procedure for Preparation of three-strand pure cotton thread for yajnopaveetham (Poonool)

Preparation of three-strand pure cotton thread for yajnopaveetham is as follows.

Those who prepare muppiri poonal should be clean and should occupy or sit in clean place.

Eligible Vedic Brahmins, Sumangalis, Kannyakas, and Widows who observe the correct austerities can weave the thread used for this. Those who prepare poonal must encircle (tie round their fingers) their fingers of right hand having each circle of unbroken continuous thread having length of four inches and the thread should be encircled thus for ninety six times. After that, they divide the unbroken thread equally into three sections and then they make them hold fast by spiralling together very tightly.

Then you should adjust this strengthened thread into three equal circles together and tie the ends securely covering all the three equal circles of thread together.

This gives one set of muppiri nool or poonal.

Vedic Brahmins chant Mantrams like Gayatri or Vedic Sookthams while making the final knot, which we call brahma kattu or mudichu.

One should wear the three strand poonal across the torso with one part covering the left shoulder and the other part hanging just above the hip, just up to navel. If for some reason the poonal is longer and goes below navel, the brahma kattu tied should be made bgger by spiralling part of the thread ,and the brahma mudichu can be at be of the size of a seed of payaru.. Pulse or pea seed.

The rule among Brahmins of Tamil Nadu and migrants from there is that the unmarried male wears a set of one strand and a grihasta or the one who had undergone samavartanam wears two strands and the grihasta wears an additional set of poonal to substitute for uthareeyam.

𝗞𝗮𝗺𝗼𝗸𝗮𝗮𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗲𝗲𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗺 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗷𝗮𝗽𝗮𝗺

𝗞𝗮𝗺𝗼𝗸𝗮𝗮𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗲𝗲𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗺 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗷𝗮𝗽𝗮𝗺

𝐈𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐕𝐞𝐝𝐚 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐤𝐡𝐚, 𝐛𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐫𝐢𝐤, 𝐲𝐚𝐣𝐮𝐬 𝐨𝐫 𝐒𝐚𝐦𝐚..

𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐘𝐚𝐣𝐮𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐮𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐀𝐝𝐡𝐲𝐚𝐲𝐚 𝐔𝐭𝐬𝐚𝐫𝐣𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐞 𝐏𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐚𝐬𝐢.. 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐨𝐨𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐢 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐲𝐚𝐦..

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐡𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐮𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐕𝐞𝐝𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐀𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐢 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐢 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐮𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐘𝐚𝐣𝐧𝐢𝐤 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐟 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫. 𝐈𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐝𝐡𝐲𝐚𝐚𝐲𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐨𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐢.

𝐈𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐯𝐚𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐛𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐝, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐛𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐥.

𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐲𝐚𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐚𝐦 𝐰𝐞 𝐲𝐚𝐣𝐮𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐊𝐚𝐦𝐚 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐮, 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫, 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐮𝐬 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐨𝐧..

𝐖𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐜 𝐬𝐭𝐲𝐥𝐞.

𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐁𝐫𝐚𝐡𝐦𝐢𝐧 𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐬, 𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐞 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐲𝐚𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐚𝐦.

𝐃𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐡𝐲𝐚𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐬, 𝐰𝐞 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐫𝐚 𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐡𝐲𝐚𝐦 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐆𝐚𝐲𝐚𝐭𝐫𝐢 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞, 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐩𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐫 𝐧𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐞𝐭𝐜.

𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐦 𝐚𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐲𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐚𝐦... 𝐰𝐞 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐚𝐣𝐧𝐚𝐚𝐭𝐚𝐦... 𝐞𝐭𝐜..

𝐖𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐩 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐩𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐮𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡.

Significance of Guru.. Vedarambham.. Nitya karmam.. Brahmin Rituals. upakarma

Significance of Guru.. Vedarambham.. Nitya karmam.. Brahmin Rituals. upakarma 
लक्ष्मीनाथ समारम्भां नाथयामुन मध्यमां ।।
अस्मदाचार्य पर्यन्तां बन्दे गुरुपरंपरां ।।
Lakshmeenaatha samarambhaam naathayaamuna madhyamaam asmadaachaarya paryantaam vande guruparamparaam
for Vaishnava Parampara..

and
सदाशिव समारंभाम् शङ्कराचार्य मध्यमाम्।
अस्मदाचार्यपर्यन्ताम् वन्दे गुरुपरंपराम्॥
sadaashiva samaarambhaam shankaraachaaryam madhyamaam asmadaachaarya paryantaam vande guruparamparaam
is the Smartha Shaiva parampara..

The first stanza of first of the Vedas.. rigvedam.. calls agni as purohita and offers pranams to him.. Puro Hita... is the one who leads us from the front, and whom we just follow.. it is none other than the Guru.. Agnimeeley Purohitam..
Why, whenever we sit to chant a mantram,in fact just before that, we place our fingers on the head mentioning the rishi.. what is it.?.
We are paying respect to the guru.who was the drashta of the mantram and gave it to us...
we place the guru in a place as high as possible..
We offer pranams to Krishna, and all the dwijas before starting the gayatri upasana..
Namo Brahmnaya... नमो ब्रह्मण्य देवाय गो ब्राह्मण हिताय च जगद्दिताय कृष्णाय गोविन्दाय नमो नमः Aabrahmalokaat... आ ब्रह्मलोकादाषेशाद् आलोका लोक पर्वतात् ये वसन्ति द्विजा देवा तेभ्यो नित्यं नमो नमः
Maybe such actions have become so common that their significance is lost on us..
Guru is the first and foremost in our lives at every stage..
We perform the Vedavyasa pooja and Kandarshi tarpanam on Upakarma..
Every Brahmayjanam is an offering to the Vedas, upanishads, Kandarishis, Itihasam Puranam, Kalpam... the list is long..
We do not celebrated Guru Purnima only because it appears to be in the realm of yatis.. a prelude to chaturmasyam..

the upakarma rules.

the upakarma rules.

