Annaprashan Invitation Message & Mukhe Bhaat Card Wording

An annaprashan invitation says who is inviting, names the baby (Chi. before a boy's name in English), calls the day by your home's name for it (annaprashan, mukhe bhaat, annaprasana or choroonu), and gives the date with the muhurat, the venue and the lunch. Every sample below uses the morning of Monday, 7 June 2027 only to show how the date is written; your purohit fixes the muhurat from the baby's birth star.

Annaprashan invitation wording in English

From the parents, for a daughter

Make this card with your names and date.

From the grandparents, for a grandson

Only three things change between the two: daughter or son (granddaughter or grandson), Chi. before a boy's name, and the parents' line under the baby's name when the grandparents invite. A grandparent who has passed away can still head the card with Late before the name; the closing lists only the living. For twins, or a brother and sister on one day, write "their beloved children" and join the names with "&". Another opening is "cordially invite you to grace the occasion of the Annaprashan of their beloved daughter", and a no-gifts line reads "Presents in the form of Blessings only."

Annaprashan card matter in Hindi

Make this card with your names and date.

The date line is worked out for 10 am in Lucknow. The bracket names the grandparents, सुपौत्री meaning granddaughter. For a son the card says हमारे सुपुत्र, writes चि. before his name and सुपौत्र in the bracket; a daughter is named alone, or with कु. before her name if your family writes it. When the grandparents invite, the baby is हमारी पौत्री or हमारे पौत्र, the parents move into the bracket, and the grandparents sign first under विनीत. प्रीतिभोज ... से आपके आगमन तक means the meal is served from noon until you arrive.

Mukhe bhaat card: English wording with the Bengali date

A mukhe bhaat card in English can keep the Bengali date in brackets after the English one, the way Kolkata cards print it:

His name stands alone, without Chi.: that is a habit of Hindi, Marathi and South Indian cards, and a Bengali card writes শ্রীমান or কল্যাণীয় before a boy's name instead. Check the Bengali date in your panjika before you print. If the mama will feed the first rice, you can add a line such as "The first rice will be fed by his maternal uncle, Mr. Sourav."

The Bengali lines

These lines from Kolkata wedding cards carry over to a mukhe bhaat card as they are:

• The date, the English one first: আগামী ৭ই জুন ২০২৭ (২৩শে জ্যৈষ্ঠ ১৪৩৪) সোমবার.
• Before the baby's name: শ্রীমান or কল্যাণীয় for a boy, কল্যাণীয়া for a girl.
• The feast: আন্তরিক ভাবে জানাই প্রীতিভোজের সাদর আমন্ত্রণ। ("we warmly invite you to the feast").
• The footer: অনুষ্ঠানের স্থান ঃ (venue), সময় ঃ (time) and যোগাযোগ ঃ (contact), with ঃ as the colon.
• The closing: বিনীত over a man's or a couple's names, বিনীতা over a woman's.
• A late grandparent: ৺, or স্বর্গীয় for a man and স্বর্গীয়া for a woman, before the name.

Leave out শ্রী শ্রী প্রজাপতয়ে নমঃ, the line at the top of many Bengali wedding cards: Prajapati is invoked there for the marriage. Ask your purohit or an elder to word the sentence that names the baby and the mukhe bhaat.

Telugu annaprasana card

The short card

It reads: "The annaprasana ceremony of Chi. Meghana (daughter of the couple Srikanth and Deepa) takes place at our home, so all of you please come and bless the child", then the muhurat, the date and "Monday, at 10 in the morning", and ఆహ్వానించువారు, "those who invite", over the names. For a son, the bracket says కుమారుడు. మా స్వగృహం నందు, "at our home", is the venue; add the address if guests need it, and విందు · మధ్యాహ్నం గం॥ 12:30 నుండి for the lunch.

The full card, with the date sentence

The opening is the date sentence printed Telugu cards use: "in the Plavanga year by the lunar calendar, Jyeshtha, bright fortnight, Tadiya (the third day), that is on 07-06-2027, Monday, at 10 in the morning, joined with Punarvasu nakshatra, in Karkataka lagna, at the auspicious muhurat", then "our daughter Chi. Meghana's annaprasana has been fixed by the astrologers". బంధుమిత్రుల అభినందనలతో means "with the good wishes of relatives and friends", and కీ.శే. goes before the name of a grandparent who has passed away.

Tamil annaprashanam card

This wording follows Tamil cards for other children's ceremonies, mostly the ear piercing (காதணி விழா); have an elder read it before you print.

The card greets the guest, gives the Tamil date (Vaikasi 24) with the tithi, the star and the time between 9.30 and 10.30, names the baby as the grandson of the late Subramanian and of Vasantha, and asks guests to come with their relatives and friends to bless him. தெய்வத்திரு marks the grandparent who has passed away and நலமுடன், "in good health", the one beside him. For a girl, செல்வி replaces செல்வன் and the line before her name ends பேத்தியும் எங்களது மகளுமான. When the grandparents invite, that line names the parents instead: திரு. அருண் - திருமதி. தீபா ஆகியோரின் மகனும் எங்களது பேரனுமாகிய, "son of Mr Arun and Mrs Deepa, and our grandson".

