The Mom Salon | October 2021

Pallu Kolukattai: Celebrating the Joy of Eating

By Shanthy Milne My son’s arrival in this world was not marked with any welcoming traditions or cultural practices. He was not Christened as his father had been, nor did we hold a naming ceremony or shave his head as is customary in Sri Lankan Tamil culture – a purification ritual believed to rid a child of any ills from a past life (and encourage a thicker re-growth of hair). But when our son’s beautiful gummy smile gave way to reveal his first incisor, it became the symbolic moment in which we wanted to draw on my family’s cultural traditions and come together to celebrate.

Food plays a significant role in the cultural practices of Sri Lankan Tamil communities. Many religious rituals begin with the symbolic breaking of a coconut, representing the destruction of the ego and the pursuit of purity from within. In Hindu temples, Prasadam in the form of fruit or specially prepared rice dishes are placed before deities as an offering. Following poojas (ritual prayers), these offerings – now consecrated – are shared and consumed among devotees.

Whether religious or secular, each ceremonial gathering culminates with the sharing of food. But there is also one occasion where it is the very act of eating and the embarkation on a lifelong relationship with food that is the cause for celebration itself. It was this, the Pallu Kolukattai (Teething Ceremony), which my husband and I felt the most affinity towards and desire to celebrate.

In Western culture, teething tends to be met with ambivalence. Albeit a recognisable milestone, it is often bemoaned for the accompanying sleepless nights and ever-present fussiness of a baby with sore gums.

Typically, it is the loss of the milk tooth that is given precedence. Though 1