Birth Anniversary Rituals (Sua, Ghunti, Hanchal)
🛕Hindu Tradition
🕒On the day the baby is born.
What is this about? (History)
The very first rituals performed immediately after a baby's birth, including the sweet Ghunti (first drink) and the ceremonial opening of the mother's lapel for the first feeding.
Things to Buy / Requirements
- Hot Jaggery Water
- Raw milk
- Red comb
- Roli, Moli, and Rice
- Knife
- Coconut
- 7 small dough fruits (wheat flour mixed with turmeric)
Step-by-Step Instructions
1
The elders of the family give the newborn baby hot jaggery water (ghunti). It is believed that the child inherits the quality of the person who gives him the ghunti.
2
The paternal aunt decorates a thali with coconut, roli, mouli, knife,rice, raw milk, red comb and the 7 fruit dough (wheat flour with turmeric inside it made into 7 small pieces of dough). In the evening, the baby's paternal aunt (Bhua) dips a red comb in raw milk and lightly rubs it on the mother's breasts.
3
She applies tilak and rice to both mother and child, and ties Mouli on the mother.
4
The aunt playfully insists on receiving a gift (Neg) before allowing the mother to formally open her lapel and feed the baby.
5
A knife is kept under the mother's bed for one and a quarter months for protection. A coconut is kept under the mother's bed till the time for badi choti
6
If the baby is a male, then during the afternoon, saathiya is drawn on a bronze thali and the elder of the family beats it, followed by other members of the family to showcase their hapiness. Then snacks is served to the guests.
❓ Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Q:Can hot jaggery water be replaced?
Yes, it can be replaced with honey. Also, nowadays due to better medical knowledge, it is not advisable to give the baby anything other than mother's milk.
Q:Can the rituals be done by muboli sisters?
Yes. In fact for all rituals, this applies.
Q:Are these rituals need to be done on baby's birth day?
No because most of time nowadays, mothers are hospitalized, so it is not possible. However, the ritual not requiring the mother/infant, should be performed on this day.
Q:If a baby boy is born on a festival, will anything change?
No. But if a particular festival was not celebrated earlier due to any death in family, it will now be celebrated again.
Q:What is Sua?
Sua is the time period between baby's birth and naamkaran ceremony. No diya,agarbatti is supposed to be done in temple inside house. Only post naamkaran ceremony, temple is cleaned and puja is done. The person doing the cleaning should have taken bath before. Then the new earthen pot is cleaned and filled with water. No water left before this is discarded. If anybody wears any pendant having god's image, he is to be worshipped by moving incense ticks around him.