Have you noticed that the flavour of food cooked on a festival day can never ever be replicated on an ordinary day! Our pujas, their rituals and their festivities add the greatest zing to our lives and will continue to do so for generations to come. Its heartening to see the ever-questioning, tech-savvy, so-called ‘detached’ gen-next, in Bhubaneswar in a totally celebratory mood for Ganesh puja.
The pre-arrangements for the puja yesterday, excited shopping for the ‘murti’ and for new clothes, the ‘chitaa’ and the decorations, then this morning, the intense, whole-hearted involvement in the puja rituals, the happy breaking of coconuts, the celebratory mood through the rituals and after, the ‘chakata’ and ‘chuda ghasa’ bhoga, the ‘podaa nadiyaa’, and the cooked prasad and the afternoon ‘khattis’ with family and friends with nostalgia reigning supreme, the planning of evening chakkers to see the ‘medhas’ and ofcourse the sad sighs that are going to emanate when the day ends, at the thought of getting back to routine – our festivals and their connected rituals are simple, pure and unique celebrations of life.
What makes our festive rituals so endearing? To me, these rituals, rich with symbolism and meaning, give a feeling of celebration, of elation, a feeling of bonding with what has been there for ages, a tryst with the roots. Going through the rituals of the Ganesh Puja today, I was overwhelmed with a feeling of connecting within – amidst the frenzied day to day existence, these probably are moments of true destressing, of finding exhilirating moments of solitude with self and a rare calmness when nothing else matters. Probably this was on the mind of the seers and designers of these rituals; they foresaw future’s mankind completely enmeshed in stressful vicissitudes and therefore prescribed these rituals as comforting antidotes to anxiety in a hostile world.
Our festive rituals are celebratory moments for sure, as also great reminders of fundamental beliefs and the humble acknowledgement of a higher force. Our festivals are days of sacred time and sacred space, and no better way than our festive rituals for expressing our reverence for nature and the universe. Rituals undoubtedly are the signposts by which we navigate life and they can be the islands from which we centre and rejuvenate ourselves. As someone beautifully said – “Ritual is the fine art of taking a break”.
