Tiny tots initiated into letters on Vijaya Dasami

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Thousands of children in the state were today initiated into the world of letters through the Vidyarambham ceremony on the auspicious occasion of the Vijaya Dasami marking the finale of the Navaratri festival.

Cutting across class, caste and even religious divides, children were brought by their parents to temples and venues arranged by cultural organisations for the Ezhuthiniruthu, as the ceremony is known in local parlance.

Teachers, academics and literary personalities helped the tiny tots write the auspicious letters hari Shree…in Malayalam using their fingers in rice-filled platters.

In most temples across the state, including the famed Devi shrines like Chottanikkara, Lokanarkavu and Panachikkad, special arrangements were made for the ritual.

There was heavy rush at Thunchanparambu, the hallowed birth place of medieval Bhakti poet Thunchath Ezhuthachan in Malappuram district, where literary figures volunteered to help children scribble their first letters.

Leading media houses like Kerala Kaumudi, Malayala Manorama and other dailies also organised the ceremony at their units.

Basically a Hindu ritual, of late, Vidyarambham has been organised by some of the churches too for the children from the community

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