Rama Navami

Sri Ramavathar is one of the greatest Avathaar (incarnation) taken by Sriman Narayanan. This Rama Avathaar explains lots and lots of guidelines that need to be followed by each and every person in this world. During this Avathaar, Sriman Narayanan incarnates as the son for great king, Dasarathan. But in spite of being born to a great king, throughout this Avathaar, he led his life as an ordinary person. And, during this Avathaar, irrespective of the caste/creed, he helped all the persons who seeked his help and extended his divine hands to all of his devotees.

Navami and Sri Rama:
Generally, we will not perform (or) start any new issues (or) work during Ashtami (the day Sri Krishnar is born) nor in Navami. And during this Navami thithi only, Sri Rama was born.

There is a small and beautiful story behind this. Each and every thithi has karthaas (Head or Chief). Once, these two thithis - Ashtami and Navami went towards Thriuppaarkadal and questioned that these two thithis are not being accepted by any of the person in the Bhoolokam and thinks that these two were not used for any of the new business not new things being started during these days. But, on hearing this, Sriman Narayanan answered them that to explain the greatness of these thithis, he will be born in the earth, during these thithis. And as a result of this only, Sri Rama was born in Navami and Sri Krishna in Ashtami and the entire world is celebrating these two days as a great festival.

Adi Festival

Tamil month of Adi has many special days linked to it. One of the very famous festival I remember first is the Mulaipaari Utsavam. This is done for the blessing of mankind with peace, prosperity and happiness. Nature worship in the form of Amman Deities are organized to shower Nature’s bountiful grace on human beings. First week of the month they tie kaappu in the village and grow the mulaipari in a dark place. Then after a week they take out and perform pooja by bringing to the village god's place as shown above in the picture. Once pooja is done they ask questions to village god like whether this year will there be good cultivation? and believed that if Yes, lizard will make sound from the surroundings. Then they bring back all those mulaipari to the mulai kottu thinnai and arrange everything in the order. Once it is placed, All females round it up and sing chorus (known as Thaanaanai) songs by praising the goddess with the clap of hands make slow rounds of the place where the plants in the bottom opened pots are kept. Then there will be performance by Karagam and Kavadi avattam groups on the same night.

Next day during afternoon there will be mavilakku pooja performed by people in the village to the God with Amma Odu (plant in the mud pot is called so). Then in the evening all the females in the family formed by two rows will carry down the Mulaipari to the Kanmaai(Lake) and do thaanaanai again as shown in the picture above. Then put the plant into the water pit at the kanmaai or river.

It is believed that the 'Surya Bhagawan' (the Sun God), changes the direction of his chariot from north to south, so this changeover is celebrated as a festival. This falls sometime between July 15th and August 15th, the beginning of the fourth month Aadi of the Tamil calendar. The house is adorned with fresh mango leaves and kolam. Milk extracted from coconuts is considered special in these days.

This festival is celebrated for the birth of the Tamil month of aadi. A lot of festivals are celebrated in the month of aadi. This is the beginning of all the festivals during the festival season. Once aadi festival starts all other festivals follow one by one. During the month of thai and aadi the sun changes directions so it is celebrated in that way.

Aadi festival is special for various ammans. It is celebrated in a special way in temples like mangadu, kamakshi temple etc. All sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays of this month are auspicious.

Every Friday is celebrated as "Aadi Velli". On the first Friday we make kozhukkattai for Lord Ganesha.We make coconut milk payasam on fridays.

The new moon day of this month is celebrated as "Aadi Amavasai" which is to remeber our ancestors who have reached God. That day donations will be made.

The pooram star of this month is celebrated as "aadi pooram" as the birthday of Aandal. It is celebrated in all temples in a grand manner.

The 18th day of this month is celebrated as "Aadi perukku" or "Pathinettam perukku". Since rain flows in this month, the rivers are filled with water. Water is also given from dams to agriculturists. On this day, we prepare all varieties of rice and vadams etc. taking all to nearby river or beach with friends and give them manjal kunkum, vetrilai pakku, clothes etc This done to praise Goddeess Cauveri (Cauvery river).

ADI VELLI & VARALAKSHMI VRATAM

LORD SHIVA describes the glory of this Vrata in the Skanda Purana. It is performed by a woman whose husband is still living. Maha Lakshmi is the abode of all auspiciousness and prosperity. This worship of Maha Lakshmi is done to obtain good progeny, and for the health and long life of the husband.

