Why puthandu celebrations are significant even today

Historian Meenakshi Devaraj tells us, “For puthandu we will clean the house and adorn it with thoranam, mayillai and kolam to begin the day with positive vibrations and energy. Food is an indispensable part of all our celebrations, and for puthandu, we make special dishes. Life is a mix of different kinds of experiences that have to take with the same spirit. To denote this, many people cover arusuvai — six tastes in Tamil cuisine. So an ideal puthandu menu consists of sweet payasam, sour mangai pachadi, spicy kuzhambu, bitter veppampoo rasam and astringent vazhaikai curry. Mukkani ie, mango, banana and jackfruit which can be found in plenty during this season are a part of the offering made to god during the festival.”

The month of chithrai has always been very auspicious to Tamil speaking community from ancient times. Silappathikaram talks elaborately about the rich indira vizha celebrated by the early Cholas. “Even today you can see the calendar of many temples filled with festivals for the month of chithirai. Festivals are not only a celebration of our culture, but they also instill new energy and spread happiness. This is very much required in a situation like this. Tamil is an ancient language and its literature is a treasure trove of information about our history and culture. So let’s unite and celebrate our rich Tamil language and culture despite so many differences,” she sums up.