|
The Thiruvathira festival falls on the asterism
Thiruvathira in the Malayalam month of Dhanu
(December-January). The origin of the festival
is shrouded in obscurity. The people celebrate
this festival with age-old tradition and they
do it with great joy and respect for the past.
The Ardra Darshan celebrated in Tamil Nadu
corresponds to Thiruvathira of Kerala. It
is considered to be high auspicious to worship
Siva and the devotees go to the temple before
sunrise for 'darshan'. Apart from the worship
in the Siva temple, there is very little celebration
in the houses. Tradition has it that Thiruvathira
festival is celebrated in commemoration of
the death of Kamadeva, the mythological God
of love. According to another version Thiruvathira
is the birth day of Lord Siva.
Even though the Thiruvathira is celebrated
by most of the Hindu communities it is essentially
an event for Nair women. They get up at about
4 am and take a bath on seven days commencing
from the asterism Aswathi. While taking a
bath they sing certain songs mostly relating
to the God of Love, accompanied by rhythmic
sound produced by splashing water with their
fists. In conclusion they stand in a circle
in the water hand in hand singing songs. Thiruvathira
is a day of fasting and the women discard
the ordinary rice meal on that day, but only
take preparations of chama (panicum milicceum)
or wheat. Other items of their food include
plantain fruits, tender coconuts, etc. They
also chew betel and redden their lips. Among
Namboodiris, Ambalavasis (temple-servants)
and high class Nairs, there is a convention
that each woman should chew 108 betels on
that day. The first Thiruvathira coming after
the marriage of a girl is known as Puthen
Thiruvathira or Poothiruvathira and it is
celebrated on a grand scale.
From prehistoric times, Malayalee women enjoyed
an enviable position in society, and she
was practically the mistress of her house.
The elevated position she occupied
had distinguished her from
her neighbours and influenced to a considerable
extent the social structure, customs and religious
practices of the people. The culmination of
this phenomenon is clearly visible in setting
apart one of the three great festivals of
Kerala viz. Thiruvathira, exclusively for
womenfolk, for which a parallel can hardly
be found in any section of the Indian Society.
Oonjalattom, swinging on an oonjal (swing)
is an item of amusement on this occasion.
At night the women keep vigil for Siva and
perform Thiruvathira kali or Kaikottikali.
They stand in a circle around a lighted brass
lamp, and dance each step at the rhythm of
the songs they sing, clapping their hands.
The songs sometimes consist of Kathakali songs
including the works of Irayimman Thampi.
Among Namboodiris and Amblavasis (temple servants)
and Bairs who have close association with
Namboodiris, there is custom called Pathirappoochoodal,
meaning wearing of flowers at midnight. At
the midnight of Thiruvathira, an image of
Siva is placed at the central courtyard and
flowers, plantains and jaggery are offered
to the deity. They then perform Kaikottikali
round the deity. Flowers are taken from the
offering and worn by them.
|
