Upanayanam

Namaste Chitraji,

I doing the upanyanam for my son, who is 11 yrs old. Could you throw some light on this subject. He is very worried about his peers about asking question as to why he is wearing a thread. He keeps saying he will wear the thread as a bracelet, I don't know why he thinks its much easier to explain it to his friends. I know he will be alright once he wears the thread and will overcome his shyness of facing his friends.
I want him to wear it all the time and atleast do his gayatri chanting regularly.
Any suggestions..

Thanks
Shantha

Dear Shantha,
I need to refer to my books and give you authentic details. I hope you can give me a week's time, minimum.
I am moving this thread to the sub-forum
Functions Festivals Rituals - IndusLadies

Love,
Chithra.

Upanayanam is one of the important 16 Hindu samskaras. The samskaras are essentially rituals and are outward and visible signs of inward or spiritual grace. The hindus believe, the samskaras make a human being whole, meritorious and perfect.

Upanayanam is also called holy thread ceremony. This is called the boy’s second or spiritual birth. The word means, bringing the boy near the guru. In ncient days, the boy started his gurukula vasa then. He is invested with the sacred thread-yagnopavitha and initiated with the Gayathri mantra. This initiation makes him dvija – twice born. The initiation into Gayathri mantra is his second birth.

The thread consists of three threads knitted together. He who wears this thread should have a triple control over his
Mind, speech and body
Thought, word and action.

From, now on, the boy has a right to utter all sacred mantras. The Gayathri mantra itself does not talk of God – it only proclaims nature as supreme.
Om bhur bhuvas suvah
Tat savitur vareNyam
Bhargo devasya dheemahi
Dhiyo yo na prachOdayat

The general summary is:
We meditate upon the divine effulgence of Savita(God, the creator of the three worlds, the earth, the heaven and the the intervening space as indicated by the three vyahriti-(utterings) signified by the Pranava or Onkara (and existing in the orb of the sun).
May he impel our intellects in the right direction (ie towards himself).

Whatever we want to achieve in our life, the first and foremost requirement is that our intellect, our understanding, must be in an excellent form. Repetition of this mantra with faith and reverence will help not only in cleansing the mind but also in achieving greater concentration and will-power. Equipped with such an invigorated mind one can achieve better success in life in a shorter time.

Love,
Chithra.

sshanti
Chitra mami has expalined it very well.
Talk to your son about the meaning of having upanayana. Share the information from chitra mami and also he can do his own research about it. I see you live in US. Find out if any of the older kids with your indian friends who are wearing the janivara and chant gayathri mantra. Let your son talk to them. I am sure all this will help. After knowing the meaning behind it he will not remove it.
We did our first son's upanayana 2 years ago. He had attended one before his and this hepled a lot. Now I am planning for our second son and he is eagerly waiting for it.

Thank you Chitra and others who have responded to my question. My son's upanayanam celebration went very well. Most of my friends and their children are seeing this type of religious function for the first time. My son was excited and he too enjoyed. I think this is the right age where atleast I can pressure him to do the things right way. Once the children enter their teenage, its hard to convince them. I printed the Chitra's reply about the topic to him. Now for the past month he is doing his daily sandhiyavandhanam 3 times a day as its summer break now. Once school starts I have to make sure atleast 2times a day he does it. Now after wearing the poonal, he feels its not a big deal, the thread is really small and he is getting used to it. I have told him that he should never remove it, no matter what comes. Hope he will follow that.

sshantha,
Congratulations, I am happy for you and your son. I know how much effort it takes to celebrate in US.
Good luck to your son and God bless him.

Thanks .
My friend you is in Mumbai, had fw this article about Upanayanam. I thought I will post it here, as it will be helpful for other parents and children.
Regards
Shantha

Upanayanam (POONAL) is the the ceremonial rite in which the young Brahmin boy is invested with the sacred thread and initiated into the Gayathri - the Holiest of all mantras in the legacy of the Rishis .

