The full moon day in the Tamil month of Margazhi, is God Shiva’s favourite day, according to the Puranas. There are many legends associated with this day.

The most famous legend that is believed in Tamil Nadu is that today is the day God Shiva danced His cosmic dance, the Tandavam. This Ananda Tandavam dance was witnessed by Saints Patanchali, Vyagrapadha and Adisesha, the 5-headed serpent on whom God Vishnu lies down. God Shiva’s subjects also witnessed this beautiful dance and decided to celebrate this day as Aarudra Darisanam. This day also celebrates God Shiva’s birth star, Aarudra and hence it is popularly known as Aarudra Darisanam. This night is also believed to the longest night of the year.

In Kerala, however, this day is celebrated for 3 reasons. The first reason is that it was on this day that God Shiva agreed to marry Goddess Parvati. And so, ladies celebrate this day by praying to the Goddess and remembering Her utter devotion to the God. Another reason for this auspicious day is that this day is the day that God Kamadeva, was burnt to ashes by God Shiva. The other belief is that the day of Thiruvathira is God Shiva’s favourite day. Usually, in Kerala, this festival is celebrated for 7 days, wherein devotees pray for a happy marital life.

Usually during this day, Kali (a dish made out of water and flour) is prepared and presented to the God. The story behind this is that Sendanar, a devotee, would offer food to the God and then only eat and distribute the prasadam to everyone else. It so happened that on one occasion, he was unable to gather all the ingredients required to prepare food, because of heavy rain in that area. So, he prepared a dish by mixing water and flour and offered it to the Divinity. The God, disguised Himself as a Shiva devotee and ate the dish and spread it around the place, to show His devotee’s sincerity. This is why preparing Kali and offering it to the God is followed on this day.

The Arudra Darisanam festival is celebrated in a very grand manner in the Chidambaram temple in Tamil Nadu. Learn all about the temple’s significance at http://bit.ly/IUmrT8

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