On Sun, Jun 7, 2009 at 5:19 PM, Anil Kumar <[email protected]>wrote:
> Apologies! I posted this earlier without editing the subject. I receive > Silk postings in digest format. > > In Kannada Madhva Brahmin lunches [i mean those traditional ones where a > complete course is served on plantain leaf] it is mandatory to dab a drop > or > two of ghee on the leaf before serving anything else, followed by a serving > of payasa / kheer [a sweet dish] and only then the other servings follow. > This practice is only for a shubha samaradhane or happy ceremony. The rule > apparently does not apply in case the lunch is on account of a death > ceremony, then salt is first served onto the leaf. That's interesting > > > Irrespective of the nature of the event, it is bad manners to commence > eating until the last dish has been served on the leaf which again is a > drop > of ghee on the white rice. Then, wait for a signal from an elder or the > host to commence eating. For Brahmins (only men of course) , after sitting down at the palm leaf, and after the meal has been served up to the rice part (before the sambar) it is mandatory to take a palmful of water, take it around the leaf clockwise three times with the water dribbling around (probably to purify the food?), saying, or rather muttering, the Gayatri mantra (I think). Then, the man says, "achyuthAya namaha, ananthAya namaha, gOvindAya namaha, Om shri kEshava nArAyaNA mAdhava gOvinda vishNu madhusoodhana thrivikra vAmana .... (Mohan is not sure how the rest of it goes, it's so long since he did it), touch the finger to the navel (residence of Brahma), the chest (residence of Vishnu) and the forehead (residence of Shiva)...and then start eating. At the end of the meal, also, there is a "prOkshaNam", where water is sprinkled around the leaf....I suppose this is a kind of thanksgiving for the food....since all the men I know only mutter this to themselves, and hardly anyone does it any more except for priests or brahmins called home to a feast for religious reasons, I don't know it properly....it's always been meaningless mumbo-jumbo to me. Will find out soon, in detail. Deepa. > > > -Anil KUMAR >
