No, I don't have my dates mixed up. Today is the Tamil New Year, coinciding with Nirayanam vernal equinox. Generally falling around April 14 of the Gregorian calendar, the Tamil New Year is celebrated by the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu (of which Chennai is the capital) and those of Tamil origin in places such as Sri Lanka, Singapore, and Malaysia.
Primarily a time for family and friends, special food is prepared and gifts of gold, jewelry, or money is given by family elders to the younger ones. The wife gets up early (around 3AM) prepare a special pooja and perhaps also some food. An hour or so later, she then wakes up the other family members and the celebration begins.
This morning when I went for a walk, I expected to see large, beautiful kolams in front of homes/driveways as is customary for special occasions. Considering the extraordinarily early time the wife has to get up this day, perhaps they just didn't get to it yet. One of the local newspapers did fill in a bit, placing white powdered stenciled New Year's celebration greetings in front of every home in my neighborhood.
According to my Chennai friends, the Nirayanam vernal equinox also signals the start of the hot season. I definitely noticed the difference on Saturday night when I stepped off the night plane from Delhi. Hot and humid is now upon us!
1 comment:
Happy New Year to you, too! Sounds like it's going to be hot and sticky over there for a while...
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