Tharoor initiates children into writing first letters on 'Vidyarambham'

Highlighting the significance of 'Vidyarambham,' in Kerala, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Sunday attended the celebrations at a temple here and guided the children to write their first letters.

Tharoor helped children write their first letters at Sree Saraswathi Temple in Thiruvananthapuram.

Speaking on occasion, Tharoor said, " Vidyarambham is a very important ritual where usually in devotion to Goddess Saraswati, for us Navratri is mainly about Goddess Saraswati.So learning is the culmination of Puja. We teach young children their first letters of the alphabet, it says initiation into letters. Parents bring their children, they sit on your lap or stand next to you, write on a grain platter, rice platter usually and we write 'Om Hari Shri'."

Thousands of tiny tots were initiated into the world of letters and knowledge in Kerala on the auspicious occassion, marking the culmination of the nine-day-long annual Navaratri festival.

In Kerala, Vijayadasami is observed as the day of Vidyarambham, the beginning of learning.

According to tradition, scholars, writers, teachers, priests, and other respected figures in society guide young children, typically between the ages of two and three, in writing their first letters of learning on this special occasion. They assist the little ones in writing 'HariSree' on rice-filled platters or trace it on the child's tongue with a golden ring.

Kerala Raj Bhavan also organised a Vidyarambham ceremony. Governor Arif Mohammed Khan helped the tiny tots with their first letters at the event.

The Vidayarambham ceremony was also organised in Dakshina Mookambika Temple in North Paravur in Kerala's Ernakulam to help children write their first letters on Vijayadashmi.

Vidyarambham or 'Ezthiniruthu' is one of many customs practised across Kerala on Vijayadashmi day. Basically, Vidyarambham means the initiation of knowledge (Vidya means knowledge and aarambham means initiate).

The children are made to write at first on a plate of rice and then the person who initiates the child to write also scribbles letters on the child's tongue using a gold ring or coin. This symbolically represents the initiation of writing and speaking.