The Vrata is observed on the Friday immediately preceding the full moon day of the month of Sravan (August-September). After a purificatory bath, the lady should put on a clean, fresh cloth and make a mandala with the drawing of a lotus upon it. A kalasha filled with rice and topped with fresh mango leaves, a coconut and cloth are placed on the mandala and Lakshmi is invoked therein. Fresh grains are used in the worship as they convey the idea of growth and prosperity.

After the worship of the kalasha, follows the worship of Ganesha, then the worship of the raksha or the sacred thread. Now the main worship of Vara Lakshmi begins and the raksha is worshipped a second time. It is then tied to the right hand of the lady. After the worship various auspicious articles are given as charity to some deserving lady whose husband is alive. This lady is also fed with dainties.

Lakshmi not only bestows wealth and all sorts of material prosperity, but also imparts divine wisdom to all Her devotees. She is Vidya Shakti. She introduces Her devotees to Her Lord. She recommends them to Her Lord for their salvation.

Aadi festival is celebrated for the birth of the tamil month of Aadi (July - August) This festival is special for various Ammans.

Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays of this month are considered very auspicious. A lot of festivals are celebrated in the month of Aadi. This tamil month marks the beginning of all festivals during the festival season.

All Fridays in the month of Aadi are cosidered auspicious, especially 1st and 3rd Fridays.

How do we celebrate Tamil New Year

First and foremost அனைத்து தமிழ் நெஞ்சங்களுக்கும் எனது இனிய தமிழ் புத்தண்டு நல் வாழ்த்துக்கள்.

Thru this article I shall write a little about how we celebrate Tamil New Year, when I was living in our village during my childhood days. It has been many years since I have lived such a life and I hope to bring back you all the same way I used to celebrate when I was Young. If you have lived similar village life of mine, Please add your comments if you find something is missing.

Once we have taken bath before the sun rise we pray to Sun god in the early morning as it is a new beginning of the year, believed to have a good source of energy delivered. We also go to temple and pray to God. After that we pray at home and then we will go to our paddy field. In there we perform pooja with all the auspicious items by placing them in the Esaani Moolai ( South East Corner) at the paddy field. Then we make few rounds to loosen the sand with yer or kalappai (wooden item used to loosen sand). It is believed that doing so in New Year will give a good cultivation result(அதாங்க, நல்ல மகசூல் அல்லது சாகுபடி).

Then we all will come back and have good meals on that day, but only vegetarian diet is followed. On this day is a big revenue making day for all kids as all the elderly people will bless all small kids with small amount of money as well. Those small kids who needs to be taught to learn how to write also they practice them by holding their hand with basic letters in Tamil. Local shop owners they will open a new day book account note as its believed that it will also yield them a good revenue in the whole year.

Later in the evening all the people including village president and other village administrative people and the residents will join together to listen to the reading of Vackya Panjangam.

Followed by this we also have a Festival called Chithirai Festival and we eat Nila Choru (moon rice) on chitra Pournami (The First pournami of the Tamil New Year). I will try to post some interesting pictures taken during the last Chithirai Festival and information related to the celebration during that period. Please wait for just two more weeks.

அம்புட்டு தாங்கோ... If you wanna say anything more please do so...

The Legends Of Diwali

Diwali, the festival of lights, celebrates the abundance of autumn harvest and is dedicated to various gods and goddesses. The festival also marks an important date in the Indian calendar, as the North Indian kingdom of Avadha has celebrated this as the last day of Lord Rama's long exile of fourteen years. As the citizens of Ayodhya eagerly awaited their beloved prince's return, they lit thousands of lamps to guide his flying vimana to their city. The darkest night of the year gave way to a glorious morning as Rama returned with his wife and brothers to his ancestral kingdom of Avadha.

Diwali also celebrates the gracious nature of the three goddesses, Lakshmi, Kali and Saraswati. Dhanteras (two days before Diwali) is dedicated to Lakshmi, whose blessings are essential for a prosperous, fruitful and peaceful life. Kali-Chudash (the day before Diwali) is dedicated to Maha Kali whose strength we seek to maintain the wealth we have. Strength, physical, mental and spiritual, is essential for all of us to lead a happy life. Diwali itself is dedicated to goddess Saraswati. Knowledge is the ultimate wealth, for it cannot be stolen from you; it is also the ultimate strength, for it often defeats brute force.

