The banks of the Kaveri River in Dharmapuri’s Hogenakkal wore a deeply spiritual atmosphere on Wednesday as thousands of devotees from Tamil Nadu and Karnataka congregated before dawn to observe Aadi Amavasai, the new moon day of the Tamil month of Aadi.
Chanting mantras and offering prayers, devotees performed Thithi, ritual offerings to their ancestors, and paid homage to the Sun God, seeking prosperity, peace, and the removal of familial afflictions. The Kaveri, flowing steady and sacred, became the focal point of spiritual exchange between the living and the departed.
Considered one of the most sacred Amavasai days in Tamil culture, Aadi Amavasai is believed to be especially potent for Pitru Tarpanam, the act of honouring ancestors through water, food, and prayer. A local saying goes: “People wait eagerly for Aadi Amavasai once Aadi month begins.”
The event transformed the riverbank into a vast congregation of piety, drawing families from across Tamil Nadu and beyond. Early rituals included fasting, pujas, and collective remembrance ceremonies, as men and women stood waist-deep in the river’s current, offering rice balls and sesame seeds, traditional components of the ancestral rites.
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According to Tamil mythological beliefs, Aadi is not just a time of veneration, but of power and cosmic battle. It is said that during the legendary 18th battle between the divine and demonic forces, blood-soaked swords of victory were washed in the Kaveri, further elevating the river’s spiritual gravity on this day.
The observance is not limited to familial ancestors. Rituals performed during Aadi and Purattasi months are considered beneficial even for strangers, and the faithful believe that pujas offered on Aadi Amavasai bring peace to the departed souls and mental clarity to the living.
Hindus believe that fasting on every new moon and observing special rites during months like Thai, Masi, Aadi, and Purattasi can dissolve karmic burdens and ensure a smoother path in both this world and the next.
The Kaveri, long held as a mother river in southern India, remains central to these rites, as devotees continue a tradition passed down across millennia — honouring ancestry, time, and the eternal river of memory.
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