Page:Hindu Feasts Fasts and Ceremonies.djvu/26

10 finishing this the Brahman goes to his midday meal. Before, however, sitting down for his dinner he is ordained to see whether any guests are waiting at his door; and if so, he must receive them, present them with planks to sit on, give them water for ablution, and offer them honey mixed with other food for refreshment. He must then take them into his house and feed them sumptuously. The evening closes with bath and prayers as in the morning. These, then, form the daily routine of a Brahman. But few observe them regularly, and those too are to be found in remote villages. Even they become liable to lapses from the daily routine.

Upakarma or Avani Avittam was instituted at a very distant epoch of time for those that had not attended regularly to the performance of these rites and for those who, though regular, had deviated on certain occasions during the year. Thus the day of Upakarma is the annual renewal day of the sacred thread—the symbol of the obligations of the twice-born—of the Brahmans and other twice-born castes. Early in the morning of this day every Brahman who is invested with the holy thread bathes and