Morada Bagina – Significance

From time immemorial, the observance of festivals in India is a very important part of our culture, one such festival is Shri Swarna Gowri Vrata/ Gowri habba celebrated across southern India. Festivals of any religion are not about blind beliefs or superstitions but to drive away darkness and spend good time with friends and family. I have tried my bit in bringing together the importance of the morada bagina;

Gowri habba falls on the third day of the Badrapada (August-September) month. Amongst the preparations of the festivities ‘Morada bagina’ is offered to Goddess Gowri’. Mora meaning a bamboo tray like designed to clean grains and bagina meaning offering. After offering the baginas to the Devi, women exchange their baginas with their near and dear ones. Mora was an important kitchen tool in one’s household. It was used to separate grains from the chaff. Women used to spend a lot of time cleaning the husk off the pulses to ensure quality food grains to their families.

The bagina typically contains the pulses and cereals that were used in every day’s cooking (Nava dhaynas). Each dhanya represents a planet and symbolically this is a way to wish that the receiver has good planetary influence. The bagina either contains five of all items placed representing the five elements of nature; earth, water, fire, air and space or 16 items representing shodasha Lakshmi’s  -Yaso Lakshmi, Vidya Lakshmi, Dhairya Lakshmi, Dhana Lakshmi, Santana Lakshmi, Dhanya Lakshmi, Gaja Lakshmi, Veera Lakshmi, Samrajya Lakshmi, Moksha Lakshmi, Sowmya Lakshmi, Siddha Lakshmi, Sri Lakshmi, Sowbhagya Lakshmi, Prasanna Lakshmi & Jaya Lakshmi.

The bagina contains:

1. Two Moras (One set)
2. One Plantain leaf
3. Rice
4. Toor Dal/ Split red gram
5. Urad dal/ split black gram
6. Channa dal/ Bengal gram
7. Moong dal/ green gram
8. Wheat/ rava/ semolina
9. Jaggery

             (Quantity enough for one day’s cooking)

1. One dozen of glass bangles
2. 1 pair of bale bichchole
3. Harishina/turmeric
4. Kumkum/vermilion
5. Mirror
6. Comb
7. Kajal/Kannu kappu
8. Blouse pie
9. Sixteen turmeric pods

            (These items are given to a woman which enables her to dress up)

1. Five fruits including the coconut
2. Sixteen beetle nuts
3. Sixteen beetle leaves

                 (The puja items)

• Dakshina/money

(gift for the special one)

These items are placed inside one of the Mora after it is washed with water. Once dried, they are decorated by applying harishina lines diagonally both inside and outside of the mora and Kumkum where the two lines meet. A turmeric pod is tied to the mora which is used to close the other mora in the opposite direction.  Place a tamboolam with fruits on the bagina.

Once the gowri vrata is performed and the bagina is offered to the devi, request the Suvasini, married women to receive the bagina to sit on the peetham/wooden plank/mat and apply turmeric paste to her cheeks, forehands and foot. Offer her Turmeric, Kumkum, Sindhoor, Flowers and the phala thamboola placed on the bagina Think that Goddess Gowri is receiving bagina in the form of the Suvasini and both the ladies should hold the bagina with edge of their saree pallu/seragu. The reason why we use seragu to close the bagina representing “Every woman be blessed with a child and enjoy her motherhood”  In Kannada they say ಮುತ್ತೈದೆ ಬಾಗಿಣ ತಗೋ, ಸಾವಿತ್ರಿ ಬಾಗಿಣ ಕೊಡು(oh auspicious lady please accept the bagina , oh savitri please offer me bagina).

As years passed and many generations have passed on the vidhi Vidhana/customs and procedures, things have been altered as per the availability and the usefulness. These days, not many use mora, so plastic/ steel have taken its place. The dakshina is either saree/ silver or gold articles/ gifts. Though, there is no harm in modifying a little for our happiness, we still follow most of these and every woman should be proud of this. We should be thankful for our elders for incorporating these habituals. Our culture is vast, and not all of us know the significance of every custom we follow. Instead of pondering,  we should just excavate deep to know the importance. Though, I wasn’t able to give cent percent, would definitely appreciate your knowledge and understanding on the same.

Thank you 🙂