Basumati Snana - Purifying Mother Earth
For nourishing all the living beings - we have come from the soil and we will end up in the soil.
Today is Basumati Snana, the concluding ceremony of Raja Festival in which Mother Earth is purified, like a woman after her menstruating period. It's another unique ritual of my place in which a symbolic bathe is given to Mother Earth, by keeping the grinding stone ( that represents Mother Earth) and other accessories and adorning it with turmeric paste, vermilion and flowers. The bathe is intended to purify the Mother Earth praying for its fertility to bring good results of agricultural activities in the upcoming monsoon season.
Our rituals are very powerful reflecting deep-rooted traditions and cultural pride, in which we first give rest to the mother and then pray her to rejuvenate, establishing strong faith in her - the soil from which everything is borne - we all have come from the soil and we will end up in the soil, isn't it ?
This concludes the three day long Raja Festival, that involved some nice time including some mouth watering food prepared by the lady.
This mouth watering cake had to be prepared with caution, using a proprietary method and I provided a helping hand to the lady.
She prepared the batter and asked me to ferment it for ten minutes. And then it was steam cooked after putting stuffs inside the batter and placing in that container, and cover it.
Kids love this authentic food but since all three days were supposed to be celebrated with good food, she also prepared food of their choice on demand - Chicken Biriyani and Chicken curry.
Again, she had to keep the restrictions in mind - we try to be moderate in keeping the demand of kids, you can't teach the current generation forcibly.
And I did bring her the Raja Pana (sweet betel) - a cherished treat that is available only during these three days.
You can't resist after seeing these ingredients being used to prepare that Raja Pana - now a days they sell several varieties of this, some with fancy aromas of sandalwood costing the highest. The ones I bought cost 25 rupees each, which was still at higher side, but since this is a part time business from which some people earn a living, people don't mind paying a little extra.
So this officially brings the Monsoon season at my place and respite from the scorching heat waves. I will now have to plan some preparatory activities for the garden - after all, staying close to the soil and farming has a whole different charm - only those people can understand who experience it.
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Life is an eternal return to the source. Here nurturing the soil mirrors nurturing ourselves. "Basumati snana" is the cradle and conclusion of life. Our rituals demonstrate the interconnectedness of life with nature.
Raja for us is nothing but the rhythms of rest and renewal where mother earth rejuvenates and nourishes.
Let's pray for good rain this year post "Basumati Snan" so that agri economy in Oisha thrives.
Thank you.
Jai Jagannath
🙏🙏🙏
How nice to know something about the festival and rituals from your place. I really didn't knew anything about Basumati Snana before coming across this blog of yours.
That line really hits deep. I myself believe in it and it is so true and yet, sadly, the current generation barely gets the time or space to reflect on such things.
I want to ask you something, do you think rituals like this still hold the power to reconnect today's generation with nature, divinity that is believed by the people of past generation and our cultural roots because now the world is moving faster than ever and most of the kids or teens are busy giving their life to the technologies.
Thank you for this beautiful post and yes I forgot to mention that the cake looks really delicious.
What these technologies have done for peace of mind ? Can they invent something for that ? Can technology generate something to guarantee happiness, no stress, good sleep ? The answer lies only in our cultural roots and divinity - our culture has something that science and technology can't even explain.
I agree with you that what our culture teach us can't be replaced by the science and technology. Being a mother what I think is that the parents themselves make their kids use to these technologies and that is why they even start finding peace in those things but the truth is that it is not really the peace, it just make them get used to those things like drugs.
I think teaching them from the time when they are kids is what most of the parents are not doing in this time. They feel backward ( sadly ) in telling the culture and traditions which are actually beautiful.
Also as you mentioned, it is most importantly a key reasons why we learn to stay away from stress and also take some good sleep. A healthy sleep cycle is missing from all the current generations kids.
Another wonderful tradition. Do the youngsters get involved. Over here many things are dying out as the youngsters don't care about things.
Same trend here as well, youngsters don't care much about these traditions...
The food it makes me starve, a beautiful place and a wonderful culture
Whenever I remember that dust we came from and dust we will return, it always makes me to live my life carefully
That cake looks sooo good! I can imagine the aroma while it’s being steamed! I used to help my lola in the kitchen during fiesta time, and this reminds me of those fun (and yummy) days!
Yummy, steam cooking is such a healthy way to prepare food. It's cool you're taking the time to ferment the batter first, I bet it adds amazing flavor and texture too 🤤
Good morning, dear friend @sanjeevm, how are you?
I love your cultures; they are very respectful and always pay tribute to important things. This celebration is beautiful. I hope the next harvests will be abundant for the agricultural people of your country.
Thank you so much for sharing these significant events.
Have a happy and prosperous week.
India has such a rich and beautiful culture and one thing I love about them is this heritage is still practiced till today, that's really beautiful 😍
Wow, that does look like some really good food! The colors in the one plate are just amazing!
I like how all those festivals involves very good food all togheter!
I hope you enjoyed celebrating the Raja Festival with the ladies of your household.
What a beautiful celebration.
Thank you so much, Mr. @sanjeevm, for sharing these beautiful traditions and the gorgeous photographs you took.
What a beautiful tradition. The connection between honoring Mother Earth's cycles and agricultural prosperity is so meaningful. These ancient rituals really show how our ancestors understood the deep relationship between respecting nature and successful farming. Thanks for sharing this wisdom
The traditions, the food, and the family involvement all weave together into such a beautiful tapestry of culture and care. Thank you for sharing this beautiful glimpse into the Basumati Snana.
I'm not aware of this celebration, but our mother earth really needs to be purified and cleansed.
!BEER #PEPE #TRIBES
Beautiful and colorful, just like our mother earth!
I never heard about that ceremony....but it sounds so interesting and pure.... thanks for sharing 😊
You celebrate these rituals and festivals with great enthusiasm! That's really interesting and amazing. The efforts and the hardwork which is being put up by you all is really worth it! Great work!
I love how you practice your traditions in India
It’s good that you always share about your traditions with us
Love to see the colors❤️
I once watched a video of how to make Raja Pana on YouTube
Looks really good
It’s so good that you are proud of your culture
Well done
Excellent purification for Mother Earth and surely you will be blessed for this next harvest which will be very beneficial for all of you so you can enjoy the goodness that it offers us.
A very happy Basumati Snana and may the purification of Mother Earth give you many blessings
yummy looking pie!! 🤤😜 and that sand/art display is so striking too!
Happy Basumati Snana and well, after the purification of Mother Earth, everything is ready for the beginning of the planting season for you, so it will be, let's say, the season you have waited for the most.
Events that happen are memorable and should be celebrated, just as we see you celebrating every event of your culture.
traditions are always attach us to our roots, they are good.
That's nice look tasty. Have a great day 😊
Do tasty and healthy food
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