7. Annaprāśana
The first solid food
Around the sixth month, the baby is given its first solid food — usually a little rice kheer or rice with ghee — after a short pūjā. An elder or the maternal uncle often feeds the first spoon.
A playful custom in many homes places objects before the baby — a book, a pen, money, jewellery — to see which it picks. It is widely celebrated: Mukhe Bhāt in Bengal, Choroonu in Kerala (often at Guruvāyūr temple), Annaprāśan elsewhere.
About 6 months · Mukhe Bhāt / Choroonu