Annaprashan invitation videos

The ceremony, and who does what

The অন্নপ্রাশন (annaprashan), commonly called mukhe bhaat in Bengal, is the first feeding of rice. The mama — the maternal uncle — traditionally gives the first grain, usually payesh from a silver bowl.

Many families want the mama named on the card. No template lets you do that; we will, and it costs nothing extra.

When it happens, and when to send

Conventionally in the sixth month for a boy and the fifth or seventh for a girl, on a date fixed against the panchang. Confirm the date with your priest before you commission anything, because it moves.

Send the invitation two to three weeks ahead. The list is small, local and family — a video is genuinely useful here because it goes into the family WhatsApp group and stops the twenty separate phone calls.

Motifs

Alta footprints — the red prints pressed onto the floor. The most-used motif for a reason: it reads instantly, at any size.

The silver bowl and payesh — the ceremony reduced to one object.

Shakha-pola and alpona lifted from the wedding vocabulary, drawn lighter and smaller, because the register is domestic rather than ceremonial.

The card matter, in Bengali

Most families searching for annaprashan cards actually want the matter — the wording. The conventions are stable: the ceremony is অন্নপ্রাশন (annaprashan), colloquially মুখে ভাত (mukhe bhaat, sometimes spelt mukhe vat), and the invitation asks the guest to come সপরিবারে (saparibare — with family).

The baby’s name is usually given in both scripts, with the parents and often the grandparents named as hosts; if the mama who feeds the first rice is being honoured on the card, his name goes in too. We set the Bengali with someone who reads it, so the conjuncts and honorifics survive the design.