THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: ‘Vijayadashami’ is an auspicious day celebrated every year after the nine-day Navratri festival celebrations, on the tenth day (Dashami). Vijayadashami is observed as Vidyarambham to praise the Goddess Saraswati.
(Vidhyarambham is a sacred Hindu ritual also known as Akshara Arambham, which marks the auspicious beginning of education and honors Goddess Saraswathi Devi, the Goddess of knowledge). This year, October 24, 2023, is celebrated as Vijayadashami.
As Vijayadashami is the day to honor Goddess Saraswathi Devi, people start their learning on any subject on this day. I remember that several youngsters over 18 years old visit a playground near my home to begin learning two-wheeler driving on Vijayadashami. I, too, began my driving journey on this auspicious day of Vijayadashami. Several school admissions are also conducted on this day.
The colorful journey of learning new things begins on this day. Traditionally, children just over 3 years old enter the world of learning on this day. Their learning progress is adorned by their parents, grandparents, elders, writers, teachers, and other renowned personalities associated with literature. Therefore, Vidyarambham is also referred to as Ezhuthiniruthu.
Vidyarambham is a combination of two Malayalam words, “Vidya,” which means “knowledge,” and “Arambham,” which means “beginning.” The Vidyarambham ritual commences with prayers to Lord Ganapathi, also known as Vigneshwara, the ‘God of obstacles remover’, and then to Goddess Saraswathi Devi.
The children sit on the laps of their parents or any elder person (Guru) who teaches the child to write ‘Om Hari Sree Ganapathye Namaha‘ on a plate with rice. “Hari” refers to the Lord, and “Sri” refers to prosperity. Writing on sand denotes practice, whereas writing on grains denotes the acquisition of knowledge, which leads to prosperity.
There is an importance in the first writing, ‘Om Hari Sree Ganapathye Namaha,’ to Malayalees, which some may not be aware of. Let’s explore it:
Traditionally, ‘Om Hari Sree Ganapathye Namaha’ (“ഓം ഹരി ശ്രീ ഗണപതയേ നമഃ ”) is written on this day in the Malayalam language and has a connection with the ‘Katapayadi system’ (a numerical notation in an ancient Indian alphasyllabic numeral system to depict letters). According to this system, each letter has a number (similar to numerology). According to this, Hari: 28, Sri: 2, Ga: 3, Na: 5, Pa: 1, Ta: 6, Ye: 1, Na: 0, Ma: 5 (total 51). It stands for 51 letters in Malayalam. ‘Om’ is the union of the mind, body, and the spirit. The first ever thing in this world. That is the reason why, while writing on Vijayadashami, “Om Harishree Ganapathaye Nama:” is written first. For Malayalees, it is like praising their mother tongue, Malayalam.
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