Vibhuti Making - Maha Sivarathiri Vibhuti Making with cow dung cakes - Sivarathiri Muttan

Vibhuti Making - How is Vibhuthi prepared? Vibhuti in an age-old practice is made out of dried cow dung cakes in a Vaideeka mode during the annual Maha Sivarathri festival. In what is typically described as Sivarathiri Muttan, the cow dung cakes are prepared and dried and placed in layers in a pyramidal formation made out of Karukkai (not Kadukkai. Karukkai is semi grown paddy). On the morning of Sivarathiri, Viraja homam is performed. Then after homam, the fire is placed on the muttan and it burns out after some days and the cakes of cow dung burnt are to be used as Vibhuti. The cow dung from Indian breed cows are best used and foreign cows like Jerseys or mixed breeds are to be avoided. What was a norm in the agraharam Kollai's (for the uninitiated Kollai,is the backyard), this was routine to be repeated every Maha sivarathri. The late fog (Pin Pani in tamil) ensured that the ash was extra white. Now that is all history and we have migrated to what is available in the market and only HE knows what is contained within what is sold as Vibhuti. The Vibhuti, thus prepared may be called as Gomaya Vibhuthi or as in today's world as Organic Vibhuthi