Vishu is a New Year festival celebrated by the Hindus, especiallyin the state of Kerala and Mangalore and Udupi districts of Karnataka. It falls during the second week of April and is one of the very important festivals of this region. Kerala is a state of unmatched natural beauty and rich tradition.
It has one of the richest cultures in the whole of India which is exhibited in its elaborate festivals, performances, arts and crafts, architecture, literature, language, dress etc. Similarly the Vishu festival is a significant festival celebrated by the people of Kerala, who are known as Malayali as they speak the language Malayalam.
It marks the beginning of a new and a prosperous year for them where they leave behind the failures and troubles of the past year and enter a new year with hopes and aspirations of better and happy days. It marks the first step of the people into a world of wholly new happiness and prosperity.
The most important part of Vishu festival is called ‘Vishukkani’ which means the first thing that you see on this auspicious day after you wake up. It is believed that what you see the first thing on this day determines the entire course of the year ahead.
Hence arrangements are made to ensure that you see pleasant things when you wake up in the morning. The Vishukkani is a special arrangement of raw rice, and fruits like lemon, cucumber, betel leaves, areca nut, mirror, flowers, holy texts, coins etc. All these are arranged in a bell metal vessel called uruli and kept in the puja room of the house.
A lamp called ‘nilavilaku’ is placed near this arrangement. This arrangement is prepared the night before and when you wake up on the day of Vishu, you straight away enter to the puja room blindfolded and open your eyes and see this arrangement the first thing.
It is also believed that reading the verses of Ramayana while viewing this arrangement will have positive impact on your life. Besides this, people also visit various temples and offer their prayers on this auspicious day and ask for a prosperous year ahead. All this rituals are observed with great precision and people consider it a very important part of their tradition.
This festival is celebrated with great fanfare and enthusiasm by the people of Kerala. Children and adults wear new clothes, burst firecrackers, meet their relatives and friends and have a good time.
The elders give money to the younger ones as blessings and there is a great feast where delicious traditional dishes are cooked and served. During this festival one gets to see some of the best aspects of the culture and tradition of Kerala.
People wear their traditional clothes, listen to their traditional music, perform their traditional dances etc. Hence one gets the see the varied aspects of the culture of Kerala during this festival. It is a great way to celebrate the year that has gone by and look forward to a brand new year of happiness and prosperity.
