RISING before dawn to take in the beauty of the warm glow from a few lamps in front of an altar, decked with finery like money, flowers and gold, in otherwise total darkness is an experience quite unlike any other.
On April 14, 2009, Malayalees all over the world will take in this sight as they celebrate the Malayalee New Year or Vishu.
The age-old tradition, called Vishukanni, which means “that which is first seen on Vishu”, according to Wikipedia, is the beginning of all good things that will happen in the next year.
Not in front of the children: Menon and Shailaja, who is dressed in the traditional Kerala mundu, setting up the altar the night before without the knowledge of their two children.Local playwright and director J.D. Menon, 53, and his family gave StarMetro an insight in their Vishu celebrations.
Menon sets up the Kanni materials the night before without the knowledge of his two children.
“The Kanni is auspicious and decorating the altar for this purpose is much like decorating a Christmas tree, but without our children seeing the process,” he said.
He said that if the children saw the altar in all its finesse, it would not be exciting the next day.
The altar has to have several important articles to make it complete. The main things are pictures of deities, especially Lord Krishna; a medium-sized mirror; the kasava mundu (a typical Kerala sarong with gold border); rice grains; gold; money and the Konnam Poo, which is a yellow-coloured flower.
“The mirror is decorated with a garland, so that when your face reflects in it, you will have a garland around your neck. The flower signifies the colour of gold, which reflects abundance, like the rice grains,” Menon said.
The next morning, before the sun rises, Menon lights the brass lamps at the altar before waking up his family members, one by one. He takes them to the altar with his hands covering their eyes.
“I sit them down and wet their eyelids with water; they will put their hands together in prayer and open their eyes to all the good things, including the soft glow on the deities,” he added.
After saying a prayer, Menon will give his children the Vishukaineetam, which is the equivalent of the Chinese angpow. Along with the money, precious metals like gold coins are also given. The children will then fall at their parents’ feet and seek their blessings.
To Menon’s wife Shailaja, a housewife, the Kanni is a wonderful sight that brings happiness, while their daughter Shreenithya, 12, said this was the one day in the year on which she did not mind getting up early.
“It is all about starting the new year with a bright outlook; the feeling you get when you see the Kanni is indescribable,” Shailaja, 44, said.
She added with a smile that on this day, parents would insist that their children be on their best behaviour as it is believed that if they did so, they would behave for the rest of the year.
Shailaja’s duty on Vishu is to prepare the Sadhya, a banana-leaf meal with 14 to 16 typical Kerala dishes.
However, these days, with mothers working outside the home, many families opt for fewer dishes.
Nevertheless, Shailaja managed a good 12 dishes for Vishu this year.
“The must-have for Vishu is the Aviyal, which has all the vegetables in it. We serve the food to the Gods first, before partaking of it ourselves,” she added.
Each dish has its place on the leaf and Shailaja’s son Nikhil Menon, 17, helped his mother cut the banana leaves while Shreenithya served the meal.
Among the other dishes served were Sambar (with drumstick vegetable, potato and carrots), Olan, Elsheri (pumpkin), Thoran (made from snake gourd or other vegetables), Ingi Tairu (ginger with yogurt) and Tomato Pachadi (chutney).
“Before starting the meal, a little ghee is served to purify the food that we eat,” Menon said.
The Sadhya is best shared with family and friends as it is a joyous occasion to celebrate together.
Menon said the tradition was one that should be carried out so that the future generations would know and understand their own culture.
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