Have you seen women around you cleaning the door frame (Oombaro) and putting kumkum dots or divo by it?
Why do we do "Oombaraa pujan" as Hindus?
In Bollywood movies, we have all seen the images of a married woman entering her new homes for the first time and kicking the Kalash filled with rice inside the house by taking a step with her right foot in the doorframe.
One of the beliefs is that Grains (anaaj or Dhaan) was considered a sign of prosperity, and as the new woman of the house comes into the family, she says to abundance now I take you with me through this doorframe into our house.
Many traditional homes still have women who daily clean the door frame, adorn it with a Toran, do kumkum or chandan tilaks and light a small diya nearby. The doorframe or "Oombaro"(in Gujarati) is a marker for everyone stepping out of the home to remember their values, what is right and wrong and everyone stepping in, to check in with themselves to see if they have wronged anyone or hurt someone today?
Oombaro is like a "Chokidaar" (bodyguard). It protects the members of the home as they get to choose who can enter that frame. In the Mughal era, many folks buried their wealth by digging a hole under their doorframe to prevent soldiers from looting their homes.
In our modern world, many of us don't even enter through the front door, as we use our garages to enter the house. We may not clean our doorframes daily or light diyas but we can always have an intention of it being pure. Many have a small bell hanging that they ring as they enter as well. There are many different ways of keeping your home filled with good vibes and pure thoughts.
Do you know someone who cleans their "Oombaro" daily?
Or do you do it even if it's just during Diwali?
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