Significance Importance and Celebrations of Tamil New Year festival 2012

Posted Date: 04-Apr-2011	Category: Festivals in Tamilnadu	Rating:
Author: Rajesh	Member Level: Gold	Points: 40 (Rs 20)

This article covers the detailed description of Tamil New Year festival 2012. you can get the information about the significance and importance of this festival. Tamil New Year is celebrated with great enthusiasm which is briefly described in this article. Read below to know more about Tamil New Year 2012.

About Tamil New Year 2012

TamilNadu is famous for its culture, arts, temples and festivalsTamil New Year 2012 is one of the important Tamil festival celebrated in TamilNadu apart from Pongal. Tamil New Year is celbrated on the first day of tamil month Chithirai. Tamil New Year is called as Tamil Varsha Pirappu and Tamil Puthandu in Tamil Language. It is celebtrated on April 14th as per English Calendar year. Tamil New Year is mainly celebrated with great excitment in TamilNadu and Pondicherry. Tamil people who have either settled or living in Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Singapore and Mauritius also celebrate this festival with great enthusiasm. On April 14, people used to greet each other by saying Iniya Tamizh Puthaandu Nalvaazhthukkal, meaning happy Tamil New Year.

Significance of Tamil New Year 2012

Tamil New year forms the first day of the year as per Tamil calendar. It is a public holiday in TamilNadu and Sri Lanka where people greet each other and celebrate the festival by offering sweets to god and performing pujas. Ancient Tamil literature has many references to Tamil New Year which falls in the month of Chithirai. The oldest Tamil literature Tholkaapiyam mentions the start of the summer season from the month of Chithirai. The other Tamil literatures like Silappadikaaram, Manimekalai and Adiyarkunalaar mentions the 12 Tamil months in detail starting from the month of Chithirai. Chitirai Thiruvizha, an important festival for tamilians is celbrated in
Madurai Meenakshi temple with great enthusiasm on this day.

Important highlights of Tamil New Year 2012 festival

Tamil New Year is a joy for all Tamilians especially the childrens. People buy new clothes to wear it on this festival day.Tamil Panchagam which is always referred for auspicious day and time also starts from Chitharai. People used to buy new Panchagam on this day to usher into the new year with happiness and joy. Neem leaves, flowers and fruits are bought to decorate god and to perform pujas. There is also a belief that if we buy Gold or Silver on this auspicious day we will be accumalating them frequently throughout the year.

Celebration of Tamil New Year 2012 festival

People used to wake up early and have their bath before sunrise. Then they get ready to perform pujas by buying the necessary things from the market. As Tamil New Year is a auspicious day, people used to clean their houses and decorate their doors and windows with flowers. The main entrance door is decorated with mango leaves. Big Kolam or Rangoli is used to be drawn at the entrance of each house to make them look colorful and attractive.

Pooja

New clothes that are bought are kept in front of the god to perform pujas. Pujas are performed by looking at the calender for auspicious timings. New panchagam is applied a dot with the mixture of turmeric powder and kumkum and is kept in front of the diety. people prepare sweets at home and offer them to god. After arranging all the pooja items, puja is performed with chanting of mantras and showing aarthi to god. Many people perform simple pooja by showing aarthi to god without panchagam. Each member of the family worship god and make a wish believing that it will come true before the end of the new year.

BananaLeaf

After puja is performed it is the turn to taste the delicious food items prepared in house. The food items mainly consists of Rice, Sambhar, vegetable curry, Rasam, Picke, Papad, Curd and a banana. Many people prepare special sweets like Sweet pongal or Payasam which is very much liked by elders as well as childrens. All the food items are served in a banana leaf which is the way every festival is celebrated. people used to visit temples and perform archanas in the name of the family to bring prosperity to all the members. Temples will also be colorfully decorated and special pujas are performed for the diety.

After performing the pujas people used to greet each other with Iniya Tamizh Puthaandu Nalvaazhthukkal and exchange sweets prepared at home.

Wishing you all a very happy Tamil New Year 2012.

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