Year-round there are many religious or temple festivals for the Hindus and they provide them a break from the monotonous, mundane and stressed life. It is an opportunity to rejoice and have peace of mind.
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.Aadi Perukku, 2022. facebook.com |
Aaiperukku or aadi Pandikai is an auspicious festival of the Hindus, particularly for the Tamil community. Annually it falls on the 18th of Tamil month Aadi (this year 3rd August) and is observed as a day of offerings and prayers to these the life-sustaining rivers, water bodies, etc which play a major role in the lives and prosperity of the people
Aadi Perukku, often called Pathinettam Perukku heralds the arrival of the monsoo ie SW monsoon and it means Tamil Nadu will get copious supply of water through the rivers originating in the west. On the eighteenth day of (the solar month) this month Aadi, we observe Aadi Perukku which is symbolic of beginning of many festivals. This year Aadi Karthigai was on July 23, 2022 Saturday. In the month of Aadi (July-August), the river or other water bodies will show increase in the water level.
It is quite pertinent to note that Aadi Perukku festival emphasizes the importance of life-sustaining properties of water, in deed a great gift to mankind from Mother Nature which is worshipped in the form of Amman deities. It is more or less women's festival.
Aadi perukku, TN women praying at the ghat. |
It is also a sort of river festival paying obeisance to the mother Nature for enough supply of water for agricultural and drinking purposes. As for the farmers in the delta regions in particular, they will start the preparation for raising the crop for the coming season - Paddy or sugar cane, etc. Preparations will begin for sowing, rooting, seed planting, paddy nursery formation, etc. .
During this month, the water level in the rivers like Cauvery, Vaigai, Tamirabharani rise because of good spell of rain on the coastal Kerala and Karnataka. Worshipping nature has been part of Hinduism and our life on earth is dependent on the bounty of nature. For the farmers and people who depend on agriculture the festival is an occasion to express their gratitude to Nature for providing water in he form of rain, etc. Further, their livelihood is centered around it.
The Aadi Perukku festival is mostly observed by Hindu women and after head bath in the morning, they do puja before the idols of goddesses and pray for the welfare and prosperity of their family and in the evening they go to the nearby river bank or water tank and do t prayers.
If unable to reach any water body, it is suggested that devotees can can place a kumbam (metal pot filled with water) at their home preferably in the Puja room and worship it by lighting lamps and doing prayer as they would perform the ritual at any other bodies of water or on the river bank.
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On the day of Aadi Perukku, farmers worship the River as Goddess by offering flowers to bless them with sufficient water. The banks of the important rivers are flooded with people, particularly women to seek the blessing of the Devi. It has been a tradition for a long time for the young unmarried girls (accompanied by their mother and relatives) to visit the river bank on the Aadi Perukku day to offer flowers, rice dishes, sweet, etc., and pray to Goddess for a good husband. Childless women pray for a baby. As you may see here the driving force behind such festival is trust in God and trust in life.
During or after Aadi Perukku festival. young couples may receive gifts from their in-laws - new clothes and this tradition exists in many states. In this month the festivities are related to prosperity and fertility.
Traditionally followed, many people avoid major celebrations like marriages, betrothal (Nichiyathartham), Valaikappu, grihapravasam etc in this month because this month marks the commencement of dawn or night time for the devas, the demigods ('dakshinaayana punyakalam).
The famous venues in Tamil Nadu are the Cauvery river banks of Thiruvaiyaru, Kumbakonam, Amma Mandabam at Srirangam, near Erode at the junction of the Cauvery and its tributaries, Mayavaram, etc
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