( about what we nowadays celebrate as avani avittam)

The celebration we observe as Avani Avittam is technically called upakarma..

In fact it is a very vital functin in our lives as Dvijas or brahmins.. We are supposedly starting the study of our own ordained Sakhas of Vedas from that day..

The rules as prescribed by Manu and Apastamba are given below.

श्रावण्यां प्रोष्टपद्यां वा उपाकृत्य यथाविधि।

युक्तश्चन्दाम्स्यधीयेत मासान्विप्रोऽर्धपञ्चमाम्।

पुष्ये तु छन्दसां कुर्याद्बहिरुत्सर्जनं द्विजः।

माघशुक्लस्य वा प्राप्ते पूर्वाह्णिप्रथमेऽहनि॥

मनु

Manu says.. The dvijas should do upakarma in Shravan or proshtapada months ( roughly corresponding to Chingam and Kanni .. often overlapping Karkidakam too) and should study the vedas prescribed for them for five and half month..

And in Pusha month ( corresponding to Thai, or Makaram..) they should stop their studies and stir out of their villages or static stations.. This stoppage of studies ( adhyaaya utsarjanam can be done on the Pournamasi of Magha.. thai amavasai.. or the previous or the next day)

The idea is that the dwijas have other functions too to performed and they should not get bogged down to learning Sakhas of Vedas alone..

In fact non stoppage of studies or adhyaya utsarjanam is considered a sin.. and the Apasthambeeya krishna yajurvedis perfoms prayaschittam for non performance of this adhyaya utsarjanam by chanting Kamokaarsheed mantram one thousand eight times on the morning of their upakarma.

श्रावण्यां पौर्णम्यामध्यायमुपाकृत्य मासं प्रदोषे नाधीयत तैष्यां पौर्णमास्यां रोहिण्यां वा विरमेदर्धपञ्चातुरो मासानित्येके॥

आपस्तंबः॥

अध्वर्यूणां श्रावण्यां प्रोष्टपद्यां छान्दोग्यानामिति॥

śrāvaṇyāṁ proṣṭapadyāṁ vā upākṛtya yathāvidhi|

yuktaścandāmsyadhīyeta māsānvipro'rdhapañcamām|

puṣye tu chandasāṁ kuryādbahirutsarjanaṁ dvijaḥ|

māghaśuklasya vā prāpte pūrvāhṇiprathame'hani||

manu

śrāvaṇyāṁ paurṇamyāmadhyāyamupākṛtya māsaṁ pradoṣe nādhīyata taiṣyāṁ paurṇamāsyāṁ rohiṇyāṁ vā viramedardhapañcāturo māsānityeke||

āpastaṁbaḥ||

Apastambha says

A dvija should perforum upakarma in the Srvani month, and continue his studies through the month, excluding the pradosha period ( and anadhyaya periods prescribed too) and should give up such studies on the day when the pushyam star and the full moon.. come together.. that is the pouranami of Makaram of Thai month.. or the preceding day when Rohini month.. This study will go on for five months, five and half months or four and half months as the case may be..

The difference in months is because some texts prescribe the study of Vyakaranam and other Vedgangas too for a month..

अध्वर्यूणां श्रावण्यां प्रोष्टपद्यां छान्दोग्यानामिति॥

adhvaryūṇāṁ śrāvaṇyāṁ proṣṭapadyāṁ chāndogyānāmiti||

The upakarma is in the Sravani month for Adhvaryus and for Chandogas it is in the Proshtapada month..

The Yajurveda Avani Avittam happens on the Pournami.. mostly thiruvonam or avittam also falling on that day.. or avittam.. in Sravana month.. For Rigveda Upakarmam..shravanam or thiruvonam in Shraavanee month is a must.

The Samaveda upakarmam is on the star Hastam in the proshtapada month.. roughly corresponding with Atham Chaturthi..

The exact rules have been prescribed in great detail in texts like Dharma Sindhu, Nirnaya Sindhu, Smritichandrika, Deekshiteeyam etc..

Upakarmam and Purohita

What the purohita does is that he informs the day upakarma well in time distributes poonal etc and gives prior guidance.
The idea of performing upakarmam and vedarambham without a vadhyar is not envisaged at all.
If we are doing that presuming that we know how to do it ..that has no religious sanction.
The senior guru also performs upakarmam himself while guiding others and he performs vedarambham by leading the chant and performing vyasa/Kanda rishi pooja and Homam as per the shakhas and sutrams.
There is nothing odd about it.
If you are going to do upakarmam reading a piece of paper or book then you can do it the way you want..
but then you need not look either for jeaar or periyavaal or sannidhanam or brihaspathi swami or any shastri in the web..
Skipping the ritual seems to be better than doing vedarambham without a guru.
And after deciding to do vedarambham and upakarmam without a vadhyar or guru further questions are irrelevant

Yes, if you have respect for our traditions,  we should involve our Vadhyaar at least in Upakarmam.