Thiruvathira Festival

Thiruvathira festival – celebrated as the birthday of Lord Shiva

The Thiruvathira Festival falls due in the Malayalam month of Dhanu (December,January ).This year’s Thiruvathira is on January,13th,Friday.2006.The people of Kerala celebrate this festival with great Joy and respect.The Festival is connected with Lord Shiva.The Ardradarshan celebrated in Tamilnadu and a few parts of karnataka corresponds to Thiruvathira of Kerala.It is considered to worship Lord Shiva ,and the devotees go early morning to temples.There is some celebrations at our homes also.

Tradition has it that Thiruvathira festival is celebrated as the birthday of Lord Shiva.Another story is connected with the death of kamadeva the mythological God of Love from the angry  look of Lord Shiva from his “Thrikkannu”.

The Thiruvathira festival celebrations commemorate the traditional beliefs that the deity of love Lord Kamadeva died on this day and to mark the birthday celebrations of the deity Lord Shiva. Thiruvathira celebrations are held during the month of Dhanu according to the traditional Keralan calendar.

Principally the women of Kerala, South India, celebrate Thiruvathira. The ladies perform several rituals to mark the Thiruvathira celebrations over a period of 7 days. Some ladies belonging to the Nair community try and chew around 108 betels during one day. Another ritual involves midnight worshipping of Lord Shiva with flowers, fruits and garlands.

Folk dance and folk music performances are a common sight in different parts of Kerala, South India during the Thiruvathira celebrations.

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Being an exclusively women-centric festival, the Thiruvathira Festival of Kerala is a unique festival in its own kind. The entire Kerala celebrates this significant Thiruvathira festival while enjoying the folk dance and folk music performances in different parts of Kerala, South India.

The origin of the festival is based on an age-old belief that the Thiruvathira Festival is celebrated to pay a tribute to Lord Shiva, who killed Kamadeva, the mythological God of love. Every year on the asterism Thiruvathira in the Malayalam of Dhanu (December-January), the women of Kerala celebrate this festival by worshipping Lord Shiva for over a period of 7 days to maintain marital bliss and happiness. The first Thiruvathira festival coming after the marriage of a girl is known as Puthen Thiruvathira or Poothiruvathira and it is celebrated on a grand scale with much pomp and grandeur.

The women perform several rituals all throughout the Thiruvathira Festival. Before sunrise the women devotees take their bath and go to the Shiva temple for “darshan” and worship the auspicious deity of Shiva. There is very little celebration in the houses. Except from eating preparations of chama (panicum milicceum) or wheat along with plantain fruits, tender coconuts, etc. the women fast for the whole day during the festival. They also chew betel leaves and redden their lips.