First solid food feeding ceremony (Indul Kata gama)

This is a traditional Sri Lankan ceremony which the infant fed with solid food for the first time of his or her life. This tradition is done in most areas of the country with slight variations of rituals & customs. But the basic concept is the same.

As modern parents we were really not aware of this function but under the supervision of our parents, we also did this ceremony for our Keeshi in a charming manner.

Here I am sharing more details on the same which may help parents like us to understand.

Infant’s appropriate age for this ceremony

It actually should be done at the time when the infant is ready to move from liquid food to solid food.

Normally this takes place from 6 months to one year before the little one’s first year birthday.

Basically for boys at the age at even numbers such as 6, 8 or 10 months

& for girls the age at odd numbers as 7, 9, or 11 months.

Why are we performing this function?

People believe children will not reject the consumption of food in the future & will grow up healthy with the blessings of these functions.

I personally do not believe in the same but organized the function for my little one as a respect to my adults & old traditions.

How are we doing this?

This should be done in an auspicious date& time with the blessing of the believing religion. Since we are following Buddhist philosophy, Pirith chanted at the auspicious time.

List of items needed

• Kiribath: in any auspicious function it is a tradition to arrange milk rice which we call as Kiri bath
• Fruits
• Sweets
• A book
• Pencil
• Some money
• Small piece of Gold (jewelry or Pendant calls Panchayudaya is ok)
• A toy
• A lamp to light up
• Flowers
• Clean white cloth to put in the floor
• All the above-listed items are arranging on the white cloth on the floor.
• At the auspicious time, the baby should 1^st feed with kiribath
• Then let the infant take anything by her or his own

People are staring at what the baby is touching first. Because it is a belief that a child’s future is depending on the object he/she first pickup. 😀

• The pendant calls “Panchayudaya” wears to child

What is this Panchayudaya??

It is a gold pendant with five weapon elements that are embossed.

The weapons are viz wheel, Conch, Mace, Sword, and bow.

Why wearing Panchayudaya?

In the sake of every protection to the child

• From this moment onward letting the infant taste any food under the supervision of an elder.

We did this function happily with the feeling that it’s a ceremony to welcome our baby to social life.

Even though there are no agreeable scientific basics in some rituals of our traditional ceremonies, we love to conduct those since it is a chance to gather all the family members together & fill the home with happiness as well as with the religious atmosphere.

Dear Readers,

In keeping with our minimalist lifestyle, we recently celebrated our second child’s first solid food ceremony with a simple and heartfelt gathering.

To get a glimpse of this special moment, you can find the full details by following this link