry it over his head , Lord Hyagreeva pleased with his devotion used to appear in the form of a white horse and eat the maddi leaving behind very little as offering .

Some of the other devotees who were jealous plotted against Vadiraja and mixed poison in the Maddi one day. The white horse ate the whole Maddi and did not leave anything for Vadiraja. The horse turned blue as did the idol of Lord Krishna at Udupi and Vadiraja was heartbroken. Shocked and disturbed by the events, Vadiraja had a dream that night where Hayagreeva explained what happened and suggested a remedy to remove the poison.

Handing over a few seeds of brinjal, Hayagreeva asked for them to be given to the Brahmins in Mattu and said that the plant would grow in 48 days. The brinjals were cooked and offered to Hayagreeva for 48 days after which the poison receded. The tradition of offering the first crop to Lord Krishna in Udupi continues to date.

Apart from the legend associated with the sweet Maddi/Hayagreeva, what is to be noted is that in the 15/16th century a new variety of Brinjal “Vadiraja Gulla”, was developed under the guidance of Vadirajaru, and it has survived to this day, thanks to the tradition.

Sri Vadirajaru, entered brindavana alive after 120 years of his service to Lord Sri Hayagreeva.

Hayagreeva maddi

Delicious Neivediyam for Lord Hayagreeva Hayagreeva Maddi

recipe

Ingredients

1 Cup chana dal

Water - 3 Cups

Powdered Jaggery - 1 and 1/4

Cup Ghee - 1/4 Cup or less.

Desiccated Coconut - 1/4 Cup ( kopra )

Cashew Nuts and some raisins - 15-20

Poppy Seeds 2 Tbsp

Cardamom Powder - 1/2 tsp

Method

• Pressure cook the dal after washing them for 3 whistles.

• Remove when cooled, and mash lightly leaving some whole dals .

• Take a pan , add the cooked dals, add little of the cooked dal water, add jaggery powder or jaggery syrup after melting and filtering ,

• allow the mixture to thicken ,

• then add the roasted dry kopra,

• add ghee fried cashew nuts and raisins add cardamom powder ,

• add the ghee rosted poppy seeds, mixwell,remove the Hayagreeva maddi , do not keep it too dry.

Watch the youtube video of this recipe from my channel .Subscribe to my youtube channel .

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