New Year celebrations tomorrow

Bisu parba for Tuluvas, Vishu in Kerala and Varsha Pirappu in Tamil Nadu

For Tulu-speaking community of Dakshina Kannada, it is harvest festival. New crops are brought home to worship and new accounts are opened. Rice, coconut, cucumber, gold items, fruits and areca nut are offered during the pooja early on Wednesday morning. Wearing new dresses and giving money to children and the poor are also part of the festival celebrations.

As part of Bisu, Bunts Sangha in Vijayanagar will hold special programmes in the evening with Minister of Public Health Suresh Shetty from Mumbai and MLA Shobha Karandlaje as the chief guests. "Our community is mostly agriculturists. Hence, it is a day when new paddy crop is brought home," said BLN Hegde, the Sangha president.

According to Tulu Sahitya Academy Secretary Uday Dharmasthala, Bisu marks the entrance of sun in ‘Mesha’. "The farmers usually show their gratitude towards the landowners on Bisu with the landowners helping them in return," he said.

Viewing Kanni or auspicious things is considered a major part of Tamil New Year. As the legend goes, seeing auspicious things early this day brings fortune throughout the year. In Kerala beginning of the Zodiac New Year - when the the sun enters into Aries, ‘Ashwini nakshatra’ is celebrated as Vishu. Even Malaylee women prepare the vishu kani a day before.

The kani comprises first vegetables of the new season, fruits like jackfruit, mango, coconut, gold items, a photo of the god, new silk clothes, lamp and most important - the Kani Koona poo (a yellow coloured flower). "All these items are kept in bowl filled with rice and placed in front of a mirror.

The lady of the house brings family members with their eyes closed in front of the kani the next day morning and ask them to open their eyes. Later, senior family members are expected to give money to young members of the family," said Reji Kumar from Kerala Samajam. As most members have gone to Kerala, Kumar said that the Samajam will organise Vishu function in May.