Vishu

[sherlyk]

Vishu is one of the important festivals of Kerala.

It comes in the month of April and this year it is on 14th April. It is the 1st day of the first month Medam of the New Year as per the Malayalam calendar.

Vishu marks coming of a new year with the main harvest festival throughout the state of Kerala.

It is considered propitious to view good things on this day for year round good fortune, Vishu morning is an important time. The heart of this festival of Kerala is the preparation of the kani or the lucky sight or gift.

The custom of preparing the kani has been followed for a generation which includes the following rituals.

Arranging a large dish made of bell-metal (uruli), arrange in it a grantha (palm-leaf manuscript), a gold ornament, a new cloth, some flowers from the Konna Tree (Cassia fistula), some coins in a silver cup, a split coconut, a cucumber, some mangoes and a jack-fruit by the women folk of the household.

Placing On either side of the dish two burning lamps with a chair facing it.

Taking the family members blindfolded to the dish and then removing their blindfolds to view the Vishu Kani.

Thereafter a great feast is held as a festivity of Vishu in Kerala. Vishu edibles consist of roughly equal proportions of salty, sweet, sour and bitter items. Feast items include Veppampoorasam and Mampazhapachadi
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