Origin of Nived
Throughout the years, Hindu religion has given thousands of names for Gods and Goddesses. Kul-Devi is generally identified as a family deity playing a vital role within a community and helps a family face unexplained hurdles in life. Each family has its own Kul -Devi. The Pankhania family Kul- Devi is Harsddhi Mataji. These deities are worshipped in the temples as well as at home. Nived (Offering) is offered to our Kul-Devi, to whom we call upon to help, guide and protect us.
Although Nived has been performed for several thousand years, the origins of these rituals are normally lost. The main reason for this origin being lost is the absence of a written language during the tribal stage and due to the absence of a written language, ideas had to be passed on from generation to generation by means of oral narration. The rituals of Nived vary greatly according to the individual family’s tradition, so would be best to take advice from your family elders.
We worship following deities when we perform Nived:-
Mataji
Mataji is represented as the benevolent Mother where she is the personification of eternal peace. Prayers are offered to ‘Maa’ who is the manifestation of the absolute energy that pervades the universe. She has the ability to generate life. Hindus believe that the Maa stands for everything that is everywhere in the universe. Maa as the Universal Energy is worshipped.
Maa Lakshmi – Goddess for wealth. As Laxmi She is abundance. Not only material, but of Air, Land, Space etc
Maa Durga – Goddess for Strength. ‘Durga’ sitting on a Lion, she is a manifestation of ‘Shakti’ or the primordial energy. The power to breathe, walk, digest etc, comes from Maa Durga.
Maa Saraswati – Goddess for knowledge. She is the ‘OM’, from where all sound emanates.
Kshetrapal Nagdevta – protector of the region
Kshetrapal
is an important deity, which literally means the guard of the region. There are various legends on the origin of this deity.
The Naag (Serpent) culture was fairly widespread in India before the Aryan migration and continues to be an important sect in certain areas. After coming to India, the Indo-Aryans incorporated the worship of snakes (Naag) into Hinduism. The festival is especially dedicated to the Shesh Naag, who comforts the protector of the entire existence, Lord Vishnu.
Another legend speaks of Kaliya, the snake that inhabited the waters of the River Yamuna, whose venom was so vile that it poisoned the river and killed the crops and animals in the region. Bhagwan Krishna, one of Vishnu’s avatars, killed Kaliya and liberated the people. That is why Naag Panchami has been celebrated ever since. The origin of snake worship goes back to Ram antiquity. The propitiation of the serpent god is considered essential to the well-being and prosperity of the family and Talvat (from sesame seeds) is offered in the Nived for Kshetrapal.
Sati Mata
According to the Hindu mythology, in the Srimad Bhagwatam, Goddess Maa Sati, first consort and devotee of Lord Shiv, immolated herself in the yagna, holy sacrificial fire, when her father Daksh insulted her husband Lord Shiv. Kheer (rice soup) and rotli are offered in the Nived for Sati Mata.
Lord Hanuman
Lord Hanuman, also called Mahaveera (the great hero) or Pavan-suta (son of air) or Bajarangbali is a noble hero and great devotee of Lord Rama. He is a provider of courage, hope, knowledge, intellect and devotion. He is pictured holding a mace (gada), which is a sign of bravery. Devotees pray to Hanuman to protect them from material
obstacles in the path of devotional service and engage them in the service of the Supreme Bhagwan Ram.
Surapura
Our ancestors who died as a valiant warrior trying to save their villages from bandits, protecting the honour of women – mother and sisters are called Surapara. Their rock memorials as ‘Surapura’ were erected where they fell and died. These memorials of our defenders and valiant warriors are still in existence in India.
These ancestral father-worships (Surapura) are of great importance to many Hindu communities. Wherever possible, the newlywed’s symbolic knot or the wedding knot, ‘cheda-chedi’ which was tied at the ‘mandap’ during the Hindu wedding ceremony is opened after doing Nived at their family’s Surapura memorial to take their ancestral father’s blessings. Rice is offered to our Surapura in the Nived ritual
‘Nived’ or Offering to a deity has always been a significant part of our culture.
Hindus have favourite Gods and Goddesses or Ishta Devatas, Kuldevis to whom they call upon to help, guide and protect them and help them face unexplainable hurdles in life.
A more direct form of ancestor-worship is the ‘Nived’ performed by Hindus during a particular period.
Ritual of Nived
The heart of every Hindu home is its mandir: the sacred space set for honouring and worshipping the Gods. The rituals are always meant to inculcate feelings of devotion and to bring about the divine orientation of human life.
The Nived that take place in the household mandir is the foundation of all family actions and decisions. The size and decoration of a household shrine do not matter. The mandir may be large and impressive, an entire room or a beautifully designed edifice, or it may be simply a tiny niche, or even just a row of religious prints pasted on a wall.
