Vishu
Encyclopedia
Vishu (Tulu
:ವಿಶು) is a Hindu festival celebrated in the India
n state of Kerala
, usually on April 14 of the Gregorian calendar
. This occasion signifies the Sun's transit into the Mesha Raasi (first zodiac sign), according to Indian astrological calculations, and represents the vernal equinox. "Vishu" in Sanskrit means "equal".
Vishu is similar to the New Year festivals observed elsewhere in India such as Baisakhi (Punjab), Bihu
(Assam
), Naba Barsha (Bengal), Bisu Parba (Tulu Nadu
region which is spread in North of Kerala
and South-West Karnataka
), Vishuva Sankranti
(in Orissa
), Puthandu
(Tamil Nadu
) and Ugadi
in(Andhra Pradesh & Karnataka) .
The most important event in Vishu is the Vishukkani, which literally means " the first thing seen on the day of Vishu after waking up". The Vishukkani consists of a ritual arrangement of auspicious articles like raw rice
, fresh lemon
, golden cucumber
, betel
leaves, arecanut, metal mirror
, yellow flowers konna (Cassia fistula), and a holy text and coin
s, in a bell metal vessel called uruli
in the puja room of the house. A lighted bell metal lamp called nilavilakku
is also placed alongside. This is arranged the night before. On Vishu, the custom is to wake up at dawn and go to the puja room with eyes closed so that the Vishukkani is the first sight of the new season. Reading verses from Hindu Holy book Ramayanam after seeing the "Vishukkani" is considered auspicious. It is also believed that the page of the Ramayanam which you open up to will have a bearing on your life in the coming year. Devotees visit temples like Sabarimala
Ayyappan Temple, Guruvayur
Sree Krishna temple to have a "Vishukkani Kazhcha" in the early hours of "Vishu" day.
"Vishu" is celebrated with much fanfare and vigour in all parts of Kerala. Setting off firecrackers is part of the celebration, especially for children. People wear new clothes (Puthukodi) for the occasion and elders of the family gift money, called Vishukkaineetam, to children, servants and tenants.
Vishu is also a day of feasting. The foods consist of equal proportions of salty, sweet, sour and bitter items. Feast items include Veppampoorasam (a bitter preparation of neem
) and Mampazhapachadi (a sour mango
soup).
is seen as the head of Kaala Purusha, the God of Time. As Vishu marks the first day of the Zodiac New Year, it is an appropriate time to offer oblations to Hindu Gods.
The Vishukkani, also called Kanikanal, is inseparable from Vishu. According to the age-old belief of Malayalees, an auspicious kani (first sight) at dawn on the Vishu day is lucky for the entire year. As a result, the Vishukkani is prepared with a lot of care to make it the most positive sight so as to bring alive a wonderful, propitious and year ahead!
The responsibility of decorating the Kani belongs to the oldest lady of the house.
and Assam
, India
, In Assam, this day is called Bihu
, in Punjab Baisakhi (originally Vaishakhi), in Tamil Nadu
Tamil Puthandu or Vishu punyakalam. Tuluva
s celebrate Bisu.
Tulu language
The Tulu language |?]]]) is a Dravidian language spoken by 1.95 million native speakers mainly in the southwest part of Indian state Karnataka known as Tulu Nadu. In India, 1.72 million people speak it as their mother tongue , increased by 10 percent over the 1991 census...
:ವಿಶು) is a Hindu festival celebrated in the India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n state of Kerala
Kerala
or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....
, usually on April 14 of the Gregorian calendar
Gregorian calendar
The Gregorian calendar, also known as the Western calendar, or Christian calendar, is the internationally accepted civil calendar. It was introduced by Pope Gregory XIII, after whom the calendar was named, by a decree signed on 24 February 1582, a papal bull known by its opening words Inter...
. This occasion signifies the Sun's transit into the Mesha Raasi (first zodiac sign), according to Indian astrological calculations, and represents the vernal equinox. "Vishu" in Sanskrit means "equal".
Vishu is similar to the New Year festivals observed elsewhere in India such as Baisakhi (Punjab), Bihu
Bihu
Bihu denotes a set of three different cultural festivals of Assam and celebrated by the Assamese diaspora around the world. Though they owe their origins to ancient rites and practices they have taken definite urban features and have become popular festivals in urban and commercialized milieus in...
(Assam
Assam
Assam , also, rarely, Assam Valley and formerly the Assam Province , is a northeastern state of India and is one of the most culturally and geographically distinct regions of the country...
