Shree Varalakshmi Puja

Varalakshmi Puja or Vradham is a Hindu festival that is celebrated on a Friday preceding Poornima | Full Moon in the Aavani Tamil Month. This is the same as Sravana Month. Normally this falls in July - August. This year Shree Varalakshmi Puja falls on 12th August 2016.

As the name suggests, this Puja is of the Goddess Lakshmi, the consort of God Vishnu. It is a belief that Varalakshmi Puja is equivalent to worshiping all the eight divine forms of Lakshmi known as "Ashtalakshmi". The eight divine forms are that of - "Siri" - Wealth, "Bhu" - Earth, "Saraswati" - Learning, "Preeti" - Love, "Keerthi" - Fame, "Shanti" - Peace, "Santhushti" - Pleasure and "Pushti" - Strength.

Married women perform this puja seeking the Goddess blessings for their family and friends.

I fondly recall this day right from childhood till date, as Amma with full enthusiasm will observe this Vradham.

The preparation for this puja starts 2 days before at our place. First Appa will check if all the LED Light bulbs are working fine. Else, when we go to buy fresh flowers, the lights too are mentioned in the list. We get specific flowers Kewda and Lotus along with the seasonal best available. Along with that 4 plantain branches are bought. It is a sight to relish the way Appa will select the best and negotiate the price with our "Pookaran Uncle"  - Flower Shop Owner, at Chembur - Padma Florist, an art which I am still a novice to. This association with Pookaran Uncle is nearly 3 decades  young and so he is like our family member! Then Appa will gather up the tender Mango leaves which our building Security will gladly help to get from our building Mango tree! All pooja elements like Incense Stick, dhoop, camphor, naivedhyam ingredients, fruits will be stocked. Pooja vessels will be polished.

On the eve of the Puja, i.e., Thursday, we will all be busy making garlands, Toran - made with Mango Leaves and Marigold flowers, setting up the stage for the Goddess Varalakshmi to reside on the Puja day. Appa and I then will arrange the lights, check the effects and then with Amma's approval set the final arrangement. Before going to bed, Amma will help with the Kolam that we create outside our residence door. All the while it is a joyful atmosphere.

In the wee hours of the Puja day, i.e., Friday, Amma gets up by 3 am. Once she has refreshed she will wake me up by around 4 am and I after my "5 minutes" raga, will finally be up around 4.15 am and refreshed by 4.30 am. By then Amma would have started with making all the naivedhyam -

Sweets - Nai Payasam, Tirumadhuram, Nai Appam, Poornam Kozhukattai.

Savouries - Ulundu Kozhukattai, Ammini Kozhukattai, Medu Vada, Idli and Lemon Rice.

I will be juggling by giving the final touches to the stage, helping Amma as the Souz chef, cleaning up the vessels so that Kitchen is clean, waking up Appa on time for his medicine. Each time I am in awe at how Amma manages all this and for me she is my "Ashtalakshmi"! 

Finally, Amma and I will assemble the Goddess Varalakshmi - with a a silver face of the Goddess, silver kalasham, a cup of raw rice inside the silver kalasham, coconut, mango Leaves and the dress that Amma designs for the Goddess. Once done, we deck up our dear Goddess with her jewelry and garlands. As we do this Appa would be in action by taking care that all the Lamps are with the wicks and ghee doused.

At the auspicious time, we take our Goddess Varalakshmi and place her on the Kolam that we have created outside our door. The Goddess faces our door, seeking entry to our residence and thus into our lives. With an Aarti and a song, Amma and I with immense joy and peace in our hearts, bring in Goddess Varalaskshmi and place her gently on the stage we have created just for Her!

Thereafter Amma will commence the Puja by first worshiping dearest Gampu and then Goddess Varalakshmi by reciting the Varalakshmi Ashtotaram shlokas. The entire atmosphere is surreal and divine. I guess that is peace! A feeling of abundance in all ways - be it positive thoughts to the hope that all that happens is for the best and only good and positive will reach me as I too share the good and positive with my fellow beings!

Once Puja is done Appa will give Amma a coconut with beetel leaves and haldi-kumkum which as Amma holds, Appa will tie the sacred yellow thread around Amma's right wrist. Thereafter Amma will hand over the same to me and as I hold the coconut et al, Amma will tie another sacred yellow thread on my right wrist. This is done for all the beautiful damsels who are present for the puja.

Normally our relatives join us for Puja and we all call it as our "Annual date". We all enjoy a festive lunch. After the puja, Amma will whip up an awesome lunch - my superwoman! A sambar and a sabzi and steamed rice, papadams and pickles. These along with all the naivedhyam prasad is a rich lunch. Then Amma will prepare prasadam carry bags which Appa will give to the Security and team to enjoy.

In the afternoon Amma will then make naivedhyam for the evening puja which could be either some Sundal or a Sweet or sometimes both!

Sundal - Channa Dal Sundal, Pattani Sundal, Kabuli Channa Sundal, Kadalai Sundal

Sweet - Karamani Sweet Sundal, Rava Ladoo, RaMaa Ladoo, Pottukadalai Urrundai, ..

As evening draws in, all our family and friends who could not make it for the Puja, come to seek the blessings of the Goddess Varalakshmi. Amma then offers them haldi-kumkum and prasadam. Appa is the excited host as he will ensure all the light effects are proper, each guest is comfortable and every one has had prasadam. Few guests sing lovely classical songs in ode to Goddess Varalakshmi and the whole evening is really magical. The ambience of joy, music, good positive vibrations, lovely prasadam made by Amma...worth the entire 2 days of planning and execution.

Finally when its just us and the Goddess, we will relish her presence in silence, say our night prayers. In the morning, the next day, after seeing Her to our heart's content yet again with an aarti Amma will then slowly and gently place the Goddess Varalakshmi's silver face in her box along with the raw rice from the silver kalasham, praying for her to grace us, our family and friends till she comes visiting us next year! This raw rice is then used by Amma while making Naivedhyam for Gokulashtami!

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About C R Meena

(c) 2014 - 2016, Meena's Taste Mantra is the result of my ardent desire to share my recipes, with all who appreciate and celebrate food. These recipes are as a result of 60 years of cooking experience, influenced by tradition and exposure to various concepts, new recipes/ingredients and a passion for cooking - adapting to healthier alternatives.