What annaprashan marks
Annaprashan (annaprāśana, "feeding of grain") is the seventh of the sixteen sanskaras and the first time a baby is given solid food in a formal, blessed way. Until then the child has lived on milk; this ceremony marks the move to the food the family itself eats, and asks for the child's health and nourishment for the rest of life.
The right month
The Manusmriti (2.34) places annaprashan in the sixth month, right after nishkramana, the baby's first outing, in the fourth. This matches what paediatricians recommend today: solid food from around six months. Common family practice refines it as follows:
- Boys: an even month — the 6th or 8th.
- Girls: an odd month — the 5th or 7th.
In Kerala the ceremony is called Choroonu and is very often done at the Guruvayur temple; in Bengal it is Mukhe Bhaat, where the maternal uncle traditionally feeds the first morsel.
Choosing the day
- Tithi: avoid rikta tithis (Chaturthi, Navami, Chaturdashi), Ashtami, Dwadashi and Amavasya. Dwitiya, Tritiya, Panchami, Saptami, Dashami and Trayodashi are common choices.
- Nakshatra: fixed, soft, swift and movable nakshatras — Ashwini, Rohini, Mrigashira, Punarvasu, Pushya, the three Uttaras, Hasta, Chitra, Swati, Anuradha, Shravana, Dhanishtha, Shatabhisha and Revati.
- Day: Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
- Time: a morning hour in a good choghadiya, outside Rahu Kaal.
How it is done
- The baby is bathed and dressed in new clothes — in many families the first set gifted by the maternal side.
- Ganesh puja, worship of the family deity and often a small havan.
- Kheer — rice cooked in milk with a little sugar or jaggery, sometimes ghee and honey — is first offered to the deity and then fed to the baby, traditionally with a silver spoon or a gold ring, by the father, grandfather or maternal uncle.
- A popular custom follows: the baby is shown a tray of objects — a book, a pen, money, jewellery, soil, food — and whatever the child grabs first is playfully read as a hint of future interests.
- Elders bless the child and the family shares a meal.
A practical word
The ritual meal should be what is safe for an infant: a few grains of soft, well-cooked kheer, with honey left out for children under one year as doctors advise. If the baby is unwell on the chosen day, simply choose another good date — the panchang always offers more than one.