They say God tests his
devotees. Lord Shiva was no exception. He often created situations that tired
and tested the skills and patience of his devotees.
One such incident was the ‘Pittuku
Mann Sumandha Padalam.’
When translated, it means the occasion
when Shiva carried sand in exchange for some sweet powered rice!
The water level in the river
Vaigai rose and entered into the Pandiya Kingdom. The King summoned his
ministers as it was an emergency situation.
After discussing with them, the
King ordered that every household should send one member to help build the
bank.
According to legend, the
original bank was built by Lord Shiva himself and he wanted to test the King
and therefore created the flood-like situation.
Upon hearing the King’s orders,
one old lady was troubled. She was living all alone and could send nobody for
building the bank. She prayed to Lord Shiva and Shiva visited her house in the
form of a small boy.
The old lady requested him to partake
in the bank building activity on her behalf. The boy agreed, but told her that
since he was very hungry, he would eat something and then go.
He told her that he would
consider that as his pay! The old lady had nothing but ‘pittu,’ or sweetened
rice powder.
Shiva told her to give the
loose powder as advance. After eating the loose ones, he wanted to rest a bit,
before joining the others in the task. He wanted to eat the shaped ones
after completing her work.
When he reached the river bank,
Shiva, instead of helping the others, started playing and throwing sand around.
He irritated the others who were working seriously. Word was sent to the King
about the boy who was caused hindrance to the progress of the work. Finally the
King himself came to the scene and after questioning the people around, he
ordered his ministers to tie up the boy to a pole. He then whipped the boy to
teach him a lesson.At this point Lord Shiva appeared
before the King and set the bank right. The water receded and the Kingdom was
saved. The King repented his mistake and prostrated before the Lord.
Lord Shiva not only taught the
King the correct way to reconstruct the broken bank, he also brought out
subtler points that we must not miss.
Before passing an order, the
King has to ensure that people in his kingdom are in a position to carry out
the orders. The King had not taken into account, old women living alone, before
asking every household to spare a member. The Lord, in a very diplomatic
manner, made the King aware of the situation in his Kingdom.
Author’s note:
Pittu is rice powder sweetened
with jiggery. It is a very healthy and wholesome food. Eating even a little
of this gives energy to do hard physical work. Here’s how you can make
puttu/pittu easily.
Soak a cup of raw rice for 20
minutes. Spread it on a clean cloth till it dries. Powder the rice. Place a
tawa/wok on the stove and add the rice powder. Keep stirring the rice powder
until you smell the aroma. It may take about 8 to 10 minutes (on a slow flame,
which is highly recommended). Seive the powder and sprinkle water slowly and
mix the rice powder with the water. When you hold the powder tightly in your palm
it should hold the shape. It you break it, it should be breakable. Steam the
powder by placing it on a thin, clean cloth.
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| After roasting the flour on the wok, this is how it looks... |
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| Sprinkle water and knead well... |
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| When you shape it up it should hold... |
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| When you break it, this is how it looks... |
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| Sieve well before steaming... |
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| The prepared flour is ready to be steamed... |
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| Steam it, preferably in a clean cloth... |
Add some jaggery to hot water
and let it boil. When you add the syrup in a bowl of cool water, you should be
able to roll it into a ball. Remove the jiggery syrup and mix it slowly with
the steamed rice powder. Add ghee, fried cashew and cardamom powder.
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| The jaggery syrup can be rolled into a ball... |
‘Puttu’ or ‘pittu’ is a tasty
and wholesome food, which even the Gods relished!
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| A healthy and wholesome meal, fit for the Almighty! |
