Festival - Varalakshmi Pooja or Vratham

Varamahalakshmi Pooja and Vratham (Varalakshmi nonbu in Tamil) is one of the most important festivals celebrated on a Friday of Sravan month. It is considered more auspicious if there is a full moon also on that day.  We have different customs  traditions and dialects in India and so naturally women in various parts of India may celebrate this festival in different methods or according to their family customs.  This is also important because this is one of the few festivals where mother-in-law and daughter-in-law perform the pooja together.  How I celebrate this festival, Varamahalakshmi decoration ideas will be covered in this small article.

This post may have answers to - How to perform Varalakshmi Vratham or Puja,  to make a cotton garland,  to make flower decorations,  to make an aarti plate decoration,  to draw some rangoli designs,  to perform punar pooja, how to make kheer and poli, to make a simple toran or thoranam with mango leaves

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1. Preparation of the Pooja Mantap- We have an old mantap made from rose wood that has been used for Varalakshmi Pooja and Ganesh Chathurthi for many decades in our family.  The mantap is washed so that it becomes clean.  It is then decorated with rangoli borders on all four sides and at the centre we draw an auspicious rangoli - Hridaya Kamalam or Aishwarya Kolam with a kaavi border. To the front columns of the mantap are attached plantain plants and a maavilai thoranam.  If they are not easily available replicas made from brass are used.
                                               

A sample thoranam decoration for Varalakshmi vratham mantap, below.  The mango leaves have been cut so that all the elements of the thoranam (festoon) are of the same length. How to make a thoranam - please go to toran or thoranam for decoration in Rangolisansdots

2.Performing the pooja

We place a plantain leaf  inside the mantap with  rice on it.  Then we place the khalasam on which the face of Goddess Lakshmi is carved facing east.  We fill it with,(sambha) wheat grains,  silver, gold, dry fruits, picholai and karugamani. The mouth of the khalasam is decorated with maavilai and  thazhampoo alternately.  Then we place a coconut on the top smeared with turmeric powder.  Kumkum is also applied on the coconut. This is then decorated with five types of flowers and gold ornaments.
 Yellow thread (or dhaaram ) one for each lady member is placed near the Goddess.
 Pooja to  Lord Ganesh (or Ganapathi ) is done to an image made from turmeric mixed with a little water. Then the main Pooja is conducted according our family customs and traditions.  For those starting anew many books are available.  We  fast from the morning till the pooja is completed.
After completion  the yellow thread is tied to our right hand by another lady member of the family.  Kumkum is applied to the knot and on the forehead.  We have a betel leaf , nut and fruit combination placed on the right palm. . We do not fast at night.  We remove the yellow thread only after Vijayadasami.

The yellow petals are of thazampoo ( I understand it is called fragrant screw pine in English, kevada in Hindi, kedage or Tale Hoovu in Kannada).  As the name suggests the fragrance of the flower is divine.  We place five petals of thazampoo and five mango leaves alternately in the khalasam rim as shown in the photo.  The coconut is then placed in these leaves.



We use four types of flowers - marigold (saamandhi poo), jasmine (malli), mullai (also from jasmine family), winter jasmine (jaadhi malli). We use roses and kadhambam (a combination of flowers) for decoration

In the evening, aarthi is performed to Lakshmi , ladies nearby and relatives are invited and thamboolam with coconut is given. A glass of milk is also offered to them.  My mother used to place green colour bangles for all members of the family at the feet of the Goddess (i.e khalasam ) and that were distributed the very next day.  Since we were a big joint family, then, it was really a festive atmosphere.


The khalasam shown above has the face of the Goddess etched on it.  I am told that this is uncommon.Goddess is adorned with gold jewels to show our gratitude for Her blessings.

The images below give some ideas of the things required for performing this Vratham or Puja i.e fruits, flowers, the yellow thread with a thazhampoo petal.



We can also use artificial or imitation jewellery for Pooja. ( made for this purpose -  if it made by us - it gives us a lot of satisfaction) Some of the jewellery made by me and used in various decorations are in the image below.  Trinkets in various designs are available ready-made  They have to be assembled  into a necklace.  Our imagination is the key to get the final design.  Also, it is  time-consuming and needs lots of patience. I hope to have a separate post for these jewellery and that will be in the future. Navratri and Dasara festival season is also important for use of artificial jewellery for decoration.
 We also use a poo jadai for the Goddess. How to make the poo jadai - check the link in Rangoli-sans-dots . Poo jadai was an important decoration for children few decades back for Navratri festival! A simple poo - jadai for Varalakshmi Vratham - cut a thick board in the form of a "jadai " - place already strung jasmine or similar flowers and sew to the board.  On either side sew colourful roses ( yellow, orange etc ) as shown.  The result a beautiful decoration for Goddess Lakshmi.





