Annaprashan Puja

The word Annaprashan comprises of two words i.e “Anna” which means “food” and “prashan” which means “feeding’. So when combined this word means “food feeding”. In Hinduism, this  ritual takes place in order  to mark the beginning of a little one’s food intake other than mother’s milk. This pious ceremony is held by providing kheer to the baby. Generally, this ceremony is performed when the baby turns about six months old i.e when the little one gets some teeth. . In Hinduism, food is considered to be pious and plays a significant role in our lives as since ancient times, humans have tried to feed themselves better. It not only nourishes our body  but also provides us the physical strength to face hard situations in our life. Therefore, this ceremony is considered sacred and it respects the importance of food and the start of its consumption  in a person’s life. This ceremony is performed by a priest In a pious ambiance at an auspicious time with a silver bowl and spoon, kheer, honey,ghee,basil leaves and holy ganga water.

• This ritual is one of the main life events in Hindu sanskar. As the name says: The word Anna means food, mostly steam rice, and Prashan means feeding someone.
• Annaprashan is the ritual which marks the first day of solid food for a baby, other than milk.
• The baby not only gets  taste of various food but she is allowed to continue solid food post this day.
• In Bengali, Annaprashan is a very highly celebrated ceremony.
• For boy child the celebration generally happens in 6^th or 8^th month and for a girl child it happens in 5^th or 7^th month.
• A puja is performed to seek blessings from the supreme God.
• After that, the ceremony is celebrated by offering a feeding a variety of dishes including sweets, rice and bread, vegetables etc to the child.
• The key purpose of the puja performed is to bless the baby with healthy life ahead.
• In mane places, it is also called mamabhat (mama=maternal uncle, bhat = steam rice), since mostly the child’s maternal uncle feeds her and introduces her to world of healthy edibles