Awadh - Blog Posts
बड़का मंगर / बड़ा मंगल
Tuesdays (मंगर in Awadhi) falling in the month of Jyestha (जेठ या ज्येष्ठ ) are celebrated as बड़का मंगर
This is similar to how we do Saawan somvaar on Mondays in Shravan.
Devotees of Ramdoot Bajrangbali Hanuman fast (optional) each Tuesday and visit a Hanuman temple. The folktales speak of Shri Ram and Lakshman meeting Hanuman and Sugreev in the month of Jyestha.
|| जय सिया राम ||
|| जय हनुमान ||
सीता नवमी
मैथिली जानकी सीता वैदेही जनकात्मजा ।
कृपापीयूषजलधिः प्रियार्हा रामवल्लभा ॥
There's this sohar for Sita Janam that you guys should listen to. It is in Awadhi.
Can't talk about any iconic bhakts of Maa Saraswati, but I've never heard a single performance of folk singers in Awadh not have a geet dedicated to Mata Sharda Bhawani. They sing her glories for she is the goddess of art and music.
And Maihar which is in Madhya Pradesh now, is the seat of Sharda Bhawani, and people in huge numbers go there from Awadh to worship her. I've never been there but I really wish to go there one day.
I am
Maybe
A teeny tiny bit salty there aren't like well known iconic Saraswati bhakts
Atleast not any that I know off
There's Mirabai for Krishna and Ramakrishna Paramahamsa for Maa Kali
Like c'mon dude,
I expected atleast a legendary poet or astronomer or mathematician
I'm sure that the ancient universities of India were busttling with Saraswati bhakts
But why didn't they write down any of their stories and lives :(
GURL SAME
Like where did all the Saraswati bhakts go?? Just disappeared into thin air??? 😭😭😭😭
Some or rather most universities were filled with Buddhist ideologies tho so I don't know how many were Saraswati Bhakts bit I'm sure there were some ofcourse
Also another reason could be is because Saraswati wasn't/isn't much worshipped, like in the way Kali, Durga, Vishnu, Shiva, Lakshmi and all are worshipped with temples and elaborate rituals throughout Indian subcontinent...
Like I can maybe name a few temples dedicated to Saraswati and only maybe the eastern side, have a dedicated day to worship her
So yeah... Its sad she doesn't gets the recognition she deserves tho :(
It is the end of the month of Chaith and I've been working on a chaiti geet. I've finally completed it and wanted to share it. (I could use some feedback)
Hope you guys enjoy it!
And it is written from the perspective of Urmila when her husband, Lakshman, decides to go on exile with Siya Ram.
~°~•~°~•~°~•~°~•~°~~°~•~°~•~°~•~°~•~°~
🌙 उर्मिला के बिरहा - चैती ✨
सिया-राम के मिला बनबास, हो रामा
सइयाँ मोर जइहे।
सिया-राम के मिला बनबास, हो रामा
पिया मोर जइहे।
सिया-राम के मिला बनबास, हो रामा
सइयाँ मोर जइहे।
बनवा में का खइहे,
बनवा में का पहिरीहे?
बनवा में का खइहे,
बनवा में का पहिरीहे?
बनवा में हमके ना भुलावे, हो रामा,
बनवा में हमके ना भुलावे, हो रामा,
बनवा में हमके ना भुलावे, हो रामा,
सइयाँ मोर जइहे।
सिया-राम के मिला बनबास, हो रामा
सइयाँ मोर जइहे।
होत भोर, महल से निकलिहें,
होत भोर, महल से निकलिहें।
होत भोर, महल से निकलिहें,
होत भोर, महल से निकलिहें।
जाने फिर कब अइहैं, हो रामा,
जाने फिर कब अइहैं, हो रामा,
जाने फिर कब अइहैं, हो रामा,
सइयाँ मोर जइहे।
सिया-राम के मिला बनबास, हो रामा
सइयाँ मोर जइहे।
अँगना मोर सूना रहि जइहे,
सेजिया मोर सूना हो जइहे।
अँगना मोर सूना रहि जइहे,
सेजिया मोर सूना हो जइहे।
कब तक ले ताकब उनकर रहिया, हो रामा,
कब तक ले ताकब उनकर रहिया, हो रामा,
कब तक ले ताकब उनकर रहिया, हो रामा,
सइयाँ मोर जइहे।
सिया-राम के मिला बनबास, हो रामा
सइयाँ मोर जइहे।
~°~•~°~•~°~•~°~•~°~~°~•~°~•~°~•~°~•~°~
Feel free to ask me for the translations if you need.