A simple rangoli is also drawn at the doorway on the right hand side, a azhakku ( a vessel used to measure rice) is filled with rice and jaggery is placed on the top.  Above this the khalasam is placed. The azhakku is pushed with the khalasm symbolically representing entry of Lakshmi into our house. Aarthi is performed to the Goddess welcoming her into the house. A song on Lakshmi is played in the background and the Puja is performed placing the khalasam in the mantap.
The image on the left gives an idea how Goddess Lakshmi is welcomed into the house. From the entrance to the mantap two small feet are drawn to depict entry of Goddess into our house. (As we draw for Krishna Jayanthi or Janmashtami )
The actual welcome to Godess Lakshmi khalasam with aarti on the left

The images from this year Varalakshmi vratham and pooja done by me, including Yamuna kalasam, aarti, Pooja and neivedhiyam.

A simple puja plate decoration method




This is a home made aarti plate decoration.  Use a clean plate.  Draw the rangoli designs with cotton bud dipped in honey.  Sprinkle rangoli powder on the plate.  Tap it to remove excess powder to get the aarti decoration.  A simple easy yet beautiful way of performing a pooja and aarti.  A simple aarti plate decoration like the one above can also be used for Navaratri or Diwali thali decoration.

Kheer or payasam is also important in celebrating this festival.  The following two items (paruppu urundai morkozhambu and aamaivadai) are also important in the celebration of Varalakshmi Pooja for that matter any festival like Lakshmi Puja, Ugadi, Navaratri, Ganesh Chathurthi and any other vratham .                                  

Puran poli is an important recipe for Varalakshmi vratham.  Puran is prepared using gram dhal, jaggery in the ratio 1: 0.3 (approximately, according to one's taste), very little nutmeg  (powder). Gram dhal is cooked well and ground in a mixer after draining the excess water. Place a kadai on a stove, add a teaspoon  ghee, add the mashed gram dhal and powdered jaggery and cook on a low/medium flame.  Add nutmeg powder.  Stir well till  it reaches a stage where it does not stick to the kadai.  Remove it from the stove and keep aside.













Add 2.5 measure wheat flour to 1 measure maida, turmeric powder and a pinch of salt, mix water to prepare dough.  It should be semi-solid and should not  have the same consistency as that of  chappathi dough.  Immerse it in oil for three hours.  Take a rolling pin and board, cover the rolling board with a thin white cloth.  Roll the dough as you do for roti.  Add some pooran on the dough, close the dough on all sides and again roll after dipping in rice flour, making the poli as thin as possible.  Heat on a tava with ghee.  Pooran poli is ready.
What to do the next day after Varalakshmi Pooja or Vratham
The next day a brief pooja is  performed (called Punar Pooja), the khalasam is moved a little from its original position.  We pray that Goddess should bless us to perform the Pooja every year.  We place the khalasam inside a rice container (any container where we usually store rice).  The coconut is removed the kernel is used to make a sweet - coconut burfi on any other sweet and is distributed to the family along with the dry fruits that we place inside the khalasam.   The jewels that adorn the Goddess are removed and worn by the lady members of the family


The coconut kernel is grated and ground fine in a mixer in a few seconds.  One measure of grated kernel needs one measure of sugar.  Take some water (50ml approx)  in a vanali ( a flat vessel) and add sugar.  Wait till the sugar dissolves and then add the grated coconut.  Keep stirring.  Add two teaspoons ghee and cardamom (elakkai) powder. Cashew nuts are optional.  Almonds have been shown above only for plating.  They are not needed.  Continue stirring upto the stage the burfi does not stick to the vessel.  Medium flame is recommended.  Take a plate and grease it with ghee, pour the semi-solid burfi on the plate and tap gently.  Cut when it is hot to get the rhombus shaped (or any other shape) burfi.

Some related posts are

• How to make a cotton garland
• How to make a thoranam
• Payasam for festivals
• Rangoli for Puja room
• How to string roses for a garland