Happy Tamil New Year - Chithirai Thirunaal !! 

Advance Happy Tamizh new year!! Chithirai Thirunaal nal vazhthukal!!

 Several thousand years before ancient siddhars had calculated the date of tamizh new year. They considered celestial bodies in the solar system to calculate and to design a system of calendar, which is very precise even now. This calendar gives more information about Earth, stars, moon, sun and all other planets. Tamizh calendar is the accurate and oldest calendar in the World !! 

         There are some scientific reasons to chose a date for tamizh new year. Those reasons and calculations will be explained in my next post....

In this post, will explain about the traditions that we used to follow during tamizh new year and celebrations. In tamizh, new year is called as Varusha pirappu, Chithirai Thirunaal, in this year, tamizh new year falls on April 14th.

Tamizh new year tradition

        On the previous day of tamizh new year, during the evening time or before going to bed, we do arrange some auspicious things in our pooja room which is called as 'Kani Kaanal'. 

Kani - means ripen fruit , it also means mine of gold and precious metals

kaanal - means 'to see'.  

    On the day of new year, early in the morning, one needs to open their eyes in front of this 'Chithirai Kani' and see this as a first thing on the new year day. Thereby, the arrangements of Kani kaanal was done on the previous day.

What needs to be done for Kani kaanal ?

        First, pooja room should be cleaned, then will place a tray of three major fruits / Mukani, which means three principal fruits i.e  Banana, Jackfruit and Mango. These three fruits are important for the new year, because all these are golden coloured native fruits which represents prosperity. This month is also called as season of fruits...

        In a second plate, we keep raw rice, dal, salt and jaggery. In the third one, we keep new currency notes, coins, with some gold and silver coins / ornaments (this is optional). Along with this we keep a mirror in a standing position in any one of the plates in such a way that it is reflecting the Kani. In another plate betel leaves, betel nuts and flowers, coconut will be kept and along with that, this new year's Panchangam will also be placed. If the mirror is in bigger size, it can be kept separately at the back of these arrangements, like in the picture above.

        We follow panchangam, an almanac to follow traditional units of time, nakshatras, thithis (lunar days), important dates and it contains more calculated information in a tabulated form. The practise of using panchangam to calculate auspicious dates for marriages and many other functions are still in use among tamizh people. 

On New year day

        On the day of tamizh new year, elderly women of the house wakes up early in the morning takes bath, wears a new dress and lit lamps in the pooja room. Then, all other members of the house after they wake up will close their eyes and immediately see this Chithirai Kani as a first sight in the new year, which indicates the healthy, wealthy, happy and prosperous start of the new year. Then elders will bless the younger family member by giving money to them

On this day, will prepare a feast for lunch like Raita, veg curries, dal curry (Kottu), rice, sambar, neem flower rasam, vada, papad, sweet varieties, pickle etc . Along with this, there are three major dishes that needs to be prepared for the new year, they are Panagam (a jaggery drink), Neer mor (Buttermilk with tadka) and Mango pachadi (a curry with 6 different taste using raw mango).

Mango pachadi - is prepared with 

1. raw mango (sourness), 
2. chilli (hot / pungent), 
3. Jaggery (sweetness), 
4. Turmeric (Astringent), 
5. salt (salty), 
6. Neem flowers (Bitterness). 

    

        This dish has all the 6 tastes (Arusuvai), which symbolically represents human life that our life is mixed with all these 6 tastes .

This month Chithirai is considered as auspicious month for marriages and family functions. Many grand festivals and celebrations will be held on this month like Chithirai Thiruvizha - a longest festival celebration in the world, Goddess Meenakshi's celestial marriage, Chithra Pournami etc...

How did the ancient tamizh people calculated this new year date ? Why Pongal is not considered as new year ???? All these topics will be covered in my next post....

- Aarthi Thiyagarajan