It’s that time of the year again in Tamil Nadu. Aadi Masam, the fourth month of the Tamil calendar, is a time of grand celebrations when goddesses like Kaalikambal, Mariamman, Mudakanni Amman and Badrakali are worshipped.
Women throng the amman temples to perform rituals, sing, dance and prepare the nutritious ragi koozh (porridge) in huge earthen pots as prasadam to be distributed to devotees after prayers.
The raagi koozh is cooked on a wood fire and served with accompaniments like keerai kootu/poriyal, dry fish curry, mutton curry, kaara kuzhambu and pickles. Sometimes finely chopped onions, green chillies and buttermilk is added to the koozh to make it tastier.
During Aadi Masam, temples and the streets leading up to them are festooned with lights, as are the huge hoardings and cut-outs of goddesses.
Beautifully decorated chariots carrying idols of goddesses, loudspeakers blaring devotional songs and women offering milk to the puthu (snake-pit) are common scenes.
The month starts with the auspicious Aadi Pirappu, when doorways and puja areas are decorated with mango leaves, flowers and intricate kolams. In some regions, Thengai Suduthal, a traditional coconut roasting ritual where the coconut is filled with rice flakes, jaggery and sesame and roasted in a fire, are conducted.
Some women participate in dangerous rituals like walking on hot charcoal (poo mithippu), walking around the temple carrying a pot of fire that rests on a bed of neem leaves, and getting body piercings.
Married women of some communities celebrate the Varalakshmi Nombu, a ritual dedicated to Goddess Lakshmi performed on a Friday. Women fast through the day and pray for the well-being of their husbands, children and loved ones. It’s believed that worshipping Goddess Varalakshmi is equivalent to offering prayers to Ashtalakshmi (eight goddesses)
Despite so many auspicious days and rituals in Aadi, families generally avoid weddings, buying property or shifting house, business activities or any new ventures. Even the newly-married are kept separate.
However, clothing, electronics other retail brands come up with exciting offers and discounts during this time. And people make the best of these deals and buy their dresses for Navratri and Deepawali in advance.
(Deepa Shri Rajan is a food, travel and lifestyle blogger and Instagrammer based out of Bengaluru)