Aadi Month

Do you know why Aadi is an auspicious month in the Tamil calendar?
Aadi is the fourth month of the Tamil calendar and is the period when the summer heat wanes and the rains begin to fill up the shrunken water bodies. According to Hindu belief, this is a time when the night of the Gods begins so humans are discouraged from conducting any auspicious activities as the Gods will not bless them. It is instead considered to be a good time for festivals and connecting to divinity.
Aadi comes during the Dakshinayana period when daylight is shortest in the Northern hemisphere. Traditionally, the period from mid-summer to mid-winter is also called pitryana or path of the ancestors and was considered to be a good time for ancestor worship. Aadi Amavasya is a day set aside for this ancestor worship.
Other festivals in this month are Aadi Pirappu that marks the beginning of this festive month. It is especially important for newly-weds. Aadi Pooram dedicated to Goddess Aandal, an incarnation of Goddess Lakshmi. Aadi perukku, which is a monsoon thanksgiving festival. Aadi Sundays, Aadi Tuesdays (adi chevvai and Aadi Fridays (Aadi velli) are important days. Varalakshmi puja is observed by women on an Aadi Friday. Another festival celebrated in this month is Puthukku paal where snakes are worshipped. The last important celebration is Aadi Krithigai, a day to appease Murugan and ward off negative forces and obstacles.

Devi Venkatesan

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