Thiruvathirai
is a festival celebrated on the full moon night of Margazhi during
December-January in Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Observed for over 1500 years, the
festival is dedicated to Lord Shiva. In Kerala, it is believed to be the day
Parvathi met and united with Shiva after her long penance. Devotees perform the
Thiruvathira Kali dance enacting the story of Shiva and Parvathi.
In Tamil
Nadu, Shiva temples perform Abhishekam for the deity. Celebrations are held
with chariot processions for Thillai Nataraja, the dancing avatar of Shiva in
Chidambaram.
Legend has
it that a woodcutter named Chendanaar lived in a village near Chidambaram. A
staunch devotee of Lord Shiva, every day he would eat only after offering food
to a Shiva devotee. One day in the month of Margazhi, heavy rains prevented him
from going to work.
With no
money to buy grocery, he prepared ‘Kali’, with Ragi and minimal ingredients
available at home. He waited in vain to offer the food to a Shiva devotee. Seeing
nobody in sight, he was upset. Moved by his devotion, Lord Shiva himself
appeared in the guise of a devotee and asked him for food. Chendanaar also
packed some extra Kali for his ‘guest’ for his way back. That night, Shiva had
appeared in the king’s dream and revealed his visit to eat Kali.
The next
day, the priests found the inner sanctum in the Chidambaram Temple strewn with
morsels of the Kali. Hearing the news, the king rushed to the temple to meet
Chendanaar and was humbled by his pure-hearted devotion.
Every year, devotees prepare Kali and a special Thalagam using seven-vegetables on this occasion. Kali is prepared using rice, jaggery, moong dal, coconut and ghee. Thalagam is prepared with seven vegetables selected from pumpkin, ash gourd, broad beans, sweet potato, potato, brinjal, colocasia, plantain.
Click here for the video recipe of Thiruvathirai Kali and Thalagam on the occasion.
