Pachai podal in our home

Pachai podal in our home

By

PR.Ramachander

WE do this on one of the Fridays of the Adi month. The normal Ammi Kuzhavi is made into statue of Ambal , we need to collect neem leaves , Hibiscus flowers(Chemaruthi) , A banana leaf before hand In the morning rice is soaked and slightly dried.THis is powdered and sieved in the early morning .Jaggery is added to the sieved rice flour and two balls are made out of it . On the top of the rice ball make a small depression, fill it with ghee and place a wick(thiri) on it

Take the Ammi kuzhavi and do abhishekam to it with water , sandal paste, tender coconut water , milk, as well curd. Dress up the Ammi Kuzhavi with a silk cloth. Put Pottu as well as eyes to the Goddess. Keep the neem leaves , hibiscus flowers and other flowers round the Amman Keep both the balls of Jaggery and rice flour in front of Amman .Light them. Break a coconut in to two pieces keep it near the burning lights Once the wicks stop burning, , show camphor and complete the poojai. The Mavu as well as thin slices of coconut are given as prasadam

There are several Pachai Nayaki amman temples in Tamil Nadu and it is practice in all Amman temples to light Maa vilakku .,The nearest Pachai Nayagi Amman for Kerala is in Perur near Coimbatore .Possibly this Pachai podal is in memory of that worship which we used to do in our native villages. Since we do not have stone idol , the Ammi kuzhavi takes up the role of the goddess