South India

Traditions of South India – TamBram

In India we celebrate variety of festivals. Different regions and states have different traditions and processes of celebration. In all this diversity there is unity because food is always a part of the festivities and brings people together as families and communities.

I am happy to share the pics and traditions of festivals we celebrate in our house and neivedyam/prasadams associated with it.( Items offered as neivedyams during the celebrations are different even within the communities for that matter changes from household to household)

In my early days of marriage When i started doing pooja myself I would always look for details of these important festivals and the dates based on U.S calendar. Also for some I would try to get hold of the pooja vidhanam audio to help with performing the pooja,
Here I am attempting to add bits of information that I know and links that I use for pooja in hope that this would help others looking for guidance.

For us Tamilians the festivities begins with the Tamil New year which generally falls mostly around April 14th (This is year its on April 14 2015). follow by many important festivals. Here are the few important one that we celebrate
1. Varusha pirapu / Tamil new year
2. Aadi Masam
3. Aadi 18
4. Varalakshmi Viratham
5. Avani aavatam (The thread changing ceremony for the men)
6. Janmashatami ( birth of lord krishna)
7. Ganesh Chaturthi
8. Navarthri ( 9 nights of lights)
9. Deepavali
10. Karthikai
11. Thrivadhurai
11. Pongal ( Harvest festivals)
12. Karadiyan nombu
11. Ramanavami ( birth of lord Rama)