Aadi Pirappu
Aadi is the fourth month of the year as per the Tamil Almanac. The first day of every month is usually celebrated by the tamils and the first day of Addi is celebrated as Aadi pirappu. No significance is attached to such rituals though, by Vedas or Agamas, this festivals are traditionally celebrated and have no religious ratification.
Month of Aadi is associated with the festivals in Amman temples. There will be a month long activity in these temples linked with charity and magnanimty. Usually, on important days of this month devotees and the poor peoples will be served with food and Aadi Kozhu in amman temples all through the state. All the Tuesdays and Fridays are considered important, besides Amavasya Day in the month of Aadi. But the month of Aadi itself is considered inauspicious and people desist from doing any thing auspicious.
Aadipandigai
This festival is celebrated with great gusto in Tamil Nadu. People refurbish their homes and the newly married are invited for a feast by the bride’s parents. This month is marked for newer things and people usually replace old mangalyasuthra with newer one and lace them with glittering gold ornaments. If a bride conceives in the month Aadi she would normally deliver a child in the month of Chitrai, that is in the peak of summer season or dog days, and will be very painful and both the mother and the new born will be strained, hence the newly married couples are advised to stay away in the month of Aadi. Normally the bride will be taken to her maternal home the groom will be invited for a feast on the 18th day of the month to be showered with gifts.
Adi puram
This Hindu festival of Adi Puram is celebrated in all Hindu temples in southern India in the month called Adi or Ashadha, corresponding to the English months of July-August, when the asterism Puram (Delta Leonis) is in the ascendancy. The festival is observed to propitiate the goddess Sakti Devi who is said to have come into this world on this occasion to bless the people. People therefore worship her in order to secure happiness not only for themselves but also for their loved ones.
If the festival falls on a Friday, the occasion is considered to be highly auspicious, and the people worship the goddess in a more special way.
According to a myth, the goddess of the universe took a human form on the Adi Puram day in a miraculous manner. A Vaishnava saint called Periyalwar of Srivilliputtur had no issues. He prayed to the goddess Lakshmi for children and she fulfilled his wish in the following manner. Alwar was ploughing his fields one-day when he came upon a lovely female child while turning the first furrow. Delighted at the precious find, he hastened to his home with it. He gave it to his wife, and named it Andal. The presiding deity of Srirangam temple, Sri Ranganatha, is said to have accepted Andal as his wife when she grew up.
The festival is observed with great eclat in the temples of Madurai, Sriviliiputtur, Tinnevelly, Vedaranyam, Negapatam, Jambukeswaram, Tiruvadi, Kumbakonam, Tiruvadaimarudhur, Mayavaram, Srivanjiyam and Tiruvannamalai. In the famous religious centre Chidambaram also, this Puram festival is observed not in the month of Adi (July-August), but in the month Arpisi (November).
Aadiperukku, water ritual through religious practice:
In India the rivers Ganges and Yamuna, Cauvery and Gothavari are considered sacred. Just like the earth gives us food, water is considered as a sacred necessity to meet the needs of individuals. People began to worship water in the form of wells, tanks and rivers. It is common among Hindus in India to throw fruits, saffron cloths, etc., when the rivers are in spate purely based on the belief that these rivers are the species of female deities. Similarly every temple has sacred wells and tanks, and water in these resources are considered pure. There are Hindu mythologies that highlight many variations on the theme of primeval water which shows that water culture and civilization represent human interest with sacredness.
Aadiperukku, otherwise called Padinettam Perukku – is peculiar to the Cauvery delta and is intended to celebrate the rising of the river, which is expected to occur invariably on the 18th day of the solar month, Aadi corresponding to the 2nd or 3rd of August every year. Hence “Padinettam perukku” - Padinettu signifies eighteen, and Perukku denotes rising. This festival is observed predominately by women in Tamil Nadu. The Aadiperukku, as a water-ritual, celebrated by women is said to honour Nature.
The association of this ritual with fertility, sex and reproduction is both natural and human. This water ritual practice is performed on the banks of Cauvery River, which is described as a rice-cultivation tract. The history of this ritual practice dates back to the ancient period and was patronised by the Kings and royal households. This ritual practice existed in various historical periods. Aadi is the month for sowing, rooting, planting of seeds and vegetation since it is peak monsoon time when rain is showered in abundance.
People in the cauvery delta celebrates this 18th day of the month on the banks of the river exchanging the deliciously prepared chitraannams or variety rice under the bright moon. This day is also marked for the offering to the deity of the river, whose copious help is acknowledged for the rich harvest.
