Abhyang Snan.

Phew..we are officially done with Diwali this year..but the spirit of Diwali simply refuses to die off.
I had such a happy and hectic Diwali...and I am glad with the way it turned out.
Lots of puja, lots of food, lots of dressing up and hosting of lots of friends and relatives.
I haven't had a single dull moment and this is exactly why I have been off the social media for the past few days. I did try catching up with a number of Diwali posts by my fav bloggers...but that was it.
So now that the festivities have finally settled down I decided to pen this post. No points for guessing that it is about Diwali.
I have decided to write about the little rituals associated with the festival of lights.
You already know, what I did on Dhanteras. So moving forward, lets discuss about Pahili Aanghol/Abhyang Snan or the First Ceremonial Bath of Diwali.
It is this ritual which gives you a feeling that the king of festivals has finally arrived and you have to make the most of it.
Like I always say, the rituals that I write about on So-Saree are in accordance to how my mom does them and I follow suit. There might be many other ways of doing the same ritual thanks to India's muti-cultural nature.

As a kid Pahili Aanghol attached special significance to us and I have special memories attached to it.
On the morning of Diwali, we woke up to the sound of fire crackers..!
Garlands of fresh flowers and artistic rangolis adorned the entrance of our house. Mom looked splendid in her traditional saree complemented with a nath. Immediately after we brushed our teeth, Mom made us sit on a low wooden seating also called as Paat which had a Rangoli drawn around it. We sat on it one by one, all excited waiting for Mom to begin the Pahili Aanghol ritual.
After seating us, Mom used to apply fragrant utana/ubtan which is a powdered herbal extract and includes sandalwood, fenugreek, turmeric.etc mixed with coconut milk.
After the ubtan was applied, she did a small aarti around us and we were sent to take a bath. Everything that we used in the bath that day would be new and special. Right from our clothes, towels, soap and shampoo.
Now that I am all grown up and married (yes..I need to keep reminding myself about it), I try to follow all these rituals as much as I can because I feel, that is the best way we can keep our traditions alive. The only alteration that I do here is that I mix the ubtan mix with coconut oil instead of coconut milk. Yeah..I know I m a bit lazy..but that's fine..!
Hope you enjoyed reading about this ritual as much as I enjoyed writing about it.
The next post will be on a ritual that immediately follows the Pahili Aanghol and I bet you will love it equally. Till then ..keep reading and stay in touch.