On April 4, 2024, I had the opportunity to observe the Upanayana/Sacred Thread ceremony, which was performed at Libdom Villa campus, Bandlaguda Jagir, Hyderabad. The Libdom Villa campus, Raj Reddy Valley, is spread over an area of 17 acres with all modern facilities. It is pertinent to mention that Libdom has been derived from two words – from Liberty, “Lib,” and from Freedom, “Dom,” and finally, the word is “Libdom.” There are 190 villas, except for a few villas; all are occupied. The families are from different parts of India and also different religious groups, so it is a mini-India. All religious festivals are celebrated here in a peaceful way. As a senior citizen, I attended many ceremony functions such as marriages, annaprashan (first rice-eating ceremony), half-saree, etc., but the Upanayana/Sacred Thread Ceremony was very few. I observed in our family and very few in other communities. One thing I have observed is that rituals are the same everywhere. For example, in the ceremony, the sacred thread or upper garment called the yajnopavita is worn by the child, which is made of cotton, the head is tonsured, and Yanga/Havan/Homa, i.e., offering prayers to Fire/Agni Dev is performed.
The Upanayana/Sacred Thread ceremony of Sri Ram (11 years old, student of 7 grade in London), son of Smt. Srilatha and Sri Raghu started at 8.54 AM on April 4, 2024, at the Libdom Villa campus, where two priests performed rituals along with Yanga/Havan, which is common in such ceremonies also in Hindu marriages. Sri Ram’s father works in London as a software engineer. They came from London to perform the ceremony. They belong to the Telugu Brahmin family, and the child’s grandfather, Sri Radhakrishna Srimushnam, was a senior bank officer in a nationalized bank who served with dignity and settled in Hyderabad, Libdom Villa campus.
A few facts about the Upanayana/ Sacred Thread ceremony collected from Wikipedia are presented here. Upanayana literally means “the act of leading to or near, bringing”, “introduction (into any science)” or initiation” (as elucidated by Monier-Williams). The initiation or rite of passage ceremony in which the sacred thread is given symbolizes the child drawn towards a school, towards education, by the guru. The student was being taken to the Gods and a disciplined life. It is a ceremony in which a teacher accepts and draws a child towards knowledge and initiates the second birth of the young mind and spirit. As per the website. pujanpujari.com, the Upanayana ceremony can be directed at the age of seven. The supreme mantra, the Gayathri mantra, is whispered in the child’s ear by the father or guru. The child is taken out and asked to look at the Bhagawan Surya/Sun through a small hole formed by joining both palms. The sacred thread strands represent the purity of the wearer’s thoughts, acts, and words. Through the Upanayana ceremony, the child is motivated to do spiritual activities.
I enjoyed the ceremony and observed that the guests were from different backgrounds. Lunch was scrumptious and included many items. Lastly, I wish to mention that the Upanayana/Sacred Thread ceremony is not restricted to one particular community but is also performed by a few other communities.
Prof Shankar Chatterjee, Hyderabad
Track2Training 
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