I have been receiving lot of questions and comments based on my post on Varalakshmi Viratham Pooja. I tried to collate all the questions and provided the responses here. These are based on my best knowledge and the tradition that has been followed in our family. The tradition may vary across the families and I strongly recommend you to follow the traditions which are being followed in your family. The responses here are just for guidance only.
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- Can pregnant women perform this Pooja?a. Till 5th month of pregnancy period, we can perform the pooja. After that, it is considered as theetu so not advisable to perform the pooja2. When do we need to move the kalasam?a. The next day we need to move the amman in north direction and keep milk as neivedhyam and then after 10 minutes, we can remove the kalasam and keep it in rice box3. Do we need to put the Amman's face together with jewellery in the rice pot or only the coconuta. Yes, along with the amman’s face, we keep the kalasam inside the rice pot. After we keep milk for neivedhyam in night, we need to move the amman along with kalasam inside the rice drum. The next day, we can remove the amman with kalasam and store it in their original places.4. What can we do with the coconut and the rice in kalasam?a. Generally we use the rice and coconut for making Krishna Jayanthi Neivedhyam dishes.5. Where to keep the amman mugham after Pooja?a. In the evening, we need to do neivedhyam again and in the night, we have to keep milk as neivedhyam and shift the amman mugham with the kalasam inside the rice bag / drum6. Can we use the dolls for the vratham that are available in the market ? Can we reuse them next year?a. Generally we use amman face made out of silver. Many of us also use coconut to decorate the amman face. You can try using a coconut.7. Can we start doing the Pooja all by ourselves?a. If it is the first time, this viratham has to be started by an elderly women (MIL or Mom) who is already doing this Pooja. That's the tradition. But if you stay abroad without your close relation, then with your MIL or mom consent, you can take the Pooja from an elderly women near your house or from a priest.8. What if I get period and not able to do the Pooja?a. You can very well perform the whole Pooja the next friday9. After decorating the amman and vefore starting the Pooja, if periods start, what needs to be done?a. We can’t keep the decorated amman wait for a week. So you can ask your spouse to dismantle the amman and you can again redo the alankaram / decoration and make all neivedhyam dishes and perform the Pooja the next friday10. Unfortunately, If someone in the family expired in the same year, can we do the Pooja?a. As per the tradition, if someone in the family from husband’s side expired, then, we should not perform the Pooja that year. If it is from your side, then if it is more than 13 days and its your in-laws custom to perform the Pooja then you can continue.11. What are the main neivedhyam dishes for this auspicious day?a. Raw Rice Idly, Modak, Sundal, Paruppu Payasam, Vadai and Rice with dal. Some of us even make Nei Appam.