Did you know Telugu people also celebrate Karva Chauth? Surprised… You have been thinking all these while Karva Chauth is something that is concerned with only north India. Not really, Telugu people have their very own way of celebrating this festival of women.
Atla Taddi is one of the most celebrated regional festivals of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. It is the festival which falls after Dasara every year. This festival is a Telugu equivalent of Karva Chauth, a prominent festival of North India.
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It is celebrated on asvayuja bahula tadiya, i.e. today. Every unmarried girl dreams of her future husband, future married life. To fulfill those dreams they do some vrathas and poojas. Atla Taddi as the name suggests is base on atlu which means Dosas. Taddi is nothing but the short form of Tadiya or third day.
What it is all about?
Atla Taddi is purely a ladies festival celebrated by married women as well as unmarried women. Unmarried women perform Gauri Puja and celebrate the festival with utmost fervour to be blessed with a good and caring husband and great married soon. And married women perform this pooja for their marital bliss and wellness of their husbands.
It is celebrated by girls crossed after 5 yrs. and woman. If we perform this vratha unmarried girls will get a good husband, if married the husband will remain healthy. In general this is celebrated till ten years completion of marriage. Completion of the vratha is marked as udyapana. They has to perform pooja and has to give vayanalu to Muttayiduvulu (married ladies).
Woman mark AtlaTaddi by keeping a day-long fast without food or water. Hence this is also called “Nirjala Vratham”. Goddess Gauri is worshipped on the day of Atla Taddi.
Women wake up early in the morning and perform spiritual bath or ceremonial bath. They observe fasting till the evening. In the evening, women perform pooja, and after looking at the moon, they break the fast by having tiny atlu (miniature dosas). Dosas are given as vayanaaluu to married woman who also do fasting.
For each muttayduvu (these ladies/relatives fast along with the one who is having this pooja perform). The ceremony includes 11 ladies who already took this vayanam and if menatta (aunt of your mothers side) took this vayanam the rituals continues. To all these 11 ladies you give each 11 atlu with deepam (made of rice flour and ghee and lit in front of goddess Gowri) you offer each lady the vayanam by holding with your sarees pallu.
Legend of the festival
According to the legend, Narada maharshi advised gauri Devi to perform atla taddi to get Lord Shiva as her husband. The vrata is performed mainly for worshipping moon to obtain prosperity of woman, happiness in family.
Also there is an interesting story in the puranas. In olden days a king had a beautiful daughter named Kaveri. She has performed the atla taddi nomu with her friends with pure devotion. Everyone who has performed the pooja along with her are blessed with handsome husbands but Kaveri used to get matches from ugly or old aged persons. She got vexed with this and went to forest and did severe penance. Lord Shiva and parvathi appeared before her then she yelled her pain to them. Then they told her that she made a mistake when doing the vratha.
As she was fasting during the vratha her brothers got worried. So they fired grass and they have shown this as moon to her in the mirror and made her to break the fast, because of this she is not getting a good husband. Lord Shiva and parvathi advised her to perform the vratha once more and disappeared. Kaveri went again home and performed the puja with great devotion and she got a handsome and brave husband.
Singing, Dancing & Festivities
The night before the festival 11 married women (considered as goddess) and one man (considered as goddess brother poturaju) will be invited for the pooja and dinner. While inviting them they are given oil, sunni pindi (bath powder) and kunkudukai (soap nuts) for taking bath.
They wake up early morning, next day, and take head bath. Toranam has to be decorated to the house. Prepare rice, mudda pappu (plain dal), gongura chutney, curd and eat the food with ghee before sunrise. Fasting has to be done till evening even without drinking water. One can break the fast only after seeing the moon.
Women swing in the uyyala (swing). Women sing folk songs like atla taddi aaratloi, mudda pappu mudatloi. They apply gorintaku (mehandi) on their palms. Evening pooja has to be performed for Lord Ganesh (made of turmeric).Keep undrallu as naivedyam. Gauri Devi pooja has to be performed. Kalisam has to put before god. Deepam (made of rice flour and ghee) has to be lit in front of goddess Gauri. Keep Atlu (Dosas) as naivedyam.
They prepare 11 varieties of food items for dinner with 11 varieties of vegetables known as dappalam. mudda pappu (plain dal), gongura pachadi, pulihora palatalikalu (sweet with rice flour, jaggery and milk),ghee and curd.
Rationale behind the Festival
It is said there is lot of scientific reasoning behind the celebration of Atla Taddi. Among the nine planets, Mars (Kujudu) likes Dosas, if we put dosa as naivedyam, it is belived that kuja dosha is reduced and relation grows between couple. Dosas has to prepared with rice and black gram (minumulu) as they are representatives for moon and rahu as per astrology. It is also said the pulihora (yellow tamarind rice) reduces the impact of kuja. Curd will give better profits in business. Palatalikalu prepared with jaggery will accomplish unfulfilled desires and cures diseases. Ghee is used for good health, energy and longevity.
Applying gorintaku (Mehendi) reduce the harmful bacteria on skin as well as cools the skin. To overcome problems during pregnancy atla taddi vayanam has to be given.
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