Sharing a Chaiti geet dedicated to Mahadev Bholenath -
Enjoy!!
The amount of मटका-s and सुराही-s I've broken as a kid and as a teen in summers is insane. I don't know how my parents found the courage to forgive me each time. We used to buy it in UP during summer vacation but never were able to carry it to Mumbai. All thanks to me.
सुराही-s have those intricate details and my mother is fond of such pottery. And I've broken multiple. It's the American equivalent of breaking your mother's favourite vase or favourite china dish
matke ka paani has no right to be so goddamn delicious!
Yeah I've attended a few weddings in the last few years after Covid on both sides of my parents. Although the colours of the clothes have remained the same, it still feels dull. Why?
Because the biyaah geets — baraat geet, duar puja geet, gaari geet —have lately been replaced by DJ/songs being played on speakers instead of the womenfolk singing those songs in Awadhi.
Does anybody else also think that our weddings are also getting white washed? Like it used to be all bold and colourful with the bride and groom being in mostly red. Now you see it started with a lil toning down to pinks and dull pastels and now some are almost white. It’s almost like a western wedding just instead of a white gown there’s a white lehnga and sherwani. I’m not exactly saying that there’s anything wrong with it but doesn’t it feel like weddings are losing their authenticity?
Just an opinion, don’t go on attacking me.
श्री राम नवमी
I wanted to share some lokgeet.
Well I already did a blogpost on Chaiti geet. Didn't get a chance to do one for Sohar. A sohar geet is sung to celebrate the birth of a child. And how can we not have a sohar for our beloved Shri Ram's janm, whose birth made Awadh pure and divine.
Here are 2 sohar geet -
A chaiti geet -
Please enjoy!!
श्री राम जन्म
Shri Ram Janm
रामाय रामभद्राय रामचंद्राय वेधसे ।
रघुनाथाय नाथाय सीताया: पतये नम: ॥
श्रीराम राम रघुनन्दन राम राम । श्रीराम राम भरताग्रज राम राम ।
श्रीराम राम रणकर्कश राम राम । श्रीराम राम शरणं भव राम राम ॥
श्रीरामचन्द्रचरणौ मनसा स्मरामि । श्रीरामचन्द्रचरणौ वचसा गृणामि ।
श्रीरामचन्द्रचरणौ शिरसा नमामि । श्रीरामचन्द्रचरणौ शरणं प्रपद्ये ॥
I saw a post by one of my mutuals talking about dhoti. But I can't find it now. I just wanted to reblog it to say that I've heard many relatives and even my mother call a saree dhoti while talking in awadhi.
Which reminds me of this one very wholesome moment with my (now late) grandmother.
I was 5years old. And like every other summer vacation, we were visiting our grandparents in uttar pradesh. My parents had bought a really simple beautiful saree for my dadi. And the second day of us being there, my parents and I were sitting with my dadi and my parents told her that I had chosen and bought a saree for her (which was a lie but idk why my parents do that to involve me like all the time to show that I do think about all this). And my dadi got so happy saying "अरे हमार भैया हमरे खातिर धोती लाये अहेन? कहाँ बा?" So my mother sent me to go get it, because "i had picked it". But I replied to my mother "but hum toh dhoti laaye hi nahi hai. hum toh saree leke aaye hai dadi ke liye. dadi ko dhoti kyu chahiye? dadi dhoti pehente ha?". My mother replied didn't explain this to me. She just laughed and went with me to bring the saree and we gave it to daadi.
