The #Aadi_Perukku festival celebrated on 18th day of the Tamil month of Aadi ( july- August ) to welcome fresh waters into the rivers and canals was celebrated with religious fervour and enthusiasm by people in delta region of tamilnadu Attired in their best women visited bathing ghats along the Cauvery, #Kollidam and Grand Anicut canal in the delta districts and offered pujas to Mother #Cauvery. Youth and Children use took bath and enjoyed the fresh water in the rivers by jumping into it from bridges and bathing ghats. On this day those who got married recently offered special pujas at the river banks. Although most part of the rituals were oriented towards woman, boys too had their share of joy in the festivity.Children pulled #chapparams (miniature chariots) made from discarded timber pallets carrying the images of Hindu gods and goddesses along the streets in their villages as part of the celebrations in Delta region especially in kumbakonam tanjore belts.
These toys were colloquially known as #sapprathatti which looks like a chariots. This toy car play ( #sapparam ) has a traditional continuity in Tamil literature. #Pillai_Tamil is a genre of tamil literature which celebrates the childhood of the hero or deity on whom it is being sung. This genre divides the period of childhood into 10 stages. The first seven stages Kappu, Senkeerai, Thalaatu, Chappaani, Mutham Ambuli and Varugai are the stages common to both male and female children. Last Three stages will be diffrent for boys, sittril, siruparai, #siruther. At the age of 21 months the child would play with a small chariot made of wood is know as Siruther Paruvam butGrammatical Commentary' states that this season occurs in the child's seventh year.Nowadays siruther were made in the form of #olaichapparam / #theruvadchan. However it would we could see this tradition is still preserved and exists in delta region.
In the other hand of this collage we could see similar tradition practice happening in West Bengal. Rathyatra is about a week-long festival large number of people gather at the time of yatra. #Rathyatra which is the third important festival in Bengal after #Durga_Puja and #Kali_Puja. #Rathyatra of West Bengal is the second oldest chariot festival in India after the Rathyatra of Puri. At Balaram mandir of Ramakrishna Mission the festival will be held in a grand manner. Every year thousands of devotees and monks used to pull the rath which had once pulled by Sri Ramakrishna.
The famous rathyatra festival of #Mahesh in #Hooghly district will be held with thousands of devotees used to gather to pull the ratha. This celebration mainly takes place in the months of June or July. During this festival time we could find toy chariots were sold at every street corner ahead of Rath Yatra in the west Bengal a week before the festival this time. The small, one- or two-storey chariots made of plywood, scrap-wood and colourful papers. Rath Yatra children in almost every neighbourhood are seen pulling the small chariots, accompanied by their grandparents or parents and friends. We could see this practice in Bangladesh hindu villages too.
--- #Ramu.Rm.N
