Today is Avani Avittam, one of the most important days in the year of a Hindu South Indian Brahmin.  It is probably the only festival that I know where men get top billing. On this day, men (and boys) reaffirm their faith as brahmins and also change their sacred thread. Here is a link from Wikipedia which give more details about the festival and its meaning. The day after Avani Avittam is the day when all brahmin men are supposed to do the Gayatri Japam, even if you don’t do it on any other day 0f the year.

We plan to do P’s Upakarma most probably end of next year. This is when he will be formally initiated into becoming a Brahmin. This is something that needs to be discussed with both my parents as well as S’s parents sometime soon.

Today is also Raksha Bandhan. This is a very beautiful Indian festival which reaffirms the ties between a brother and a sister. This is mainly celebrated in northern India, but since I have grown up in the western part of the country, I have adopted it as well and D&P have been celebrating it since they were babies. In the evening after they are back from school, D will tie the rakhi to her brother. I’ll take a picture of the Rakhi and post it here tomorrow.