A choroonu card, for a temple

A choroonu at Guruvayur or another temple keeps the same wording, with the temple as the venue and the Malayalam-era date in brackets after the English one, as Kerala's English wedding cards print it. At a temple the time may be the temple's rather than your own muhurat, so ask there before you print, and leave the muhurtam line off if there is none.

What goes on the card, in order

1. A line to Ganesha or your family deity: || Shree Ganeshaya Namah || on English cards, ॥ ఓం శ్రీ గణేశాయ నమః ॥ on Telugu ones, உ at the top of a Tamil card.
2. The title, in the name your home uses.
3. Who invites: the parents, or the grandparents with the parents named under the baby.
4. One sentence asking guests to come and bless the child.
5. The baby's name with its honorific: Chi. (chiranjeev, "long-lived") before a boy's name in English, while a girl is named alone, and so is a boy on a mukhe bhaat card; చి॥ before a boy's or a girl's name in Telugu; செல்வன் for a boy and செல்வி for a girl in Tamil.
6. The date, the weekday and the muhurat, with the traditional date line if you want it.
7. The programme, in time order: a havan or puja, the first rice at the muhurat, then lunch.
8. The venue: your home, a hall or a temple, with the address.
9. Your names under a closing line: "With best compliments from" in English, ఆహ్వానించువారు in Telugu, தங்கள் நல்வரவை விரும்பும் in Tamil, বিনীত in Bengali.

What the day is called, and when it is done

• Annaprashan, or annaprashan sanskar (अन्नप्राशन संस्कार) in Hindi-speaking homes: anna is food, prashana is feeding. English cards put "First rice ceremony" under the title.
• Annaprasana on Telugu cards, titled అన్నప్రాసన వేడుక; the Sanskrit spelling is అన్నప్రాశన, and Kannada writes ಅನ್ನಪ್ರಾಶನ. The Tamil wording above uses the Sanskrit name, அன்னப்பிராசனம்; many Tamil homes call the day சோறூட்டு விழா (soru oottu vizha, "the rice-feeding ceremony"), and the Tamil maker offers that title too.
• Mukhe bhaat (মুখেভাত, "rice in the mouth") in Bengal, also অন্নপ্রাশন. The mama, the baby's maternal uncle, traditionally feeds the first spoon of payesh.
• Choroonu (ചോറൂണ്) in Kerala, often at a temple, most famously Guruvayur.
• Ushtavan (उष्टावण) in Marathi homes.
• Pasni in Nepali-speaking homes in Nepal, Darjeeling and Sikkim: use the English wording with Pasni as the title.

It is done most often in the 6th month for a boy and the 5th or 7th for a girl: even months for boys, odd ones for girls. Bengali homes often hold mukhe bhaat in the 6th or 8th month for a boy and the 5th, 7th or 9th for a girl. Your purohit then picks the day and time from the baby's birth star. It comes after the naming ceremony and before the mundan; our annaprashan ceremony guide covers the day itself.

The date line, language by language

For 10 am on 7 June 2027, our panchang gives:

• English, South Indian style (Bengaluru): Plavanga samvatsara · Jyeshtha Shukla Tritiya · Punarvasu nakshatra · Karka lagna
• English, North Indian style (New Delhi): Jyeshtha Shukla Tritiya · Vikram Samvat 2084, which a Hindi card writes शुभ मिती ज्येष्ठ शुक्ल तृतीया, संवत् 2084
• Telugu (Hyderabad): the స్వస్తిశ్రీ sentence above, with the star as పునర్వసు
• Tamil (Chennai): the நிகழும் மங்களகரமான sentence above, with the Tamil date Vaikasi 24 and the star as புனர்பூசம்
• Bengali: the Bengali date, 23 Jaishtha 1434, in brackets
• Kerala: the Malayalam-era date, 1202 Edavam 24, in brackets

The tithi on the line is the one running at the muhurat, and it can change within the day: that day Tritiya ends at 3:26 pm, so a muhurat at 4 pm would print Chaturthi. Some printed Telugu cards give the sunrise tithi instead, so let your purohit say which goes on yours, and check the date line with him before you print. On an English or Tamil card, print a muhurat before sunrise under the calendar date of that morning, even though a panchang lists it under the day before; a Telugu card keeps the evening's date and adds (తెల్లవారితే ...), "as it dawns", with the next day, and our maker writes it that way. Look up any date on our daily panchang; what a muhurat is explains how the time is chosen.

A WhatsApp message to send with the card

Send the location as its own message after the card, so guests can tap it.

Making the card

The annaprashan invitation maker writes the English cards (titled Annaprashan, Mukhe Bhaat or Choroonu), the Hindi card, the full Telugu card and the Tamil card above: you choose the hosts, son or daughter, a second child on an English card and anyone who has passed away, and it adds Chi., చి॥, செல்வன் or செல்வி itself. It writes an editable date line from the date, the muhurat time and the town; a Bengali or Malayalam date typed into that box prints under the muhurtam. You get an image for WhatsApp and a PDF for the press.

When the date is fixed, you can request a purohit for the annaprashan.