The Indian Breaking Coconut Ritual

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The Hindu Ritual of Breaking the Coconut

Breaking a coconut before starting any new undertaking is an age old Hindu ritual. It has now been adopted by all religious communities in India. The coconut is called Shriphala in Sanskrit, which means the ‘fruit of God’. Coconuts are broken when foundation stones of buildings are laid, again when the building is being put to use and broken before using a new vehicle. Coconut is broken in temple as an offering for prayers.
The significance behind the ritual says, the coconut represents the human head. The outer cover is ego, the inner fibre is karma or action and its fruits and the shell is maya or the illusory nature of the material world. The white fruit inside is paramatma or the universal soul. The coconut water represents the ambrosia-like bliss that God-union brings. The ultimate aim of a person is to unite with God, meaning the merging of the individual soul with the Universal Soul. And he does this by breaking the karmic cycle.
The person performing the ritual smashes the coconut on the stone and creates a crack running almost completely through the center. Before the water spills out of the crack it is sprinkled on the object of worship. This may be the foundational stone of a project, a new vehicle or in some cases idols of deities being worshiped before the undertaking is commenced. Then the hardened kernel is peeled out and cut into small diced pieces and are then distributed to the persons attending the ritual and eaten by them.
There is no doubt that the ritual of breaking the coconut has its origins in Hindu practice. There is no doubt that it is performed by people of all religions today in India. It is even performed in enterprises conducted by the state, which are supposed to be truly secular.
In a recent debate on television the religious versus the secular aspect of the ritual was discussed. The consensus was that though it originated in Hinduism, it applies to all humanity. All people feel pride in their achievements irrespective of individual religious achievements and all religions preach the virtue of humbling oneself before God. Therefore the ritual does not contradict the tenets of other religions and this accounts for its universal acceptance.