> The Sacred Thread


The sacred thread with which the boy is invested on the holy occasion of Upanayanam, may be compared to an electric circuit. Even as any leakage point in an electric circuit will result in a drain of precious electrical energy, any object, like key or coin, tied to the sacred thread, serve as leakage points through which the carefully garnered spiritual power of the Gayathri is frittered away. The sacred thread must therefore be kept free from association with any other object.
> The Gayathri, must be chanted in the prescribed manner, thrice a day, as a part of the religious duty called the Sandhyavandanam. It is a prayer for universal welfare which the brahmin must perform as a sacred trust enjoined on him.

> Sandhyavandanam

This prayer is a combined subject of Religion, Health, Concentration, Yoga, Meditation, Exercise and Prayer. In one topic, 'Sandhyaa Vandanam' is just the ancient Vedic scripture that has pictured the core element of healthy living.

> 1.This routine includes Breathing exercises (inhaling/breathing from one nostril and releasing the carbon dioxode through other nostril and alternating vice versa) (praanaayaamam), thus expanding and enlarging his lungs, and improving his blood circulation level. Because of this routine practice every boy who undergoes this sort of training learns to control his breath and learns to control his entire body mechanism.
>
> 2.While doing so, he is made to recite the Supreme Japam called "Gayatri" , a verse that cleanses the inner soul by repeated chanting. By reciting this "Gayatri" for a specific counts of times (say 108 or 1008 times, thrice a day) improves a persons skills and ability, increases ones memory power, and protects him from any major ailments.
>
> 3.In addition to above, they were made to sit in one place concentrating on above and making them to take control of their body and mind at once. Also the divine vibrations received from frequent chanting of the Vedic scriptures, and doing the Gayatri Japam, their brain neurons are strengthened and and their brain wave length passed on in a focused manner. This enabled the learners to control their emotions, temperament and anger to a larger extent and made them tolerant to others. Thus, a Brahman never got angry even in the worst of circumstances.
>
> Modern science has evolved the above conception as just and perfect for a healthy living. Many Yoga centres, that have spread all over the world now, teach and preach this today, even in the Western countries, where once they considered these Hindu practices as blind faith and foolish.
>
> The Sandhyavandanam is performed 3 times--sunrise, mid-day and sun set. As everyone knows, the Sun being a Star, passes its rays all the time, whether day or night. Without its power, none on the earth can exist. Using these power for the good of human kind is taught in the Vedic scripts. The solar energy can be used not just to produce electricity for batteries etc., but also to recharge ones own body mechanism. As the body too produces electricity and magnetic phases, it is no wonder that ancient Brahman found it to live in his fittest way, healthier and longer.

Hello IL.
This is my first post here.
So a huge HELLO to all of you.

Thank you for this thread. I currently live in USA and am in Chennai now for the Upanayanam of my two sons. I am trying to learn more about it to educate my children as well as to keep their enthusiasm levels high.

I am interested to know the difference in the ceremonies between Iyer and Iyengar Upanayanams as I think we mistakenly printed some rituals from the Iyengar tradition in our invitation. It is OK, I figured it is good to expand my knowledge at any stage in life.

I will not be able to participate a whole lot right now as I am in Chennai under difficult circumstances..Appa is very sick. I hope to meet you all soon here when my life settles down in a few months.

Thanks in advance and best wishes.

Hi to my fellow ILer from the "corn" state . I am from the "Nutmeg" state.

Hello thodarum...

Wish you all the best with your sons upanayanam celebration.
I don't think there are major differences between iyer and iyengar in performing upanayana. I will find out some info from my friend, who is an iyengar. Her mother is now here(USA).
In my opinion, I think its the parents job to make sure their child does the daily gayatri & sandyavandanam. We have to create some time say about 15min daily to guide them and make it a habbit. once they get this daily routine, I am sure even if they skip for a while (say during teenage yrs) it will come back to them during their later yrs.

talk to u soon,
Cheers
SS

Thank you SS.
The poonal is in 20 days. I will update you after I get back to the US.
Yes, when my younger brother had his Upanayanam ( eons ago), I used to read the mantras to him everyday and had known it by heart. But, I have forgotten them now. It is funny, I do remember Soundarya lahiri, and other stotras which I used to recite. I will definitely be doing "Sandhi" with my 8-year old, but my other child is 17 and heading to college this fall. I know that the Gayatri Mantra will keep him in good stead.