Adi Perukku, also known as Padinettam Perukku, is a unique and culturally significant festival in Tamil Nadu that venerates water bodies—especially rivers like the sacred Cauvery—as a symbol of life and prosperity. Celebrated on the 18th day of the Tamil month of Aadi (mid-July to mid-August), this festival honors the life-giving nature of water, marking gratitude for monsoon rains and praying for fertility, good harvests, and general well-being.
Domestic Celebration of Adi Perukku
At home, especially in non-riverine areas or urban settings where visiting a river might not be possible, the festival is celebrated with equal devotion and symbolism:
- Puja and Symbolic River Invocation: A small pot or vessel filled with clean water is placed on a banana leaf or a decorated plate and treated as a symbolic river. Flowers, turmeric, and kumkum are offered, and traditional prayers are chanted to honor the river goddess.
- Rice Offering Rituals: Women prepare and offer a variety of mixed rice dishes (called chitrannam), which are symbolic of abundance. Common dishes include lemon rice, tamarind rice (puliyodharai), coconut rice, curd rice, sweet pongal, sesame rice, and more. These offerings are made to the symbolic river pot or deity at home.
- Mangala Aarti and Blessings: Aarti is performed using camphor or oil lamps, and the family seeks blessings for prosperity, harmony, and success. Married women especially pray for the long life of their husbands, and young girls pray for good alliances and well-being.
- New Bangles and Flowers: Women and girls wear new bangles, flowers in their hair, and new or clean traditional attire. Some also gift bangles and bindis to other women, symbolizing feminine energy and prosperity.
- Sharing the Festive Meal: The array of rice varieties prepared as part of the offering is later shared with family members, and often packed and distributed to friends and neighbors as a gesture of goodwill.
Adi Perukku is a beautiful blend of nature worship, gratitude, and feminine celebration that connects Tamil households with ancient agrarian traditions and riverine culture—even when practiced within the confines of a modern home.