The Legends
Goddess Lakshmi : The Goddess of wealth, Lakshmi was incarnated on the new moon day (amaavasyaa) of the Kartik month during the churning of the ocean (samudra-manthan), hence the association of Diwali with Lakshmi.

Vishnu Rescued Lakshmi: On this very day, Lord Vishnu in his fifth incarnation as Vaman-avtaara rescued Lakshmi from the prison of King Bali and this is another reason of worshipping Ma Larkshmi on Diwali.

Krishna Killed Narakaasur: On the day preceding Diwali, Lord Krishna killed the demon king Narakaasur and rescued 16,000 women from his captivity. The celebration of this freedom went on for two days including the Diwali day as a victory festival.

The Return of the Pandavas: According to the great epic 'Mahabharata', it was 'Kartik Amavashya' when the Pandavas appeared from their 12 years of banishment as a result of their defeat in the hands of the Kauravas at the game of dice (gambling). The subjects who loved the Pandavas celebrated the day by lighting the earthen lamps.

The Victory of Rama: According to the epic 'Ramayana', it was the new moon day of Kartik when Lord Ram, Ma Sita and Lakshman returned to Ayodhya after vanquishing Ravana and conquering Lanka. The citizens of Ayodhya decorated the entire city with the earthen lamps and illuminated it like never before.

Coronation of Vikramaditya: One of the greatest Hindu King Vikramaditya was coronated on the Diwali day, hence Diwali became a historical event as well.

The significance of Diwali

The significance of Diwali cannot be explained in a few words as the charisma of this great festival is so much that you need to feel it from the deepest chords of your heart. No words or Diwali pictures can explain to you the real significance of Diwali in the lives of hundreds and thousands of people residing all over the world, who celebrate this festival with much fervor and enthusiasm. Also known by the names of 'Deepavali' and 'Festival of Lights', the festival of Diwali is celebrated not only in India but also in other parts of the world like Singapore, Thailand and many more places, which celebrate it according to their traditions and customs.

The last day of the last month of lunar calendar is reserved for the auspicious day of Diwali. Mainly the celebrations of Diwali go on for five days, and each day holds its own importance, with many legends associated with each day. The five days of Diwali celebrations are Dhanteras, Choti Diwali, Diwali, Padwa and Govardhan Puja and Bhaiya Dooj.
Send Diwali Gifts and Sweets to Your Loved Ones

There are many legends associated with Diwali as mentioned in the books talking about the history of Diwali but the most famous of them is the legend of Lord Ram. This legend revolves around Lord Ram who was sent to exile for fourteen years by his stepmother. Lord Ram was not alone in this exile as he was accompanied by his wife Sita and younger brother Lakshman. During the exile Sita was kidnapped by the demon Ravan who forcibly took Sita to his kingdom in Sri Lanka. Lord Ram fought a fierce war with Ravan in which he took the help of monkey king Sugvir and the monkey God Hanuman and many other monkeys. Lord Ram was victorious in the war and he freed his wife Sita from Ravan's captivity. After winning the war Lord Ram came back to his kingdom in Ayodhya along with Sita and Lakshman and since then the day of his come back came to be celebrated as the day of Diwali in India in order to commemorate Lord Ram.

Another legend associated with celebrations of Diwali in India and more famous in Maharashtra and Mysore is of the legendary king Bali who was immensely popular for his generosity. However the success of king Bali became an issue of fear for the gods who prayed to Lord Vishnu for destroying king Bali. Lord Vishnu took the incarnation of a dwarf Brahmin and asked king Bali for as much land as he would be able to cover with his three steps. Looking at the stature of the Brahmin the king Bali readily agreed. At this Lord Vishnu took the form of a large giant and covered the whole of earth and heaven with his two foot steps. On asking for the place of keeping his third step, king Bali happily placed his head under the footstep of the Lord who pushed him into the underworld. But being pleased with his generosity Lord Vishnu granted him a boon of being able to visit his kingdom once a year. According to a common belief it is during the celebrations of Diwali only when king Bali comes on earth to visit his kingdom.

Courtesy : Diwali Mela

Want to know more about Deepavali? Click Here

Now Our Topic is about What exactly do we do on Deepavali?

How do we celeberate Deepavali?

