Aadi perukku Recipes & Significance

Aadi perukku otherwise called Pathinettam perukku is a Tamil festival celebrated on the 18th day of the Tamil month of Aadi (usually in the 1^st week of August). This festival is celebrated to pay tribute to water resources and to welcome the onset of Southwest monsoon season in India. The catchment areas receive heavy rainfall during this period (June to September) and the water level in the river rises and it gushes into its tributaries. Gradually the water bodies in Tamil Nadu starts rising and around the middle of the solar Tamil month, Aadi, the river Kaveri is expected to be in its full flow and plentiful.

As a tribute, the farmers in and around the banks of the Kaveri River pay homage to the natural resources on the 18^th day of the aadi month and after this festival they begin sowing the winter crops. Hence the name “Padinettam perukku” – Padinettu (in tamil) is eighteen, and Perukku denotes rising/gushing.

Apart from religious significances, this day also marks a joyous occasion especially for those living on the banks of the Kaveri. People go for picnics, eat kootanchoru (rice varieties) and enjoy the beautiful sight of the river. Bathing in the river on Aadi 18 is considered as auspicious. Growing on the banks of the Kaveri River (Trichy) I have colourful memories of this festival.

South Indian Rice Recipes

These simple vegetarian rice recipes can be made for aadi perukku festival. They are also suited for everyday lunch/dinner.

• Lemon Rice
• Puliyodharai
• Mango Rice - Mangai Sadam
• Thayir sadam

Dessert Rice Varieties

• Kalkandu Sadam - Sweet rice variety made with sugar candies, can be had as a dessert
• Akkaravadisal - Made with jaggery and rice

Apart from the rice varieties, the regular festival dishes like aama vadai (paruppu vadai) and payasam are also made.

Aadi perukku - Literary references

Pathinettam perukku is culturally important in the Tamil culture. It is a day of togetherness and a beginning of everything new!

None other than Kalki can describe this festivity so eloquently! The opening scenes in his epic "Ponniyin Selvan" begins with a vivid and rich description of Aadi perukku celebration along the banks of Veeranarayanar lake.

The newly wed women take bath in the river, change their nuptial thread and throwing the old one in the river.

Silapthikaram