), Naba Barsha (Bengal), Bisu Parba (Tulu Nadu
Tulu Nadu
Tulu Nadu is a Tulu-speaking region spread over to parts of present Karnataka and Kerala States of India. It consists of the Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts of Karnataka and the northern parts of the Kasaragod district of Kerala up to the Payaswini River...
region which is spread in North of Kerala
Kerala
or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....
and South-West Karnataka
Karnataka
Karnataka , the land of the Kannadigas, is a state in South West India. It was created on 1 November 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act and this day is annually celebrated as Karnataka Rajyotsava...
), Vishuva Sankranti
Vishuva Sankranti
Pana Sankranti or Maha Vishuva Sankranti , also known as Mesha Sankranti and Pana Sankranti, is celebrated as the Oriya New Year. The day marks the beginning of the New Year in the traditional Hindu Solar Calendar. On this day the sun enters the sidereal Aries or Mesha rashi. It generally falls on...
(in Orissa
Orissa
Orissa , officially Odisha since Nov 2011, is a state of India, located on the east coast of India, by the Bay of Bengal. It is the modern name of the ancient nation of Kalinga, which was invaded by the Maurya Emperor Ashoka in 261 BC. The modern state of Orissa was established on 1 April...
), Puthandu
Puthandu
Puthandu , or better known as Tamil New Year, is the celebration of the first day of the Tamil new year in mid-April by Tamils in Tamil Nadu, in Pondicherry in India, in Sri Lanka and by the Tamil population in Malaysia, Singapore, Reunion Island and Mauritius. People in the world greet each other...
(Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...
) and Ugadi
Ugadi
Yugadi or Ugadi or "Samvatsradi" , Konkani/Marathi: युगादी yugādi, , formed by sandhi of yuga "age" and ādi "beginning": the beginning of an age) is the New Year's Day for the people of the Deccan region of India. It falls on the different day every year because the Hindu calendar is a lunisolar...
in(Andhra Pradesh & Karnataka) .
The most important event in Vishu is the Vishukkani, which literally means " the first thing seen on the day of Vishu after waking up". The Vishukkani consists of a ritual arrangement of auspicious articles like raw rice
Rice
Rice is the seed of the monocot plants Oryza sativa or Oryza glaberrima . As a cereal grain, it is the most important staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and the West Indies...
, fresh lemon
Lemon
The lemon is both a small evergreen tree native to Asia, and the tree's ellipsoidal yellow fruit. The fruit is used for culinary and non-culinary purposes throughout the world – primarily for its juice, though the pulp and rind are also used, mainly in cooking and baking...
, golden cucumber
Cucumber
The cucumber is a widely cultivated plant in the gourd family Cucurbitaceae, which includes squash, and in the same genus as the muskmelon. The plant is a creeping vine which bears cylindrical edible fruit when ripe. There are three main varieties of cucumber: "slicing", "pickling", and...
, betel
Betel
The Betel is the leaf of a vine belonging to the Piperaceae family, which includes pepper and Kava. It is valued both as a mild stimulant and for its medicinal properties...
leaves, arecanut, metal mirror
Aranmula kannadi
An Aranmula kannadi or Aranmula metal mirror is a special type of mirror produced at Aranmula, a village in the state of Kerala in India. Composed of a special metal alloy, instead of glass, the Aranmula kannadi is a front surface reflection mirror, which eliminates secondary reflections and...
, yellow flowers konna (Cassia fistula), and a holy text and coin
Coin
A coin is a piece of hard material that is standardized in weight, is produced in large quantities in order to facilitate trade, and primarily can be used as a legal tender token for commerce in the designated country, region, or territory....
s, in a bell metal vessel called uruli
Uruli
Uruli is a traditional cookware used in Kerala . It is circular in shape and is made of bell metal . Urulis are used in restaurants, and special occasions to cook large amounts of food....
in the puja room of the house. A lighted bell metal lamp called nilavilakku
Nilavilakku
Nilavilakku is a lighted bell metal traditional lamp used commonly in Kerala, South India. Nilam in the Malayalam language means ground and Vilakku means lamp. Nilam and vilakku have exactly the same meaning in the older cognate Tamil language. Nilavilakku is the symbol of Shiva LingaThe...
is also placed alongside. This is arranged the night before. On Vishu, the custom is to wake up at dawn and go to the puja room with eyes closed so that the Vishukkani is the first sight of the new season. Reading verses from Hindu Holy book Ramayanam after seeing the "Vishukkani" is considered auspicious. It is also believed that the page of the Ramayanam which you open up to will have a bearing on your life in the coming year. Devotees visit temples like Sabarimala
Sabarimala
Sabarimala is a Hindu pilgrimage center located in the Western Ghat mountain ranges of Pathanamthitta District in Kerala. It is the largest annual pilgrimage in India with an estimated 45–50 million devotees visiting every year. Sabarimala is believed to be the place where the Hindu God Ayyappan...
