It is believed that seeing the kani, the first thing in the morning will bring you happiness and prosperity for the rest of the year. Photo: ManoramaAs a child, you would have seen how your grandmother set up the traditional Vishu Kani. There are steps that you have to follow - with minor changes from places to places and considering the available resources. The lamp has to be cleaned. Make sure that the vessel (uruli) used for setting up the Kani is also clean.
The vessel is half filled with rice and paddy. Both halves of a split coconut is placed next, followed by jackfruit, mango, and banana - jackfruit, they say is lord Ganesha's favorite, mango is for Lord Subrahmanya and banana for lord Krishna. Then comes the ornamental mirror (valkannadi) signifying the presence of mother goddess. You can also keep the vessel next to a statue of lord Krishna, ensuring that no shadow falls on it.
On a flat bottomed plate, keep a new cloth (kasavu mundu), books, coins and gold. There are people who keep vermilion (sindoor) and kajal next to this too. The coins represent goddess Lakshmi and the book symbolizes goddess Saraswati.
Farmers keep seeds that they want to plant next to the vessel, and sow it after the 'Vishu Kani'. The flowers of the golden shower tree / cassia fistula ( kani konna) is an inevitable part of the Kani. It is believed that seeing the kani, the first thing in the morning will bring you happiness and prosperity for the rest of the year.
