On Ayudha Puja, during Navaratri, tools, machines and vehicles are cleaned, polished and worshipped. “Machines like computers and laptops are also kept for Puja,” the Tamil Nadu tourism department writes. “People also wash their vehicles and perform puja for them.” The items stay in place until Vijayadashami.
Framed So Late in the Day
On November 4, 1948, B.R. Ambedkar presented the Draft Constitution to the Constituent Assembly. He took up the charge “that about half of it has been copied from the Government of India Act of 1935” and that “the rest of it has been borrowed from the Constitutions of other countries.”
“Given these facts, all Constitutions in their main provisions must look similar,” he said. “The only new things, if there can be any, in a Constitution framed so late in the day are the variations.”
The Violin in Carnatic Music
The violin came to South India from Europe. At least four musicians of the 18th and 19th centuries are credited with bringing it into Carnatic music. Sruti magazine writes that Baluswamy Dikshitar “adapted the playing to suit the genius of Carnatic music.”
A Carnatic violinist sits cross-legged on the floor and rests the scroll of the violin on the ankle. The violin usually accompanies the singer.
QR Codes at the Temple
In December 2021 the Sabarimala temple in Kerala displayed 22 QR codes, so that devotees could give their offering, kanikka, by phone. In June 2022 Karnataka’s Muzrai Department began a trial with QR codes at two temples, among them Kollur Mookambika. “Devotees just have to scan the code and pay the offerings, using UPI payment apps,” Udayavani reported.
Lemons Under the Rafale
On October 8, 2019, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh received India’s first Rafale fighter jet at Mérignac in France. It was Vijayadashami. He performed a shastra puja, the worship of weapons. He wrote “Om” on the jet and laid flowers and a coconut on it. Two lemons were placed under its wheels.
France’s defence minister, Florence Parly, said: “It is no coincidence that this ceremony falls on Dussehra.”
The Sengol
On May 28, 2023, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated India’s new Parliament building. Adheenams, heads of Tamil Shaiva monasteries, handed him the Sengol, a ceremonial scepter. He installed it in the Lok Sabha chamber, “right next to the Speaker’s chair.”
On September 19, 2023, the old Parliament building was given a new name, Samvidhan Sadan, the House of the Constitution.
English, Continued
The Constitution allowed English to remain an official language for 15 years after 1950. The Official Languages Act of 1963 provided that, after that period, “the English language may, as from the appointed day, continue to be used in addition to Hindi.”
An amendment of 1967 provided that the use of English would not end until a resolution to that effect was passed. The act “effectively made English a permanent official language of India,” Wikipedia notes.
Two Calendars
India’s national calendar, based on the Saka era, was “adopted from 22 March 1957 along with the Gregorian calendar” for official purposes. Its official uses include the Gazette of India and the news broadcasts of All India Radio. Its first day in official use was the first day of Chaitra, 1879, in the Saka era.
Two Penal Codes
On July 1, 2024, the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita replaced the Indian Penal Code of 1860. A new procedure code, the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, replaced the Code of Criminal Procedure.
Section 531 of the new procedure code saves what was already under way. If an appeal, application, trial, inquiry or investigation was pending before July 1, 2024, it continues under the old code.
For such cases, the old codes continue to apply.
The Red Ledger
In 2019, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman carried the budget papers in a bahi-khata, a traditional ledger, instead of a leather briefcase. “The tradition of briefcase, started by British, was inherited in India,” Deccan Herald wrote.
In February 2021 India presented its first paperless budget. Sitharaman carried a tablet that had been “placed inside a red cover.”