Annaprashana (अन्नप्राशन)

This is the seventh of the sixteen samskaras, the life-cycle ceremonies of Hindu tradition. It is performed at about six months.

What it is

The first solid food: a taste of rice pudding (kheer) or rice with ghee, fed to the baby by a parent or elder, often with a puja. In Bengal it is the "mukhe bhaat" and in Kerala the "choroonu". Families invite relatives, and it is a happy day.

What is usually done

A puja, a spoon of kheer or rice, gifts, and sometimes an offering of objects (a book, a pen, a coin) before the baby, which it is said to choose from.

Why it matters to families

The samskaras mark the stages of a life and bring the family and community together at each of them. Families keep as many as suit their tradition and their circumstances. Many keep the ceremonies that remain popular (naming, first food, first haircut, the thread, wedding and last rites) and treat the rest as a prayer of blessing.

See the full list of sixteen.

Read next

• Chudakarana (mundan) (चूडाकरण)
• Nishkramana (निष्क्रमण)

These pages describe common practice in plain words. Customs differ by region, community and family, and your own family's tradition and a priest of your community come first. Dates of auspicious times change every year: ask a priest or use a trusted panchang. Nothing here promises any result.