| 
Subscribe in a reader | Subscribe to poobalan.com by Email Since Deepavali is a religious festival, do you practise vegetarianism on
that day? Some families cook vegetarian food on that day, and have their
open houses on another day. Others get prepared for Kanda Shashti which
comes just after Deepavali.
I’ve been non-vege on Deepavali day for most of my life. Wondering if it the
time to change. How about you?
| Subscribe in a reader | Subscribe to poobalan.com by Email 
| Subscribe in a reader | Subscribe to poobalan.com by Email
A time to pay homage to Lord Vinayagar
LORD Vinayagar is one of the most popular deities among Hindus.
The older son of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvathi is well known for his elephant trunk, obvious ears and human like form and the noticeable potbelly.
He is also known as Lord Ganesha, Ganapati, Vigneshwara or Vighnaharta and is also called Pillayar.
Lord Vinayagar is the god of knowledge and wisdom and is worshipped as the lord of beginnings and remover of obstacles.
His name is invoked upon with affection at the beginning of ritualistic worship, praise and song.
|
Festive sight: The well-décorated Sri Selvavinayagar Temple in Jalan Tepi Sungai, Klang.
|
Every year, devotees pay homage to Lord Vinayagar during the Vinayagar Chathurthi festival.
The festival is celebrated as the birth anniversary of Vinayagar and it is welcomed in the month of avani on chathurthi, the fourth day after the new moon, between August to September, according to the Hindu calendar.
This year, the festival is celebrated today.
The festival is celebrated grandly in India where prayers and poojas are held at temples and homes.
Decorative rice motifs (kolam) are laid out on the floor and the idol of Lord Vinayagar is decorated with flowers.
It is said that Lord Vinayagar had a preference for sweet delights like Mothagam and Kozhukkattai, especially the former and these are made and offered to him.
The punar pooja signals the end of the festival.
The idol is removed from its place and taken away and then submerged in the sea, well or pond.
In Malaysia, the Vinayagar Chathurthi celebration is an important event for Ganesha devotees and Vinayagar temples usher in the festival with prayers and some even hold chariot processions. The temples are also brightly décorated.
At most homes, the celebration begins with prayers at the altar.
The Shanmugam family at Continental Park, Off Jalan Kuchai Lama in Kuala Lumpur begin the festive day with prayers as well.
The women of the house prepare the Mothagam and Kozhukkattai early in the morning so that these can be presented to Lord Vinayagar during worship.
After prayers, the family sit down to a traditional Indian breakfast and are vegetarians for the day.
Some observe being vegetarians for the duration of the festival.
Most devotees’ go to temples like the Court Hill Vinayagar Temple in Jalan Pudu or Petaling Jaya Vinayagar Temple for prayers.
| Subscribe in a reader | Subscribe to poobalan.com by Email
Delicacy fit for a deity
MOTHAGAM and Kozhukkattai are special sweet offerings prepared and presented to Lord Vinayagar (who is also known as Ganesha and Pillayar) on the Vinayagar Chathurthi day.
Relished by devotees, these sweet delights are made of rice flour and sweet lentil filling.
The filling is usually made of lentils (channa dhal or green peas), brown sugar, coconut and salt.
The filling is cooked and left aside to cool before being filled into the rice flour skins and shaped.
The Mothagam resembling a mini dome is said to be Lord Vinayagar’s favourite food while the Kozhukkattai (shaped like a curry puff ) is the other commonly seen form.
Preparing the Mothagam or Kozhukkattai is a must for most devotees for Vinayagar Chathurthi.
S. Mangala Atchi and R. Kandiah share with us their recipes for the festive offerings.
|
Essentials: The ingredients for the Mothagam and Kozhukkattai are flour, grated coconut, lentils, brown sugar and salt.
|
Kozhukktatai
Ingredients (Kozhukkattai filling)
Five heaped tablespoons of brown sugar
Half-cup channa dhal
Four tablespoons grated coconut
Salt to taste
Method
Boil the channa dhal till soft and add four tablespoons of coconut, five tablespoons of brown sugar and cook till the ingredients are well mixed.
Add salt to taste.
Set the cooked mixture aside to cool.
|
First step: The rice flour is mixed with water to form the skin of the Kozhukkattai.
|
Ingredients (Kozhukkattai skin)
3 cups rice flour
Luke warm water (according to individual measurement to form a paste)
1teaspoon salt
Method
Mix the rice flour with water and form a big ball.
Pinch out a small amount of the dough and shape with the fingers to form a small circle.
Fill this with a teaspoon of the filling and fold like a curry puff.
Place the Kozhukkattai in a steamer and steam till cooked.
Mothagam (recipe courtesy of R. Kandiah)
Ingredients (Mothagam filling)
Roasted green peas – four cups
Brown sugar – one and a half cups
White sugar – according to taste
Grated coconut – two cups
A few cardamom seeds (pounded)
Method
Boil green peas till soft.
Midway, add in brown sugar and grated coconut.
Add white sugar according to taste.
Stir well till mixture is well mixed and cooked.
Lastly, add pounded cardamom.
Ingredients: (Mothagam skin)
Lightly roasted rice flour
Water
A pinch of salt
Method
Mix the flour with water added with a pinch of salt.
Knead till smooth and form a big ball of dough.
Take a small amount of the dough and shape into a round hollow.
Put in about a teaspoon of the filling and close the dough to resemble a ball with a small upward stem in the middle.
Use a steamer to cook the mothagam.
| Subscribe in a reader | Subscribe to poobalan.com by Email Temple gears up for special prayers
By BAVANI M
THE 80-year-old Sri Sakthi Vinayagar Temple in Jalan Berhala Brickfileds, Kuala Lumpur will be holding special prayers to celebrate Vinayagar Chathurthi – the celebration of the birthday of Lord Ganesh (the Elephant headed deity) tomorrow.
Temple president S.K.K. Naidu said the festival is one of the most important Hindu festivals and is celebrated worldwide on a grand scale.
“The common practice is to decorate clay figures of the deity which is worshipped for ten days prior to the festival and at the end of the festival the idols will be submerged into rivers and the sea,” he said.
“In Malaysia this practice is not popular but temples here will be conducting special poojas (prayers) and hold chariot procession around temple premises and neighbourhood,” he said.
Naidu said the Sri Sakthi Vinayagar Temple would be holding prayers all through the day starting from 3am to 7.30pm.
“At 3am we will have a 1008 Valampuri Sanga abishegam (special prayers with conch shells), at 4am paal kodum abishegam (milk pots) for Lord Ganesh, and at 7am the main prayers will be conducted,” he said.
”At noon the temple will be distributing free vegetarian food for some 3000 people and later on in the evening there will be a chariot procession around Brickfields,” Naidu said.
Food outlets in the neighbourhood will also be distributing free food for those involved in the procession.
This year, the temple is using a special metal chariot decorated with lights and flowers for the procession.
“During the procession there will be about 25 dancers who will follow the chariot while performing traditional dances such as the peacock dance, the stick dance and others,” he said.
For details, call 03-2274 8624.
You are currently browsing the archives for the Religion category.
© 2026 poobalan.com · Proudly powered by WordPress & Green Park 2 by Cordobo.
Valid XHTML 1.0 Transitional | Valid CSS 3
