Vidyarambham is a Hindu ritual to initiate small children usually between the age of two and three to the world of letters. It is held on the Vijayadasami day, the last day of the ten-day-long Navarathri festivals. The ritual begins with an invocation to Lord Ganapathi, and proceeds with a prayer to Goddess Saraswathi, the goddess of letters. Children are made to write on rice by elderly persons. The letters are being written with a golden ring on the tongues of children. Every year, there is a ceremonious observation of this festival in Thunchanparambu at Tirur in Malappuram district, the birthplace of Thunchath Ramanujan Ezhuthachan, the great poet who is considered to be the father of Malayalam language. Now this festival is celebrated without regard to religion.