Narak Chaturdashi.

Hello everyone. I am back..sooner than I had expected.
Just like I had promised in the last post, I am here to write about a ritual that immediately follows the Abhyang Snan.
So where was I...???
You are done with your Pahili Aanghol, and you walk out of the bath.
The first thing that you are supposed to after that, is walk out of your house..but not empty handed. You need to carry a green fruit called kartula/kaareta with you and place it on the ground outside your main door. You then place your right leg on the fruit and crush it with your body weight. The fruit breaks spilling out its seeds. Then you bend down and taste the inside of the fruit with your finger.
Yaeekssss...it tastes horrible!
It's so damn bitter..!


Crushed Kartula/Kaareta

This ritual is done on the day of Narak Chaturdashi which is on the same day of the Pahili Aanghol.
And why do we do it?
Narak Chaturdashi is celebrated to commemorate the killing of an Asura/Demon called Narakasur by Lord Krishna and his wife Satyabhama. Lord Krishna beheaded him with his Sudarshan Chakra on the day of Narak Chaturdashi.
The bitter fruit is symbolic of Narakasur's head, and crushing it implies the victory of Good Over Evil.
But why do we have to taste the bitter fruit?
Mom says that Diwali is a festival of extravagance. Everything about this festival is large and sweet.The bitter fruit is a reality check..! It reminds you that life is not only about happiness and sweetness. And since we relish a lot of sweets during Diwali, we should start it with a little bitterness to balance it off.

As a kid, I always skipped the step of tasting the fruit. The fruit tasted yuck, and I always lied to Mom that I completed the ritual. How smart was I..!;)
But not anymore..age makes you wiser I guess! Or so I think! :)

Hope you enjoyed reading about this ritual as much I did writing about it.

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