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Aadi Perukku - Monsoon Festival for the Goddess

Submitted by astroved on Wed, 07/28/2021 - 22:43

Aadi Perukku is mainly a Tamil festival that the people of Tamil Nadu celebrate every year. Other than these people, not many are aware of such festivity. Even the people living in modern Chennai may not know Aadi Perukku. Hence the celebration of the festival is limited to the residents of the village or small towns of Tamil Nadu. Aadi Perukku is the 18th day in the month of Aadi, where the Goddess is worshipped in the form of rivers.

The festival denotes the celebration of rivers and water reservoirs. In Tamil Nadu, people worship the Kaveri river as the Goddess because water is the primary source that makes life possible on Earth. The farmers especially worship the festivity with a lot of enthusiasm and zeal. Their women worship the Kaveri by offering different sweets made of rice and offering them fruits and flowers.

The young couple or those who have recently married visit a ghat of Kaveri and offer their prayers. They pray to the river to make their marital life blissful and prosperous.

Aadi Perukku Celebration This Year

The celebration will happen on the 3rd of August 2021. The festival is considered significant because Aadi Perukku
signifies the occurrence of monsoon. From this day, the monsoon starts in Tamil Nadu, and farmers start their process of sowing the seeds. Therefore, a celebration of this festival is a way to express gratitude toward mother nature not just by farmers but by everyone.

By worshipping the rivers and lakes, people thank the water sources for providing them plenty of water and for making farming possible which eventually makes life possible on Earth. Since this is the beginning of the monsoon, all the dried-up water bodies get filled with water as the rain happens. This is also a great time when families go out in the cool atmosphere and have a picnic.

The dry water bodies get infused with water, and the reservoirs get increased water levels. Such condition is necessary for the growth of the seeds, which later turn into crops. Thus among farmers, Aadi Perukku is a must celebrate the festival. It also brings joy to everyone's heart because the weather also gets calmer with rain, and the scenery looks fantastic.

Importance of Rivers in Hindu Scriptures

In Hindu scriptures. Rivers are sacred; they are the form of Goddesses that should be worshiped even in this age of modernization. Satapata Brahmana says, "waters are indeed sacred" and "water is in fact nectar."

This is the flow of the rivers that make civilizations possible on Earth. The continuous flow of rivers represents nature's force which gives life to Earth in every age. Hence these rivers are the form of Goddesses!

In India, almost every river is called by the name of a Goddess. For instance, rivers like the Ganges, Kaveri, and Narmada have their own history of origin and are still worshiped as Goddesses. There are many festivities on which these rivers are worshipped, and on Aadi Perukku, we worship the river Kaveri since it is the primary source of water in Tamil Nadu.

Even to this day, taking a dip in any of these rivers is considered a holy move that cleans up people's karma and blesses them for good in life.

On Aadi Perukku, every water reservoir is given importance, and especially the Kaveri river. Every temple situated on the bank of a river celebrates this day, and people visit the temples to take a holy dip on different ghats and visit the temples.

The Sangameswarar Temple, for example, which is located at the rivers of Kaveri, Bhavani, and the mystical Amutha; the Bhavaneeswarar temple on the banks of Bhavani river; the Pateeswarar temple on Noyyal river; and the Navakailayam temples on the river Tamrabharani, all these temples celebrate the festivity every year, and the rivers are worshipped.

Every year on Aadi Perukku, some astrological transitions also take place, which makes this festivity even important to celebrate. When people worship the rivers and pray to Gods and Goddesses, they get double blessings: from the lords and from the astrological situation.

Thus the celebration of Aadi Perukku holds such significance that it can't be ignored by the people who know about it and have been celebrating it for years. Plus, the day connects us to nature and reminds us that without nature, life is not possible on Earth.