Preparing for Ganapathy Homam - Iyer Style
(FYI: AAHA Bhavan is my food blog's name!)
My mother, Mrs.Rajalakshmi (Radha) Parameswaran, has been doing this pooja every month (yes, you read right, every month!!) for the past 25 years. Whatever I have written down here, is thanks to her.
25*12 = 275 times is surely some experience!!
But I must add that our way of doing Ganapathy homam is the Tamil Brahmin way of doing it. Please keep that in mind.
We usually conduct Ganapathy Homam at home during the month of Karkidakom.
The month of Karkidakom is otherwise called "Ramayana Masam" or month of Ramayana. It rains and pours all through this Malayalam month. And thus everyone stays put at home.
It is said that any 'japa' (prayers) done during this month is supposed to have more than double benefit.
It is auspicious to conduct "Ganapathy Homam" and "Bhagavathy Seva" to please Lord Ganesha and Goddess Durga-Lakshmi during this month.
This is going to be a LONG post dealing with
1. the various things to buy for the pooja,
2. the prep work you can do the night before the actual early morning rituals and
3. the preparation of prasadam for the Lord early in the morning, on the day of the pooja.
At home, the prasadams prepared are 'Kootu", "Modakam" and "Appam".
Kootu is an absolute must. The other two are optional.
In the list of pooja items, some of the items may be surplus, but since they are things we can use at home, I have erred on the side of plenty than less.
List of things for the Pooja:
Turmeric Powder - 200 gms
Rice Flour (coarsely ground / puttu powder) - 1/2 kg (for kolam)
Camphor - 2 packets
Sambrani - 1 packet
Chandana thiri / Incense stick - 1 packet
Vilakku Thiri / Wick for lamp - 2 packet
Kumkumam - 1 packet
Sandalwood powder - 1 small tin
Til oil - 1 litre
Ghee - 2 bottles of 100 ml (1 for the kitchen , 1 for the priest)
Pazham / Banana (small yellow variety) - 1 bunch (set of 10-12)
Betel leaf - 12
Pakku / arecanut - 6 packets / 6 numbers
Sharkara / Jaggery - 1 kg
Malar / Popped rice / Lahya (in Hindi) - 100 gms (need 2-3 cups)
Avil / Flattened rice / Poha (in Hindi) - 100 gms (need 1 cup)
Lemon - 1, small
Dry coconut / copra - 1
Coconut - 1 (for modakam)
Cardamom - 10
Kalkandom / sugar cube - 100gms
Pacharisi / White Rice - 1/2 kg
Varali / flattened dried cow dung - 15
Mara cheepu / Wood shavings - 1 big packet
Rice husk / chaff - 1 packet
Chakiri / Coconut husk - 10 to 15
Honey - 50 ml
Various Flowers like arali (Nerium), chethi , rose, jasmine and lotus. If you can get "karuga pullu", excellent. Tulasi is used minimally during Ganapathy homam. (Why?)
Pooja Vessels:
Homa Kundom - 1
Vilakku / lamp - 1 (preferably silver)
Pacharathi -1
Ottarathi -1
Dhooparathi -1
Pancha pathrum + Rudrani -1
Small Kodam / kooja -1
Bela - 6
Thambalam - 4
Mani -1
Shangu - 1
Stand for incense stick - 1
Mat / palakai for vadhyar to sit - 1
Vishari / hand fan / newspaper (for fanning the fire) - 1
Preparation the night before:
In the pooja room:
Choose a well Ventilated place for performing the pooja. This Pooja generates a lot of smoke and this smoke cleans / purifies the house.
The Vadhyar / Priest must sit facing the east. The Homa kundom must be in front of him.
You need to have space enough to circumambulate around the holy fire + Priest.
Sweep the area where you want to do the pooja and wipe it clean with a wet cloth. See that there is no stray hair in this purified area and (preferably) do not allow anyone to walk on this place.
Say a small prayer to invoke Lord Ganesha to prevent any obstacles and draw a small kolam at the place where you plan to keep the Homa kundom.
If you want place 2 bricks and/or lay a newspaper over this kolam and then place your Homa kundom on top of it, to prevent your floor tiles from discoloring.
Draw a kolam inside the Homa kundom also.
1. Mix about 1 heaped tablespoon of sandalwood powder with just enough water to make a thick paste. Place 'pottu' / tikka on all the vessels to be used for the pooja. The Vilakku needs 2 pottu, one on either side of head. Place kumkumam on all the sandalwood tikkas. If any sandal wood paste is left, do not dispose it. It will be used the next day for the pooja.
2. Empty the rice flour and turmeric powder in containers for the priest to draw 'kalam' the next morning.
3. Keep 1 bottle of ghee (+1 dry spoon to scoop it) and the til oil at his disposal.
4. Keep the camphor, incense stick, sambrani, thiri, kumkumama, betel leaf, areca nut and bananas where he can easily see. Move 4 bananas to the kitchen for making kootu and appam.
5. Place the coconut husk, rice chaff, wood shavings and varali a little farther away spread on a newspaper.
6. In the small kodam , place good drinking water.
7. In 1 bela , mix thoroughly 3 tbsp white rice with 1 tsp of turmeric powder and very little water, to make Akshadai.
8. In another bela , empty the sugar cubes (if you have no ant problem) and add 2 crushed cardamom. Keep covered. This is for the theertham.
9. Arrange the flowers on the tambalam / large plates and sprinkle water over it. Use light fingers to distribute the water evenly. Do not press or crush.
Coconut husk , rice husk, cow dung varali, wood pieces
In the Kitchen:
Clean up the kitchen and wash the counter top.
If you are planning on making Modakam / kozhakkattai and Appam, then please soak 1 glass of white rice for each in separate vessels. So 1 glass white rice for modakam and 1 glass white rice for appam.
Keep a heavy bottomed (preferably non-stick) vessel, appa-karai and steamer washed and ready.
The Malar will have lots of rice husk / chaff. If you can remove this the night before, it would be a blessing the next morning!
The morning of the Pooja.
Pooja starts very early. If the Priest says he will be home for the pooja at 5.30 am, then please get up by 4 am. Have hair bath and change clothes before you enter the kitchen.
Light the lamp, pray and boil milk for your morning drink.
Now we begin the pooja prep.
Take the Jaggery and pound it well with a heavy stone to break it up into smaller pieces.
Take the heavy bottomed and add in 2 cups of pounded jaggery with 1 cup water. When it melts, strain to remove all the stones.
Wash the vessel and pour back in the jaggery. Keep for boiling.
Cut the dry coconut / copra into thin slivers and chop the lemon into small pieces. Cut 2 bananas also into chunks.
Add this to the boiling jaggery.
When the jaggery reduces to about 1/2, add in 1 cup of avil / flattened rice.
When the mixture becomes nearly dry , add in 2-3 cups of Malar / popped rice and turn off flame. Keep stirring every now and then, till the vessel cools down. This is your basic Kootu.
Links to preparation of Appam and Modakam are here.
Just before you give the kootu to the Vadyar for neivedyam, crumble 3-4 Modakam, 3-4 Appam into the kootu and add 1 tsp ghee and 1 tsp honey to it. Mix well.
Separate a third (1/3) of the kootu into a vessel (this is all you will get to eat, rest goes into the homa kundom).
Place both the pot in which you cooked the kootu and the portioned part before the Priest.
Place also the rest of the appam and modakam in a neat vessel for neivedyam.
After the pooja is over and Lord Ganesha has had his fill, you can enjoy your kootu, appam and Modakam!
May Lord Ganesh be with you!
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