With Varamahalakshmi, the revered festival dedicated to Goddess Lakshmi, just around the corner, on Friday, the city is prepping up to mark the occasion with fervour and gaiety. From traditional puja rituals to gatherings with friends and family, the city’s familiar faces share what the festival means to them, their favourite memories and what they are looking forward to this year.
Here’s a peek into the Varamahalakshmi sentiments of Sandalwood stars as they gear up to immerse in devotion.
I started celebrating Varamahalakshmi after I got married. Usually, we have a Devi Mukhwada in silver. We keep the Bagina ready, which we give out to ladies. After the fasting, we tie a yellow sacred thread on our wrist. Later, we present ‘arshana kumkum’ and bangles to people who visit our house. It’s basically a get-together of women. I love the tradition and culture, it brings people together and sets the mood for togetherness and brings a lot of positivity into the house. Participating in such events makes me feel good. It’s also an expression of creativity – how we decorate the goddess and the house for the festival. When I visit my neighbours during the festivities, I’m keen to see how they have decorated their place and what food they have prepared. It’s about finding happiness in simple things and looking forward to them. My mother-in-law and sister-in-law bring in delicacies they have prepared, and it’s an amalgamation of all our things together to celebrate the festival.
I started celebrating the festival 10 years ago after coming to Bengaluru. Usually, we buy a saree and gold, and do alankara (decoration) of Lakshmi Devi. When it comes to food, we prepare dishes like regular lassi, chutney, nippattu, festival milk, kosambari and mainly hobattu, since it’s known to be a favourite of the goddess. I have a lot of memories associated with the festival, but one that remains closer to my heart is one of the Varamahalakshmi puja in Bengaluru, when my mother gave an advance amount to a director of a film, which is a surprise element, to be shared later. This year’s Varamahalakshmi is special; I received Gowri Bagina and a Reshma saree from a fangirl and gifts from many others. It feels like a token of love.
I come from a joint family with grandparents and great-grandparents, so for me, Varamahalakshmi is a piece of my childhood. I used to celebrate it with all of them. Everything I love is part of this festival – saree, jewellery, the meals that we prepare. We typically have 15-20 varieties of dishes as offerings, including both sweet and savoury. Every year, we plan and buy a pure silk saree, ready the decor and idol of Goddess Lakshmi, which involves a lot of planning, especially with my mother and grandmother. Later in the evening, we go to the neighbour’s house to see their decor, it’s like a healthy competition that I enjoy. This year, I am very curious to see the different decor – to see their creativity – because last year I saw how someone used banana leaves to decorate, which was a sustainable move. My favourite part of Varamahalakshmi is draping the saree for the goddess. I think my interest in dressing up stemmed from these fond experiences.
For me, all festivals are linked to my Ajji. She was the one who brought the entire family together. After her passing, my uncle, aunt and all of us started celebrating all festivals together, no matter how occupied we are. When I was young, I didn’t understand why we celebrated Varamahalakshmi, because it felt like it had more to do with cooking. But now, I feel that the way we look at goddesses and women in society has changed, and that I think kind of seeps into the importance of celebrating or worshipping women goddesses. The whole point of a festival like this is to show the importance of being together as a family – to be there for each other. For all festivals, we make Ambode, which is made with Bengal gram mainly – it’s like masala vadae with different herbs, and that’s my favourite. There are a lot of festivals to come, so I see Varamahalakshmi as one of the beginnings of the celebrations that are about to start. You’re welcoming a new season, so you’re welcoming new things into your life. I feel celebrating it is a way of connecting with people.
Varamahalakshmi is not just a festival but an emotion to me. I like getting together and decorating part of the festival. What makes this year’s festival is my daughter. Just like how I adorn the goddess Lakshmi, I do it with my daughter - my little Goddess – that’s where it starts, right? Women are everything. She is around 16-month-old, and that makes this year’s festival very special. Also, Lakshmi comes to houses where there is love and discipline. When I was a child, we had simple decor and celebrations since we were middle-class. My mother was very keen on planning and celebrating it. When it comes to festivals, food is a huge part, and she used to include me in every part of it, and that was the best feeling. I feel the same happiness and contentment even now, but the Lord has multiplied it every year.