My nephew, Kasoji Sridhar’s Gruhapravesham.

There have been two Gruhapravesham Ceremonies (Housewarming Parties) in the family in the past fortnight. Two days back I wrote in this Column about my nephew Dr. Sudheer’s Gruhapravesham on 3rd September. I am now writing about my sister Hemalatha’s son Sridhar’s Gruhapravesham and related rituals, which took place just a few days before, on 22nd August.

My nephew Sridhar is a Postgraduate in Civil Engineering and is a Building Contractor. The topmost picture is of the house he constructed recently at Chaitanyapuri in Dilsukhnagar area of Hyderabad. He owns two of the six apartments in this building for which he performed Gruhapravesham on 22nd August.

The Gruhapravesham Ceremonies started early in the morning. The Ceremonies consisted of various rituals as can be seen in the attached photographs. The first of the Pujas was at the main entrances of the two apartments by Sridhar and his wife Swathi under the supervision of a Vedic Pandit amidst the traditional Nadaswaram music. The ‘Gadapa’ of the main entrances were washed and decorated with Kumkum, turmeric and flowers and then the entrances were worshipped with ‘Harathi’ and by offering pumpkins and coconuts. Then the couple holding the images of Gods entered the house followed by us. The next ceremony was at the entrance of the Puja Room after which the images of the Gods were placed in the Puja Room and prayers offered. Then at every door of the house prayers and coconuts were offered. This was followed by Punyavachanam and the holy water from this ceremony was sprinkled on all sides of every room to purify the house.

The next ceremony was Vastu Puja, a ritual to eliminate negative energies and bring peace, health and prosperity to the family. This was followed by Kalyanam that is a Wedding. Wedding being the most important, auspicious and happy event in a family it is conducted in a new house using idols. As a maternal uncle I and my wife had a role to play in this ceremony which can be seen in the above photographs 5, 6 and 7. After this it was the Ceremony of Ganapati Homam. This is performed to invoke the blessings of Lord Ganapati who would remove all obstacles and hurdles and bless us richly. Then it was time for Vodibhiyyam a function to bless Sridhar and Swathi by the family members.

The last of the ceremonies was the most important, Sri Satyanarayana Swamy Vratham which is performed by Hindus all over the world for health, wealth, education, offspring, peace and prosperity. This was followed by a traditional lunch in which a large number of family members and friends participated. It was a very happy occasion for all of us.  

Through this column, I once again congratulate and convey my best wishes to my nephew Sridhar, his wife Swathi, my sister Hemalatha and my brother-in-law, Sri Niranjan.