Kozhukatta Saturday (Lazarus Saturday)

Kozhukatta Saturday (Lazarus Saturday)

Kozhukatta is a traditional delicacy prepared by the Nasranis on the forty-first day of the Great Lent. The first forty days of the Fifty-Day Fast are observed in remembrance of our Lord’s forty-day fast, and the following ten days are kept in remembrance of our Lord’s Passion. Just as the Lord completed His forty-day fast, the ancient Nasranis also would conclude their forty-day fasting on this day. However, since the following ten days are still observed with undiminished intensity in memory of the Lord’s suffering, kozhukatta is prepared as a way of marking the completion of the first phase of the fast without lessening the strictness of the fasting discipline that continues. Inside the kozhukatta, along with grated coconut, either coconut jaggery or palm jaggery is added.

The word “kozhu” means an axe. Just as an axe splits and scatters the earth, so also recalls the verse in Psalm 140: “Their bones were scattered at the mouth of Sheol.” This delicacy came to be called kozhukatta in the sense that it is used to “cut” or mark the breaking point of the fast.

We prepare and eat kozhukatta as a symbol of the sweet dish that Saint Martha, one of the sisters of Lazarus, hastily made by kneading flour in order to receive the Lord who raised Lazarus from the dead. This day, known in Kerala as Kozhukatta Saturday, is observed by Christians throughout the world as Lazarus Saturday. It is celebrated on the Saturday before Holy Week, that is, on the day before Hosanna Sunday.