Annaprāśana

अन्नप्राशन

Also written: annaprashana · annaprāśana · annaprashana sanskar · annaprashana ceremony

Annaprāśana (अन्नप्राशन) is the seventh of the sixteen saṃskāras. The first solid food — the beginning of independence from the mother's body.


Number	7 of 16
Stage of life	Childhood
Performed	Sixth to eighth month
Purpose	The first solid food — the beginning of independence from the mother's body.

The mantra

अन्नं ब्रह्मेति व्यजानात्। अन्नाद्ध्येव खल्विमानि भूतानि जायन्ते। अन्नेन जातानि जीवन्ति। अन्नं प्रयन्त्यभिसंविशन्ति॥

annaṁ brahmeti vyajānāt | annād dhy eva khalv imāni bhūtāni jāyante annena jātāni jīvanti | annaṁ prayanty abhisaṁviśanti

He knew food to be Brahman. For truly from food are these beings born; by food, once born, they live; into food they pass at the end.

— Taittirīya Upaniṣad 3.2 — Bhṛgu's second realisation

What the rite is and why

The child is given its first cooked food, traditionally rice with ghee, honey and curd, fed by the father or maternal uncle with mantras invoking Anna — food itself as a deity.

A ceremony often follows in which objects are placed before the child — a book, a coin, a tool, an implement — and the first one chosen is taken as a sign of inclination. It is done in play, but it encodes a serious idea: that svabhāva shows itself early.

The timing matches modern paediatric guidance on the introduction of solids almost exactly.

Where it stands today

Very widely observed — annaprāśana in the north and east, choroonu in Kerala, mukhe bhāt in Bengal.

Annaprāśana

The mantra

What the rite is and why

Where it stands today

The sixteen Saṃskāras

Garbhādhāna

Puṁsavana

Sīmantonnayana

Jātakarma

Nāmakaraṇa