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Turning for tradition
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Soumya Sitaraman’s Follow the Hindu Moon is a step-by-step guide to festivals in South India
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Photo: Sampath Kumar G.P.
RESCUE Soumya Aravind Sitaraman’s book tells you in painstaking detail all you need to know about South Indian festivals
This is the age of the information explosion and anything you want to know is just a click away. Well almost everything. What about the exact consistency of jaggery for that adirasam? You could google adirasam and you will get the basic recipe but th
at consistency still might elude you and your adirasam might well turn out to be harder than the Frisbee you take to the beach.
However, “Follow the Hindu Moon” which tells you in painstaking detail all you need to know about South Indian festivals comes to the rescue. The handsomely produced two-part coffee table book is the brainchild of artist and writer Soumya Sitaraman. The Bangalore-based writer explained the genesis of the book.
“When I was living in the US I realised there is no single resource for knowledge about our traditions. I found myself calling home for everything from rituals to recipes. That is when I decided I should do something about this.”
In the course of her research, Soumya gleaned insights like, “Puja is not only about venerating the deity but also works as a ‘pause time’ when we are one with nature.” Soumya says festivals are a way of making abstract concepts accessible to the common man.
The research process according to Soumya was “slow and painstaking. I spoke to octogenarians and priests.” Soumya put her science background to good use. “I merged particle physics with Vedic astronomy and nutrition with the reasons why certain foods are favoured for certain festivals depending on the time of year.” Soumya says she concentrated on the South for the book as she “comes from the South. I want to do a thorough job and for the level of detail I was looking at I could not have done justice if I included the whole of India.”
Soumya says while her book is a guide to festivals, one’s “family is the ultimate resource.” Targeted at people like her, Soumya says she has had people from far flung places like Argentina and the US interested in the book. “There is someone in the US who is doing a Ph.D. on kollams and had mailed me about the book.” The book, told from the server’s point of view , is the result of six years of research and writing.
About the steep price of the book (Rs. 3,500), Soumya says: “I did not want to compromise on quality. There are over 1,000 pictures and then you need to print it on good quality paper and so naturally the cost goes up.” So the next time you are in a dilemma over the order in which you have to do a puja just check the book.
“Follow The Hindu Moon”, two books in slipcase, Rs. 3,500, Harper Collins.
MINI ANTHIKAD-CHHIBBER
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