Deepawali, the festival of lights is the biggest festival celebrated all over India and by the Indian diaspora around the world. Deepawali (Diwali) is a Sanskrit word which means a row of lights, signifying a tradition wherein people in India light small clay lamps in and around their homes, to dispel the darkness, both figuratively and metaphorically.
Traditions differ slightly in different parts of India, however, at the core is the theme of good over evil, Light over darkness. Celebrations include, a through cleaning and decorating the homes, wearing colorful festive clothes, visiting friends and family, lighting lamps & fireworks and feasts with a rich spread of sweet and savory delicacies.
One of the nostalgic traditions I grew up with and is part of the southern state of TamilNadu, is to get up very early, when its still dark, on Deepawali morning, have an oil bath, dress up in new clothes and before we ate anythingelse, we were given a dollop of an ayurvedic medicinal fudge which was called the ‘Deepwali Madrundhu’ or Deepawali medicine. It was a tradition for each home to make this fudge like herbal mixture. My mom used to make this from scratch, which involved soaking certain roots and spices for a few hours and then using a stone grinder called an ‘Ammikal’, which was a flat rectangular stone, on which the spices were placed and ground with both a transnational and rotational motion of the pestle which was a cylindrical stone. Ingredients of the “marundhu” were hand ground to a coarse paste, which was cooked with home made ghee and jaggery (unrefined cane sugar) until it simmered and thickened into a fudge like consistency.
The idea was to prepare the digestive system for the extra uptake of the sweets and festive foods that had a therapeutic effect. As I grew up in my teens, it became my thing, to hand grind the soaked roots to a paste and help my mom with the ‘Marundhu’ making. My mom is a phenomenal cook, she used to be cooking for 2-3 days prior for most of the day making all the delicacies. Every household at that time had an Ammikal or the granite/stone at home, this was even when we had electric mixers, Marudhu making in my home was still done the ancient traditional way. For some reason, I Ioved grinding chutneys and other curry pastes in the Ammikal. Physical effort of a steady repetitive motion, as the stone crushed the ingredients releasing the aroma of the spices and herbs was gratifying in a unique way.
Each home’s marundhu tasted slightly different, made with a unique family recipe, and we would get a taste of it along with the sweets and food when we visited family and friends homes. Now, the Deepawali Marundhu is available in stores during the festival, and Ayurvedic medical shops also sell the powdered form of the raw mixture of spices and roots. I bought a packet of the powder the last time I visited home, and tried making the marudhu here at my home in the US, though it was only part of that process pipeline. As the paste was was simmering aromas and sights of it transported me back to the yester-years of my mom’s kitchen. The notion of the Marundhu (medicine) in a festival feast was also to practice a sense of balance, kind of Yin-Yang, which not only applies to food, but to life in general.
As we light our homes and our hearts, wishing a Happy Deepawali, may this day dispel darkness, foster kindness, and bring forth joy and peace to the inhabitants of this planet we all call home. The image of the rising Sun over the vastness of Lamar Valley in YellowStone National Park I captured few years back, spurred a poetic burst in me which I dedicate to the festival of lights, Deepawali !!