Aane Habba: Clay Elephants, Lamps, and the Grace of Sriman Narayana and the Birth of Gajalakshmi

 

A Festival Rooted in Grace

In the sacred rhythm of the Karthika month, Iyengar households celebrate Aane Habba—the festival where Aane is Sriman Narayana himself, the bounty of all gracious things. It is a time when devotion, play, and community converge, transforming homes into sanctuaries of light and joy.

 Significance Beyond Ritual

Aane Habba is not only worship but also women’s gathering and playtime, sculpting together, involving children, and respecting the soil. The act of shaping elephants from clay becomes a gesture of connectivity with Mother Earth, reminding us that divinity is inseparable from ecology and community.

 Rituals of Clay and Light

• Clay Sculpting: Elephants are made from clay, decorated with thiruman, adorned with silk vastram, and placed on a peetham decorated with rangoli.
• Pooja: Married women perform pooja, offer naivedyam, and do harathi—with camphor, red-colored water, and pradakshina namaskaram.
• Illumination: Lamps are lit before the elephants, and the entire house—from the outer threshold to the innermost space—glows with clay diyas and metal lamps.

 Continuity and Chikka Aane Habba

The following day is known as Chikka Aane Habba, where the same rituals are repeated. If the day falls on a Tuesday or Friday, the clay elephants are not immersed (visarjan) immediately. Instead, the visarjan waits until the fifth day.

 Naivedyam and Harvest

On the day of visarjan, four types of rice are cooked and offered:

• Kadambasadam
• Curd rice (Thayir sadam)
• Ksheeranna (milk rice)
• Puliyogare (tamarind rice)

During Karthika amasa, pulses and vegetables are freshly harvested, making Aane Habba Kadamba a special and well-known naivedyam. Thick curd, not too sour, is applied to the belly of the clay elephant as part of the ritual.

 Visarjan: Returning to the Waters

The clay elephants are placed in a tray with flowers, fruits, naivedyam, and a broken coconut whose water sanctifies them. After dhoop-deepa aradhane, two married women carry the elephants, singing:

Thottillum Vattillum, kottaya pashuvum, 

thankatha thottilum, chinnattu thoyyilum, 

yella vangikondu, unnudiya Kunju kuttigalai 

vangi kondu addenda paadinda meedum varivay Gajaraja

With this chant, the elephants are immersed in a lake, river, stream, or kalyani. The community rejoices together, sharing curd rice prasadam by the water’s edge.

 A Living Tradition

Aane Habba is a festival where Sriman Narayana’s grace, women’s creativity, children’s joy, and ecological reverence meet. Clay, curd, rice, lamps, and song—all become offerings that bind the household to the divine and to the earth.