The children in the house grow up following family beliefs and are encouraged to participate in the Nived ceremony as they will find it personally inspiring. One or more family members on behalf of the whole family usually perform Nived at the household shrine. During the performance of the nived, offerings are made to different deities as mentioned above. The simplest form of nived is the domestic ritual performed by the householder who would offer simple oblation into the sacred fire lit in his house and pouring of offerings into them little bits of the food mentioned above, invoking various gods and deities.
Ritual
This is just a general guide.
A mandir for the nived will normally include following deities: Photograph of Maa Kuldevi ( If photo of Kuldevi is unavailable then use Ambe Maa ), Mataji’s Trishul (trident of Shiva), coconut, fruits and flowers. Prepared food for nived is placed near the mandir.
Aarti is the beautiful ceremony in which divas flames are offered to Mataji. Aarti is performed to God, in any manifestation, any form, by any name. The essence of the aarti ceremony is that all day long God offers us light – the light of the sun, the light of
life, the light of His (Her) blessings. Aarti is a time when we say “thank you,” and we offer back the light of our thanks, the light of our love and the light of our devotion.
Why do we offer food to the Lord or Deities before eating it?
Hindus make an offering of food to the Mataji, devtas and devis and later partake of it as prashad – a holy gift from our Lord. We offer nived (food) to the Kuldevi. What we receive in life as a result of our actions is really our Ma. We acknowledge this through the act of offering food to our Kuldevi, Istdev, Pitru Dev (for fathers) and other deities.
After offering the food thus, it is eaten as prashad – blessed food.
We hope the above information have enlightened you about the significance of Nived.
The essence of Nived is to maintain the feeling of surrender and dedication to Mataji and will fill our lives with knowledge, understanding, devotion and love. The mental calm and tranquillity one experience after performing Nived is to be experienced to believe it.
Nav Nived Preparation
There are several variations of the Nived -2 are highlighted below
Mataji Nived Dishes
Version 1
| Item | English | How to prepare |
| Mataji ni Kheer and rotli | Rice pudding and chapatti | Kheer
Kheer Ingredients: Basmati Rice, Full Fat Milk, Sugar, Ghee, Water To prepare the Kheer, take ‘sava muthi’ of chokha, wash and parboil. Using the milk measure double the amount of milk to rice and warm on a gentle heat. Add the rice and allow to simmer on a gentle heat. Add Sugar to taste. Once the milk evaporates and thickens the Kheer is ready. Serve in a small ‘steel’ bowl with a small amount of Ghee on top. Rotli Rotli Ingredients: Chapatti Flour, Ghee, Hot water To prepare the Dough, take ‘Sava Muthi’ of flour and a small amount of Ghee as the ‘Moun’ (Shortness) mix with fingertips and the consistency should be like breadcrumbs, add more Ghee if required to get this consistency. Add hot water and bind to a Dough. Take off 2 small balls, dip in dry flour and flatten both with your hand on the wooden ‘patlo’ (rolling surface). One side of each spread some Ghee all over and some Dry flour and over with the other flattered one. Dip this in flour and roll out until about 2mm thick. On a hot ‘lodi’ (Hot flat pan) Cook rotli on both sides. You will be able to peel off the 2 sides once cooked, spread a little Ghee on the opened side. For the offering, you must have 5 ‘Pars’ sides served next to the Kheer on a steel plate. Tip: if they don’t peel make sure you add more Ghee & dry flour
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| Ganapati na Ladva | Sweet balls made of chapatti and jaggery | Ladva Ingredients: Chapatti Flour, Ghee, Hot water
To prepare the Dough, take ‘Sava Muthi’ of flour and a small amount of Ghee as the ‘Moun’ (Shortness) mix with fingertips and the consistency should be like breadcrumbs, add more ghee if required to get this consistency. Add hot water and bind to a Dough. Split the Dough into 4 parts (4 Ladvas), Roll our a 5 mm thick Bhakri (thick Rotli) on the wooden ‘patlo’ (rolling surface). On a hot ‘lodi’ (Hot flat pan) cook the Bhakri on both sides on low heat so it cooks through. Repeat for other 3 Bhakhris. Break the Bhakri’s and grind to large lentil size granules. Add warm Gor & Ghee (to taste) to the Ladva granules and split into equal portions and bind in a Ladva shape, the Gor & Ghee will cool and become solid. For the offering, you must have 2 Ladvas served on a steel plate. Tip: If the Ladva breaks at add a little more Gor to aid binding.
