Tiruchy: The ‘Aadi perukku’ festival was celebrated by people on both banks of the river Cauvery from Mettur right up to the tail-end in the Cauvery delta region with religious fervour on Monday.
At Tiruchy, hundreds of men and women including newly married couples assembled at various places on the banks of the Cauvery like Amma Mandapam, Odathurai bathing ghat, Ayyalamman Padithurai, Kallanai, Mukkombu, Thiruparaithurai, Kulithalai, Mayanur and other places and offered special ‘pujas’ to the river with articles like kapparisi, kadholai kaurugamani, bangles, turmeric, fruits and yellow threads. Newly wedded couples brought the garlands used during their wedding and floated them in the river.
While elderly married women performed sumangali ‘pujas’ and later presented the new ‘mangal sutras’ to other ‘sumangalis’, unmarried women and teenaged girls also received these from the elderly women, after offering prayers to the river Cauvery for early weddings and prosperous lives.
The processional deity of Namperumal of Shri Ranganathaswamy temple at Srirangam reached Amma Mandapam for offering ‘darshan’ to the river Cauvery and to present seer varisai (gift articles) like silk sarees, garlands, sandalwood and other ‘puja’ articles to the river Cauvery.
Twin festivities in Rameswaram Agnitheertham
Thousands of pilgrims and devotees took an early morning dip in the ‘Agnitheertham’ sea here near the ancient Sri Ramanathaswamy temple on Monday the occasion of ‘Somavaram’ that appears in the Tamil month of ‘Aadi’. This was followed by women taking a sacred dip in the same place to mark ‘Aadi Perukku’ festival, the 18th day of ‘Aadi’ month, when they offer special prayers at riverbanks and seashores, when they thank the river Goddess, renew their ‘mangalsutras’ and offer prayers to the Lord.
“The Mondays (Somvaar) that appear in the Tamil month of ‘Aadi’ is particularly very auspicious as even Lord Vishnu offered worship to Lord Shiva here to get rid of some defects,” explained Chandrasekhara Sarma, a noted priest of Rameswaram.
“So, people usually take a dip at holy places like Rameswaram to get rid of their own sins and seek the blessings of their forefathers,” Chandrasekhara Sarma added. With the 18th day of ‘Aadi’ also falling on Monday in this Tamil month this year, the occasion was doubly significant.
Festivities galore in delta areas
The ‘Aadi Perukku’ festival, celebrated on 18th day of the Tamil month of Aadi to welcome fresh waters into the rivers and canals, was celebrated with religious fervour and enthusiasm by people in Thanjavur district on Monday. Attired in their best, women visited bathing ghats along the Cauvery, Vennar and Grand Anicut canal in the district and offered pujas to Mother Cauvery. Youth and Children took bath and enjoyed the fresh water in the rivers by jumping into it from bridges and bathing ghats.
At Thanjavur, people offered ‘pujas’ at the bathing ghat near the Big temple in the Grand Anicut canal, Vennar, Vettar and Vadavar. At Thiruvaiyaru, people offered pujas to river Cauvery. The PWD maintained flow of water in the rivers as per the government’s order. Those who got married recently offered special pujas. Children pulled toy cars (Sapparam) in the evening. Special ‘pujas’ were also performed at the temple for river Cauvery at Thirucherai in Tiruvarur district.
