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 According to the Tamil calendar, Aadi is the fourth month of the year. The first day of this month, usually falling on July 16, is celebrated as Aadi Pandigai or Aadi Pirappu, which is an important festival to most Tamils, especially newly-weds. The Aagamas and the Vedas ascribe no special significance to the day and so it is seen and celebrated more as a traditional festival.
The most visible manifestation of the month of Aadi is the huge 'kolams' that are painstakingly patterned early each morning in front of houses. They are usually bordered with red 'kaavi' and across the front doorway at the top are strung mango leaves. The first of the month is marked with a special puja, followed by a feast with 'payasam' prepared with coconut milk, 'puran poli' and vadai. Traditionally, the family of a 'pudhu maappillai' (new son-in-law) is invited to the girl's house, where the couple is gifted new clothes and other presents.
 Aadi is a month of fervour and observances in Amman temples, where prayers and pujas are offered to propitiate the powerful goddesses and seek their protection from the inauspicious aspects that are often associated with the month. No weddings or other similar functions are celebrated during
Aadi.
It is during this time that the monsoon peaks on the west coast and the rivers of Tamil Nadu, shrunken in the summer heat, get replenished, often to near full levels. The 18th day of Aadi, usually August 2, is observed as 'Aadi Perukku', a day of offerings and prayers to these rivers, which mean so much to the lives and prosperity of the people. The day is an occasion for rejoicing particularly for those living on the banks of the great river Cauvery and its branches and tributaries.
 Whole families go the river bank and offer puja. There is a belief that young girls who do this puja offering Kaadholai (earrings made of palm leaf), Karugamani (black beads) and Kaapparisi (a sweet made of rice and jaggery) will be blessed with good husbands. The families spend the evening by the river, eating preparations of rice like puliyodharai, lemon rice etc.
The end of Aadi marks the start of the season of Hindu festivals. All the year's major festivals are packed into the six months that follow, culminating with Makara Sankranthi or Thai Pongal in mid-January, giving meaning to the Tamil saying, 'Aadi Azhaikkum, Thai
Thudaikkum'.
R.Bharathi
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