शीतला सप्तमी
My family celebrates Sheetla Saptami every year twice. Once in the month of Chaitra (चैत in Awadhi) and then in the month of Shravan (सावन in Awadhi)
My mother has to observe a fast on Saptami and do a pooja before dawn the next day
Hibiscus flowers, doob grass and paan leaves are offered to Mata
There are offerings made, which is completely satvic. There is a puri, a batasa(बतासा), a jaggery filled gujiya (गुजिया), few uncooked soaked chana, a small amount of dahi, a dallop of lapsi(लपसी prepared from flour and jaggery), and a clove(लौंग)
A diya is to be lit and kept on a rice filled earthen bowl called कोसा in Awadhi. Which is kept on a kalash filled with water and adorned with mango leaves
ध्यायामि शीतलां देवीं, रासभस्थां दिगम्बराम् ।
मार्जनी-कलशोपेतां शूर्पालङ्कृत-मस्तकाम् ॥
The maati(soil) of Awadh
Awadh exists in the same region as the ancient Kaushal kingdom with Ayodhya as its capital. Which was for some time moved to Shrawasti and later moved to Lucknow. People in Awadh region speak Awadhi.
The word "Awadh" comes from Ayodhya (must have heard the song "holi khele raghubeera awadh me, holi khele raghubeera")
The Awadhi language belongs to the prakrit family of Indic languages. It differs widely from the other languages spoken in Uttar Pradesh and neighbouring Bihar.
For more context, Bhojpuri belongs to the language family in which you'd also find Bengali, Odia, Assamese and Magahi, Maithili and others.
Also, want to make it clear that Awadhi is not a dialect of Hindi. It is a language of its own.
It has a wide variety of artforms that still exist to this day like bhakti geet, bhajans, plays and storytelling, various forms of dance forms, various forms of lok geet and lok sangeet.
Today is International Day of Mother Language and I want to celebrate my mother language Awadhi.
It is not a language I speak but it is a language that my parents and my relatives speak and my ancestors used to speak. And I want to honour that.
Awadhi, a language spoken in parts of Uttar Pradesh, holds so much history, beauty, and meaning. It's a language rich with stories, songs, and traditions.
Humare prabhu Shri Ram ji Mata Sita ji ke swayamvar me
There is just a good bunch of songs and folk songs in awadhi dedicated to this particular event in Ramayan.
Sri Rama and Sita
Sant Tulsidas (2/2)
Sant Tulsidas’ influence extended far beyond literature.
He is often credited with popularizing Ramlila, the dramatic retelling of the Ramayana. Tulsidas' Ramcharitmanas, and the language of choice Awadhi, inspired its widespread adoption, making it a central part of cultural and religious celebrations across India.
Monuments dedicated to Tulsidas, such as the Tulsidas Smarak Bhavan in Varanasi and the Tulsidas Temple in Ayodhya, stand as tributes to his lasting legacy.
Tulsidas’ works, especially the Ramcharitmanas and Hanuman Chalisa, are still widely referenced in pop culture, from television shows to films and music.
Sant Tulsidas (1/2)
I personally have great respect for him. And since I'm talking about the land of Awadh, I wanted to celebrate the great poet and saint, Sant Tulsidas.
Although not born in the Awadh region, Tulsidas spent much of his life in the cities of Ayodhya and Kashi, where he composed much of his work in both Brajbhasha and Awadhi.
The Ramcharit Manas and Hanuman Chalisa, both written in Awadhi language, are two of his most famous works. Ramcharit Manas, retells the Ramayana in a way that resonated with common people of Uttar Pradesh at that time, making the epic’s teachings accessible to all.
This choice not only made the story of Shri Rama and Mata Sita widely known, but it also helped elevate Awadhi, spreading its use across countless Hindu households in India.
Today is Makar Sankranti, Sun enters the sign of Capricorn(Makar) today. And Sun begins its northward journey called Uttarayan, indicating warmer days are ahead.
In Awadh and Uttar Pradesh, we celebrate Makar Sankranti as Khichdi Parv. We prepare it with freshly harvested rice, adding some urad daal and sesame seeds, along with some seasonal veggies like cauliflower, peas, carrots and pepper.
Join me as I explore more about Awadhi culture, language, and traditions through Awadh ke Maati.
How did you celebrate Makar Sankranti today? Share your stories and let's celebrate together.
|| श्री गणेशाय नमः ||
Welcome to Awadh ke Maati! This is my journey back to my roots, celebrating the rich culture, language, and art of Awadh and Uttar Pradesh. As someone who has faced challenges embracing my regional identity, I created this space to reclaim and honor the beauty of Awadhi heritage.
Whether you're from Awadh and disconnected from your roots or simply curious about the Awadhi culture, this is a place to explore and connect.
I’d love for you to be part of this journey. Together, let’s keep our heritage alive.