This traditional
festival started for over 30 years ago in the Southern part of
India, and
is celebrated as "Aadi perukku" or "Pathinettam perukku". It`s meant to please
the goddess of wealth.
Since rain flows
in this month, the rivers are filled with water. Water is also given from dams
to agriculturists. On this festival the people in
India
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 is done to praise Goddess Cauveri (Cauvery
River). It is to
thank all the rivers because they provide water. On this day they take head
bath, go to temples and listen to Amman songs.
Men, women and
children travelled from all over southern
India to the
Mahalakshmi temple in Karur, Tamil Nadu state, the UNI news agency
reported.
Not all of the
participants were brave. Only those willing to have the priest smash a coconut
on their heads were allowed into the central area of the temple. Police reported
that a few participants were injured and bleeding from their
head.
Other festivals
in India are
Deepavali, Navarathri, Kaarthigai, Pongal, Ugadi, Aadi festival, Varalakshmi
Nonbu, Gokulashtami and Vinayaka Chaturthi.
I guess that the Aadi
Perukku-festival is the festival in the world that causes most headaches in
addition to the rock festival Roskilde in
Denmark, but of different reasons.
Stein Morten
Lund, 5 August
2004
Additional
information
Read more about
the Aadi Perukku-festival and other festivals in
India on the
following links:
http://www.indiatastes.com/festivals/aadi/festival.shtml
http://www.teakada.com/archives/another_bizarre_tn_headline.html
Facts about
India:
Formal country
name: Republic of
India.
Area: 3.28
million sq km.
Population: 1.04
billion.
Capital
City:
New
Delhi.
People: 72%
Indo-Aryan, 25% Dravidian, 3% other.
Language: Hindi,
Urdu, Tamil, Bengali, Kashmiri, English.
Religion: 80%
Hindu, 14% Muslim, 2.4% Christian, 2% Sikh, 0.7% Buddhist, 0.5% Jains, 0.4%
other.
Government: federal
republic.
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