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| Hamuman na Ladva | Sweet balls made of chapatti and jaggery | Ladva Ingredients: Chapatti Flour, Ghee, Hot water
To prepare the Dough, take ‘Sava Muthi’ of flour and a small amount of Ghee as the ‘Moun’ (Shortness) mix with fingertips and the consistency should be like breadcrumbs, add more ghee if required to get this consistency. Add hot water and bind to a Dough. Split the Dough into 4 parts (4 Ladvas), Roll our a 5 mm thick Bhakri (thick Rotli) on the wooden ‘patlo’ (rolling surface). On a hot ‘lodi’ (Hot flat pan) cook the Bhakri on both sides on low heat so it cooks through. Repeat for other 3 Bhakhris. Break the Bhakri’s and grind to large lentil size granules. Add warm Gor & Ghee (to taste) to the Ladva granules and split into equal portions and bind in a Ladva shape, the Gor & Ghee will cool and become solid. For the offering you must have 2 Ladvas served on a steel plate. Tip: If the Ladva breaks at add a little more Gor to aid binding.
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| Vachra Dada ni Lapsi (Kachi Lot ni | Made from raw flour | Lapsi Ingredients: Broken Wheat, water, Gor & Ghee,
To prepare the Lapsi, take ‘sava muthi’ of Broken wheat, and place into a small non stick pan and begin to roast flour in at a low heat, until the colour turns light brown. Add some Gor & Ghee (to taste) to a cup of hot water. Add the mixture to the dry roasted flour and stir quickly, the grains will soak up the liquid and thicken. Place in a small steel bowl and add some ghee to the top ready for offering. Tip: Procedure is similar to making a Seero.
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| Sura pura Bapa na Chokha | Rice with jiggery and ghee | Chokha Ingredients: Basmati rice, Water, Gor & Ghee
To prepare the Chokha, take ‘sava muthi’ of the Basmati Rice wash and boil & drain the rice. Add Gor & Ghee (to taste) to the rice. Serve in a small ‘steel’ bowl ready for offering.
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| Ketaliya ni Khichdi (Nimak vaghar) | Rice and split mung lentils no salt | Khichri Ingredients: Basmati Rice, Split Moong Dal, Water
To prepare the Khichri, take ‘sava muthi’ of Basmati & Moong dal Mixed (half & half of each), wash thoroughly and place into a non-stick pan. Add water and bring to the boil. Leave onto simmer until both ingredients have cooked and mixed together. Serve in a small ‘steel’ bowl ready for offering. Tip – If you leave the raw mixture in water for a couple hours it will cook quicker.
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| Harta Farta na Talvat (Tal no bhuko kari ne) | Ground Sesame seeds mixed with sugar and ghee | Tal-Vat Ingredients: White sesame seeds, ‘Gor’ – (Jaggery)
To prepare the Tal-Vat, take ‘sava muthi’ of Sesame seeds, and place into a Mortar and begin to crush the seeds with a Pestle. Add some Gor to the mortar and crush in the gor. The Gor will melt and break down and the Tal-Vat is ready. Place in a small steel bowl and ready for serve. For offering.
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| Kang no Kular | Made with barley seeds | Kang Ingredients: Kang & Water , Jaggery/Gor and Ghee to add after cooking
Two ways .
To prepare the Kang, take ‘sava muthi’ of the Kang and wash thoroughly and place into a pressure cooker, add water triple the height of the Kang and steam for about 30 mins. Serve in a small ‘steel’ bowl ready for offering, after adding Jaggery / Gor and ghee. Tip – If you leave the raw granules in water for a couple hours it will cook quicker as Kang is a hard pulse.
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| Mama no Khichdo (Akha safed juwar ni) | Boiled Juwar | Juwar na Thethwa Ingredients: Juwar (Millet) & Water
To prepare the Thethwa, take ‘sava muthi’ of the Juwar and wash thoroughly and place into a pressure cooker, add water triple the height of the Juwar and steam for about 15mins. Serve in a small ‘steel’ bowl as offering. Tip – If you leave the raw granules in water for a couple hours it will cook quicker.
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In addition 2 coconuts (Jod Nadyer)
Version 2
| Item | Which deity |
| Kheer Rotli | Harsidhi Mataji |
| Ladva | Ganesh Bapa |
| Lapsi 1 | Shikotra Ma |
| Lapsi 2 | Vachra Dada |
| Bhat 1 | Surapura Bapa |
| Bhat 2 | Suripuri Maa |
| Kular – Kang Ni | Chamunda Maa |
| Khichadi | Khetalia bapa |
| Talvat | Hartafarta |
In addition ,2 coconuts (Jod Nadyer)
As mentioned earlier, this information should be used only as a general guide. Food for nived varies with each family. Families do not need to use all the above food for Nived. Each has its own traditions. So is better to follow each family’s traditional ritual.
Portions for Nived: – In the old days of the traditional family when 35-40 family members used to live together under one roof, the portions of each dish used to be large. Now with the break up of such a traditional family, the portion of each dish should be prepared according to
the number of family members. One needs to ensure that the dishes are carefully prepared with love and devotion. The amount of food should not be prepared in an excess amount. As this blessed food is later retrieved after the Nived and consumed ,so must not be wasted.