My Upanayanam in Hyderabad

My dad called and told me that the stars were aligning on March 23 and that they would not align this nicely for the next three years. The time was right for my Upanayanam. So I reached hyderabad in March. Several of my cousins and nephews had already arrived and the house was a hustle bustle. There I am with Sushma, Sai and Pawan in my lap. Pawan was fascinated by my sitar and played it like a xylopphone.

At about 3:00 A.M all the preparations for the vodugu started. Padma akka started by putting turmeric and kumkum to my feet. Pawan was deemed my todi vodgu koduku. Theres the two of us sitting side by side.

Soon the baja bajantris started. I wasn't too impressed by them, they were making a lot of mistakes, probably because of the sleep. Then it was time for the mangala arati and my akkas and all the married women there did the arati singing songs. Then they pounded the turmeric into a paste and applied it to my feet. The vodugu procedures started.

With my dad and mom by my side and our family purohitudu suryanarayana sashtri garu the homam started. Initially it was namakaranam again. I am supposed to born a second time in the vodugu.
Mummy gave gifts to everyone. Thats satyam peddanannagaru and pedamma with Girija pinni behind. After the namakaranam ceremony Babji mavayya cut a piece of hair from my head. I think this is to represent what they do in tirupati after the namakaranam. There he is doing it. I took everbody's blessings after the namakaranam. That's Babaigaru giving me the blessings with akshantalu and satyam peddananannagaru behind me.

Now started the actual upananyam ceremony. My dad is putting on the upanayanam while I am repeating the matrams that Suryanarayana sashtrigaru is telling me. After this I did my first homam as a brahmin under the tutelage of Suryanarayana Shastri garu and dad. After the homam, I was taught the Gayatri mantram, which I am to recite everyday while meditating. Now I was a full fldged brahmin and I did my first bhiksha yachana and took everyone's blessings.

Finally, I had lunch with all my akkas sat by me and tried to stop me from eating while I was trying to eat as a traditional fun game.