Mar 23, 2013

“ഒടൽ പുതനാശ” ("odal puthanasha")

“ഒടൽ പുതനാശ” ("odal puthanasha") means ‘Last Wednesday’ or ‘അവസാനത്തെ ബുധനാഴ്ച്ച’. It is a kind of joint sacred sea bath customary among the early folk of Androth Island. All the people of Androth irrespective of caste and gender were took part in that joined sea bath performed every Last Wednesday of ‘Shawal’ month of Arabic Calendar. Males are gathered together in the morning and they offer some special kind of prayer before the bath. Women take part in the holly bath in the evening. This was a kind of ritual conducted to overwhelm all forms of diseases caused by the evil force upon the people. There was a tale behind this ritual. That is somewhat like this, once Prophet Mohammed was caught by a severe illness and he recovered on the date of last Wednesday of ‘shawal’ month. So the ritual is, both, to commemorate the event and to send away all kind of illness they caught in the previous year, as their belief, it can be healed by the blessings of the messenger of Allah.
In recent times it is fading completely form the folk. It was performed during my childhood and I remember the spirit of the day still right here with the beats of my heart. We children gathered up to take bath in the sae after our Madrassa. I think schools were closed on the day. We used to oil our whole body and went for the bath. People of all age will be there. Parents will come with their little kids and the old people were also joined to show their strength. Two or three hours continues swimming and bathing. I can’t express the feel or the spirit we had on those days through words. It was fabulous and fantastic, u just imagine a beach full of people from all age especially all our friends swimming and bathing like anything. Now, I think the very beauty of the day was it brings all the folk intact. It gave us a special strength. After the bath we’ll have our BIRIYANI which will be ready at our home. U people may know the special taste of our biriyani after the sea bath especially. Now it is almost absent. Likewise the spirit of togetherness is also absent.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

We put oil (turmeric) to our whole body and went for the bath.