KARADAYAN NOMBU

                

                      This poojai is especially done for the well being and long life of the husband and even little girls can perform this poojai so that they will get a good husband and a happy married life.

The neivedyam (offering) for the poojai is a very simple steamed sweet cake and butter. The ladies and girls also wear a "manjal charadu, similar to one tied during the time of marriage.

This pooja is conducted in remembrance of the dedication and determination of the faithful mythological Savithri, in bringing back the life of her husband Sathyavan from the God of death, Yaman.

The story goes as follows:

                 Savithri was a princess of a rich kingdom in ancient India and was the only child of her parents. When she reached age, she told her father that she would herself find a suitable husband for her. She went on a trip of the vast kingdom travelling through the various landscapes & forests & mountains. At last in a forest, she met an old couple and their young and handsome son serving them, living in a simple hut.

She found out that the couple were the king and queen of a nearby kingdom, banished from their kingdom by their enemies. Savihtri was overcome by the devotion shown by the son to his old parents and decided that he was the suitable husband for her.

The name of this young man was Sathyavan. True to his name, Sathyavan was very honest and dedicated to his parents. Savithri returned to her parents and announced that she would marry only Sathyavan. The King and the queen were not very happy to marry their only daughter to the son of a banished king and living in a forest now. But Savithri was adamant in her decision and the parents had to yield to her. The palace astrologer, however warned her that according to his horoscope, Sathyavan had only one more year's life left and he would die in a year. Savithri was not to be discouraged with this announcement either. The marriage of Sathyavan and Savithri was performed and Savithri went to live with her husband and in-laws in the forest.

Savithri took care of her husband and old in-laws with dedication and devotion and followed Sathyavan whenever he went inside the forest in search of food and fuel. Days passed and the last day of Sathyavan's life as per the prediction dawned. Savithri insisted on accompanying Sathyavan to the forest. Sathyavan made Savithri sit under a tree and went to fetch fruits and logs for fuel.

After sometime, he returned feeling very tired. Savithri made him lie in a bed made of fresh green leaves keeping his head in her lap. As Sathyavan started closing his eyes, there appeared in front of Savithri, a huge figure with a bison as his vahana. Savithri with her dedication and devotion could immediately recognize the figure as that of Yaman, the God of death.

She immediately saluted him and asked him the purpose of his visit. Yaman replied that as destined Sathyavan's life span was over and he had come to take his life to the other world. Saying this Yaman started walking away with Sathyavan's soul. Savithri left the body of the lifeless Sathyavan under the tree and started following Yaman. Yaman forbade her from following him, saying she could not follow him to the other world, as Yamalokam was inaccessible to living beings. Only souls of dead beings are taken there. Savithri insisted on following her husband’s soul.
Yaman could not stop her from following him. At last, Yaman agreed to grant her three wishes on condition that she would go back. She agreed. She asked as the first boon, that her in-laws get back their lost kingdom which Yama granted readily. For the second wish she asked that, as she was the only child of her parents, they get more children. This was also granted by Yaman immediately. As the last wish, she asked that she be granted the wish of having many children which also was granted by Yaman in his eagerness to get rid of her. Only after granting this wish, did Yaman realise that he had been tricked into granting Sathyavan life, as a pious and pathivratha (chaste) woman like Savithri cannot have children if Satyhavan were to be dead.

Yaman had to accept his defeat and restore the life of Sathyavan. Savithri came back to the tree where she had left the lifeless body of Sathyavan. By the blessings of Yaman, Sathyvan woke up as if from his sleep and Savithri narrated the happenings to him. To offer her gratitude to the Gods, Savithri immediately made a simple neivedyam with available things on hand and tied the mangala sutra once again as her husband had got back his life.

This neivedyam is also offered on a leaf of a forest tree, as against the usual plantain leaf used for all poojas. To instil such dedication and devotion in married life, this story is repeated to the young girls and the pooja iis performed every year at the time of meena sankramam.