Traditional Hindu Birthday Customs

by Lata Vijaya Raghavan
(Bangalore, Karnataka State, India)

We belong to Tamil Brahmin family, belonging to southern part of India. Birthdays, especially if it is first year birthday of a baby, it is a very grand affair. We do not celebrate date of birth in a religious manner, but the actual day of birth as per Hindu solar calendar.

Solar calendar commences from the middle of an English month (say 15th, 16th, or 17th) and ends at the middle of the subsequent month, and there is also a star from a total of 27 stars from the astral world associated with each day. When a child is born, a star is thus associated with the birth, and that becomes the star of the baby.

Every year that particular star, in that month (which may differ from date of birth), is called the birthday of the child.

On the birthday, first thing in the morning, the child is given a good oil massage and a hot ritual bath using herbal scrubs. Then, the baby is dried thoroughly and made to wear new clothes.

The parents of the baby, too, dress traditionally and sit on a low wooden platform with the baby in front of a small fire (lit inside a concrete pot), and the family priest is called. He makes the father of the baby perform certain religious rites before the fire, to invoke the celestial beings to bless the baby.

All these take about 2-3 hours and a number of relatives and friends (the number runs into hundreds at times) who attend the ceremony, bless the baby with gifts. Photography session covering all the details of the ceremony is ensured, too.

After this, a ceremonial feast is arranged, consisting of a number of dishes and savories. Lots of fun and frolic happen, too, and once the guests leave, the parents invariably go to a temple in the evening to seek the blessings of the lord, preferably with the grandparents of the baby.

This is a momentous occasion for the parents as well as all the near and dear ones.