Upanayanam

I went for an upanayanam (sacred thread ceremony) of one of my young second cousins. The boy was about nine years old, and was clueless about what was happening to him! They did a lot of seemingly weird rites there, so I decided to read up about them, just for curiosity’s sake. I unearthed quite a few interesting details, in this book called Engey Brahmananan? (where is a Brahmin?) by Cho.

So during the upanayanam, the boy is adorned with a white thread. Three white threads intertwined, actually. They are supposed to denote strength, ignorance and knowledge. To give the strength to drive away ignorance using knowledge! He stands on a stone after accepting the thread, praying that his heart will be like an immovable rock if any obstacles come up while he is seeking knowledge. The shlokas chanted during the ceremony are prayers for the well being of all life. Yes, not just the boy, but all life, from plants to animals to other people. Not once does a specific god’s name pop up. It’s all about nature! The most important mantra, the Gayathri mantra, is about the sun, who is supposed to purge all evil. The father ‘passing on’ this knowledge to the sun is the most important part of the upanayanam, the Brahmopadesam.

These days, the function has become a formality. A lot of purohits are called in for conducting the function. They sit there with the money they are making in mind. The father does not know anything about Sanskrit, and approximately repeats what the purohit says, all the time wondering what his guests are doing and what they are thinking about him. The son, knows even lesser Sanskrit, is superbly irritated by the smoke and all that he is made to do (no food in between mind you) and finally, he could not care less about the thread! It will probably come off in about a week.
It is given a miss in some families, which I think is better than a farcical rendering of the same. If the family is bent on it, they should explain the whole thing to the kid and ask him for what he wishes to do, rather than stuff it down his throat this way! This function started at five in the morning and went on till nine, and I can tell you, the poor boy was not happy.