Atla taddi, a festival celebrated by women both married and unmarried alike. Married women pray for the wellbeing of their husbands and unmarried women to be blessed with good and caring husband for a great married life.
Atla Taddi as the name suggests is based on Atlu which means
Dosas. Taddi is nothing but the short form of tadiya or third day after the full moon (
pournami), in Aswiyuja month of Telugu calendar, and falls in either September or October. It is the Telugu equivalent of
Karva Chauth, which is celebrated by north Indian women the following day.
On the day before
- Women apply Gorintaku (Mehndi) on their palms.
- Prepare rice cooked at night (will be used next day)
On eve of the day
- Women and children wake up in the early morning before the sunrise, and have suddi (rice cooked day before night) with perugu (curd) and Gongura chutney (Andhra Matha).
- women swing in the uyyala (Swing (seat)) and singing atla taddi songs.
- People watch the moon in nearby pond or lake after the sunrise welcoming the day.
Woman mark Atla Taddi by keeping a
day-long fast without
food or water. Hence this is also called “Nirjala Vratham”.
Before decoration of mandapam we will prepare the kalasam .
items for preparing kalasam:-
coconut
Blouse
water is filled in a medium sized vessel with round bottom (Sombu).(raggi/bronze/copper)
betel leaves/mango leaves
flowers
raw rice
white towel
arrange kalasam:-
A mandapam for Goddess Parvathi should be arranged in the east direction. Prepare kalisam on rice, coins (inside kalasam
water, kumkum, turmeric, coin, and flower with 5 mango leafs or just water) .Make pasupu ganapathiWorship Lord Ganapati
first and then worship Goddess Parvathi or Gowridevi according to the customs. Shodasopachara Pooja where in Ashtothra
satanamavali or Sahasranamam can be recited.
first clean area with water and put rangoli(like padma) where ever you do pooja.Then place the towel on padma and pour rice.after that take vessel with water,turmeric,kumkuma,sandal,coins,flowers
and five betel leaves are placed on top of rice and top of vessel arrange coconut with blouse saree and flowers.after that make pasupu ganapathi and do normal pooja.In this way we will decorate mandapam on the eve of morning:-
Pooja ceremony:
- Prepare kalisam on rice, coins (inside kalasam water, kumkum, turmeric, coin, and flower with 5 mango leafs or just water)
- Make pasupu ganapathi
- Gauri ashtotram
- Lalitha harathi/gauri harathi
- Story
on the eve of evening:-
the evening take bath and worship Gowri. Tie Toranam for hand (with 11 nots for atla tadde n 5 nots toranam for Undralla tadde) Offer 11Atlu to Goddess.then read story of atla taddi and distribute 11 Atlu and 11 fruits to married women.
Atla Taddi Nomu Katha:-
Once there was a princess and her friends who was observing the Atla Taddi Nomu, and as the process she had to fast the whole day and eat only after seeing the Moon. She fell unconscious after few hours, as she was not used to fasting. Her brothers asked their mother the reason of unconsciousness of the princess. Her mother replied that she was observing a fast and as she was not used to it fell unconscious. As per the process the princess had to eat only after seeing the Moon.
The brothers tied a mirror to a stick and held it high. They prepared a fire and arranged as if the reflection in mirror made the mirror look like Moon. The brothers woke their sister and showed her the fake Moon and made her break the fast.
The princess grew up and attained the age of marriage. Her brothers searched for a suitable match, but they were only getting profiles of old persons. They searched for a long time and finally as they had no choice and finalized a match of one of the old persons.
Knowing that her brothers have fixed a marriage with an old person, the princess was shocked. She thought that she had performed the Atla Taddi Nomu and as a result of performing the Vrat she should get married to an young person only. She refused to marry the old man. The brothers insisted that she had to marry the old man. Seeing the situation, the princess left for the forest without informing anyone.
She started penance under a banyan tree. Once Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati saw the princess performing the penance. They approached her and asked the reason for performing the penance. The princess replied that she explained them the whole story.
They understood and explained her that even though she observed the Atla Taddi Nomu, she had not performed the fasting properly and told her how her brothers cheated her by showing a fake Moon. They further told that it was because of the improper fasting that she was getting matches from older men only. They advised her to return to the palace and perform the Atla Taddi Nomu properly, by fasting until the Moon was visible.
The princess returned to the palace and narrated the whole story to her parents and performed the Atla Taddi Nomu as per the ritual. This time she took care not to overlook any of the process and performed the Atla Taddi Nomu to perfection.
By performing the Atla Taddi Nomu perfectly she got a good young prince match. She was married to him and lived happily.
Specials on the day
- In the evening, prepare sambar (with 11 varieties of vegetables).
- Palathalikalu (sweet made with rice flour, jaggery, and milk)
- Mudda pappu (plain dal)
- Perugu (Curd)
- Gongura pachadi (Andhra Matha)
- Kudumulu (5 for gauri devi) (for yourself and other muttayuduvu 5
each and on 4 kudumulu you place one on top of the 4 and make it as
deepam and eat the same after pooja when the deepam is still
lighting)
- 11 small Dosas (for each)
- Tamarind pulihora
- Toranam for hand (with 11 knots for atla tadde and 5 knots toranam for Undralla tadde)
Health or Scientific Facts
- Among the nine planets mars (Kujudu) likes Dosas, if we put dosa as naivedyam then kuja dosha is reduced and relation grows between couple. Dosas has to prepared with rice and black gram(minumulu) or urad dal as they are charity for moon and rahu as per astrology.
- Applying gorintaku (Mehendi) reduce the harmful bacteria on skin.
- To overcome problems during pregnancy atla taddi vayanam has to be given.
- Fasting is observed during this day as it results in autolysis a biological process.
- The Food for dinner consists of pulihora(yellow tamarind rice) that reduces the impact of kuja.