Ayyappan Temple, Guruvayur
Guruvayur
Guruvayur is a municipal town in Thrissur District, of Kerala State in India. It houses the famous Guruvayur Sree Krishna Temple, the fourth biggest temple in India in terms of the number of devotees per day.-History:Guruvayur, according to the legends may be 5,000 years old as the Guruvayur...
Sree Krishna temple to have a "Vishukkani Kazhcha" in the early hours of "Vishu" day.
"Vishu" is celebrated with much fanfare and vigour in all parts of Kerala. Setting off firecrackers is part of the celebration, especially for children. People wear new clothes (Puthukodi) for the occasion and elders of the family gift money, called Vishukkaineetam, to children, servants and tenants.
Vishu is also a day of feasting. The foods consist of equal proportions of salty, sweet, sour and bitter items. Feast items include Veppampoorasam (a bitter preparation of neem
Neem
Azadirachta indica is a tree in the mahogany family Meliaceae. It is one of two species in the genus Azadirachta, and is native to India growing in tropical and semi-tropical regions. Its fruits and seeds are the source of neem oil...
) and Mampazhapachadi (a sour mango
Mango
The mango is a fleshy stone fruit belonging to the genus Mangifera, consisting of numerous tropical fruiting trees in the flowering plant family Anacardiaceae. The mango is native to India from where it spread all over the world. It is also the most cultivated fruit of the tropical world. While...
soup).
Tradition
The Malayalam word kani literally means "that which is seen first", so "Vishukkani" means "that which is seen first on Vishu". Arranged in the family puja room the night before by the mother in the family, the Vishukkani is a panorama of auspicious items, including flowers, fruits, vegetables, clothes and gold coins. In Jyotiṣa(Indian astrology), VishnuVishnu
Vishnu is the Supreme god in the Vaishnavite tradition of Hinduism. Smarta followers of Adi Shankara, among others, venerate Vishnu as one of the five primary forms of God....
is seen as the head of Kaala Purusha, the God of Time. As Vishu marks the first day of the Zodiac New Year, it is an appropriate time to offer oblations to Hindu Gods.
Solar New Year
Although Vishu is not traditionally celebrated as a New Year in the Malayalam Calender, the day is often considered as the first day of Zodiac Calendar.Malayalam Calendar and Vishu
In the Malayalam Calendar, the new year starts on the first day of Chingam,which comes in August or September. However people in the Malabar area consider Vishu the astrological new year. They ask Vishu Kani to bring luck and prosperity for the year starting from Vishu Day Medam 1st.Vishukkani or Kanikanal
The responsibility of decorating the Kani belongs to the oldest lady of the house.
Vishu Kanji
Saddhya is a major part of all Kerala festivals. However, Vishu Kanji and Thoran are more important during Vishu. The Kanji is made of rice, coconut milk and spices. For Thoran, the side dish, there are also mandatory ingredients.Vishu Padakkam
Fireworks are an important part of Vishu celebration in many parts of North Kerala. In the morning and the previous evening, children enjoy setting off firecrackers.Other Indian celebrations
Similar festivals are celebrated in PunjabPunjab (India)
Punjab ) is a state in the northwest of the Republic of India, forming part of the larger Punjab region. The state is bordered by the Indian states of Himachal Pradesh to the east, Haryana to the south and southeast and Rajasthan to the southwest as well as the Pakistani province of Punjab to the...
and Assam
Assam
Assam , also, rarely, Assam Valley and formerly the Assam Province , is a northeastern state of India and is one of the most culturally and geographically distinct regions of the country...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, In Assam, this day is called Bihu
Bihu
Bihu denotes a set of three different cultural festivals of Assam and celebrated by the Assamese diaspora around the world. Though they owe their origins to ancient rites and practices they have taken definite urban features and have become popular festivals in urban and commercialized milieus in...
, in Punjab Baisakhi (originally Vaishakhi), in Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...
Tamil Puthandu or Vishu punyakalam. Tuluva
Tuluva
The Tuluva -Geographic Distribution :Though most of the Tuluva population is found in the Tulu Nadu region, migrant poplulations are found the world over. In recent times, the first period of migration started at the beginning of the 20th century to places such as Mumbai and Chennai and other...
s celebrate Bisu.