Do you remember how we used to celebrate Deepavali? If not let me recap it for you. For Most of us Deepavali always gets started well in advance a week before the actual day of the Deepavali by doing firecracking all the time the whole month of October. Family members at home will go for Shopping to buy clothes (for some they like to buy items like TVs/Mixi/Two Wheelers/Grinders/Fridge only during festival times of Deepavali) and giving it for stitching and Ladies generally will be busy in preparing Murukku, Athirasam, Lavva Laddu, Globe Jaamun, Samosa and What not... When I was young I used to always silently open out all the Items that were prepared and kept ready for Pooja during Deepavali. Before hand try to eat one by one and get a tap on my back and pinch on my thigh from my mom for doing so too ;)

Then the night before Deepavali we all go either to local shop or to the very famous firecracker manufacturing city Sivakasi (Known as Little Japan) and buy Fire Crackers (Vaedi) with in the allocated budget for each person at home (my brother always like to steal some from my parcel and add up to his collections). Some of the Fire Crackers to name is, for small kids (not 4 me ok?) they all start with Toy Pistol with Cap Roll (Pottu Vaedi). Then Seeni Vaedi, Vari Vedi, Chara Vedi like 1000 wala or 5000 wala...Also Big sound producing items like Elephant Vaedi, Lakshmi Vaedi, Kuruvi Vaedi, Whisle Vaedi, Atom Bomb, Bullet Bomb, Double Shot, 7 Shots. Buss Out, Vengaya Vaedi...These items are used during the day times to burst. For Night times we have Mathaapu(Sparkles), Mercury, Changu Chakaram, Paambu Maathirai (Snake Capsules), Bussvanam (Flower Pots), Rocket, Parachute Rocket.

In the night we also apply Henna (Marudhaani) in our both hands. Probably this is done to stop kids from eating the sweets while mom is preparing in the nights. Later during mid-night we get our share of Goat Meat(Sharing is like we will join with few of our relatives and buy one or two Goat a week in advance. On the Eve of Deepavali share the meat with number of people joined in the group). By the time we bring back the meat to home it would have been around 4-5am and the early morning of Deepavali is welcomed with fire cracking sounds more and more everywhere. We all will run to either Pump Set (athaanga namma Motor Thanni thotti kuliyal), those who like to take bathe in the chill water or heat up water at home as well. We will first apply Oil (Normally Gingelly Oil [Nallennai]) in the whole body and we will wait for a while for body to absorb it. Later after 15-30 mins we will mix the shikaka (Seeyakai) mixed water to get the paste for taking oil bath. Then Before taking bath we face towards the East direction and pour the water then apply shikaka mix and wash off fully. After taking bathe temporarily wear some dress and wait for Mom to finish cooking her morning Tiffin Items like Medu Vada, Idly, Dosa and many other Items. Meanwhile we will take out all our new clothes and apply Turmeric Powder on both shirt Collar and at the inside hip of Trouser clothes and kept in the plate and place before the God inside Pooja Room. Once all ready everything set, Dad will break the coconut and performs Pooja and offer the food and sweets prepared to God and he will take and distribute the clothes to everybody in the family. Then we all happily wear the new shirts and trousers then assemble back in the hall for breakfast. Together all will have breakfast meanwhile my brother silently will go and do bit of fire cracking activities even before eating and get hurt too.

So, once the breakfast is over then comes the fun part of starting the fun act of the day fire cracking… We will be able to proceed with bursting all type of firecrackers that we bought for many hours. Meanwhile mom will call me and send me to distribute the sweets and other items to our neighbours. Normally this is the best time to thank our other religion neighbours of Christian and Muslim community to improve the brotherhood.

Then we will have nice lunch prepared at home with lots of Veg & Non-veg item, that time I was forced to eat non-veg :( Also during this lunch time is the time where many drinkers lose their control out of getting kick in over drinking and cannot even take proper lunch and can see so many comedy scenes on streets too.

Once the sun is set we are also set to start having fun in the night Deepa Light. We carry out with sparkling, rocketing and much other stuff. The atmosphere will be filled with full of colors everywhere.

That’s how we end our day. Now tell its your turn to tell me more, Don’t you miss your childhood Deepavali? Our Home Town and People around our Home in India, if you are an NRI like me? All I carry with me nowadays is those sweet memories.

My Dear Friends, Celebrate Deepavali in a safe way. My Hearty wishes to everybody for a Colorful Deepavali