A quiet, significant Celebration

Hey guys and gals,

Below is an article which I wrote to be featured in www.klik4malaysia.com . Unfortunately the final product came out a little too late to be published there. Many thanks to Mr Philip and Mr Jaiarajoo for editing and giving inputs to my article. It has now found its way here :)

The Indian community celebrate Tamil “Puthandu” or New Year on April 14.

Every Hindu household would be cleaned thoroughly before the big day and on the morning of the Puthandu, families gather to pray to God first, either at home or at temples, before ushering in the New Year celebrations.

However, in Malaysia, as the Tamil Puthandu is not a gazetted holiday unlike Deepavali, which meant that the Hindu observers had to observe customary prayers at home in the morning while only visiting temples in the evening.

It is believed that by putting our thoughts in prayers to God first thing on the morning of New Year and making special offerings of milk, sweets and fruits, the household would be blessed for the coming year.

It is auspicious to wear new clothes while many people believe that buying gold on the first day of the New Year signifies an accumulation of wealth and prosperity for the household throughout the year.

Many Tamil businessmen start operations of new businesses or make deals on this day to mark new beginnings. This is because it is believed that everyone’s almanacs will undergo major changes with every Tamil Puthandu.

The businessmen would not want to waste a single moment of a coming auspicious year.

The celebration of Tamil Puthandu is not something new. Indians in India have been celebrating their new year either on April 14 or April 15 every year since 5,113 years ago.

This same date is observed by many other states in India including people from Assam, Bengal, Punjab, Kerala, Orissa, Manipur as well as the country of Nepal.

The other states in India also celebrate their respective New Years within 1-2 days of the Tamil Puthandu.

Astrologers consult the calendar to determine auspicious days.

There are several festivals based on the Tamil Hindu calendar that begins on the same date in April. Kaliyuga 5113, Vikrama and Shalivahana Saka eras are also used.

There are several references in early Tamil literature to the April new year.

Tamil Months in Calendar 2011:- Margazhi – January, Thai – February, Masi – March, Panguni – April, Kara – May, Vaikasi – June, Ani – July, Adi – August, Avani – September, Puratasi – October, Aippasi – November, Karthikai – December.

Tamil New year is an important festival celebrated by Tamil Hindus. This festival is mainly observed in Tamil Nadu and all nations with huge Tamil Diaspora populations, like Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Singapore, Mauritius, United Kingdom and United States.

When Sun transits into zodiac Aries (Mesham), the Tamil New Year ‘Kara‘ commences. The festival is called as Tamil Puthandu or Varushapirapu. Tamil Calendar and Tamil astrology (Nirayana astrology) are considered as one of the most ancient astrology system.

The solar calendar system follows a 60 year cycle and the years are named specifically (not numbers) as such ‘Kara’ is the 25th year while ‘Vikhruti’ was the 24^th year.

One of the Hindu sages, Thiruvalluvar in his famous proverbs of “Thirukkural” starts his first proverb with the translation:

As “A” is the beginning of the alphabets; GOD Almighty is the beginning of the World.

The year of “Kara” will definitely be different from the year of “Vikruthi”. In Malaysia, we have seen changes taking place in the political scene less than a few days after the Tamil Puthandu.

Within 6 years, in 2017 the Tamil year, “Hevilambi”, will return, marking the end of a Tamil “century” because our independence (Malaya) was in 1957.

As such there is every possibility to see or hope for significant changes to usher in the birth of a new ‘century’ for Tamils.

My sincere Tamil Puthandu prayer and hope is for the unity, cooperation and hard work from our ancestors, to ensure we enjoy freedom and harmony, will continue for ‘centuries’ to come.

Hope you all had a good read. Thank you.