Cradle Ceremony

awesome cradle deco, the swans are holding the cradle.

One of the very first ceremonies for the baby is cradle ceremony or "uyyala" in Telugu. As per our tradition we do it on 11th or 21st day checking out for auspicious time and date without Rahu Kalam or Durmuhurtam.

These days kids are put in a cradle the moment they are born in the hospitals but officially we have a little ceremony in which the elders in the family put the kid in the cradle and swing it three times.

Procedure 1
First clean the cradle, apply turmeric and vermilion (pasupu kumkum) and decorate it with flowers or whatever and place taamboolam in the four corners of the swing, (beetle leaves, nut, 2 bananas, 1 rs/- coin with a flower), place the baby in the cradle with or without the priest chanting mantras the kid is put in and the eldest member in the family swings the cradle 3 times followed by akshintalu and blessing the kid and the rest of the family follows.. as simple as that.

It can be done at home or in a temple. People at my place do it mostly near a Nagendra Swamy Temple. I personally got it done on 21st day and preferred the temple, there was a cradle there already, got the pooja done and came home.

Purudu
Some people combine this with purudu on 11th day.. Purudu is bathing the mother, giving her headbath and stuff like that. In most families, the mother and the kid are just given sponge bath until then and the actual bath happens on that particular day. However, with hygiene being the primary concern, we are allowed to bathe on day 2 itself even with the stitches on, so it just remains a ceremony these days.

Procedure 2
Some people do it along with naming ceremony on 21st day.
First they do the naming ceremony with parents whispering the kid's name in her ears and then going for the cradle ceremony.
Place Taamboolam in four corners of the cradle, place the baby in the cradle and swing it thrice, done by all elders in the family.

After the ceremony the mother is taken to a well and do pooja to the well and the mother of the baby is made to draw 3 buckets of water the well into 3 small pots and any girl who is married and planning to have kids is asked to dip hands in water and put water hand prints.

Courtesy: Lakshmi Kalyani.

Waiting for more!!


Pic Courtesy: Shruthi Sunil.