Āḍi Amāvācai 1919

Āḍi Amāvācai (ஆடி அமாவாசை) is the new moon of the Tamil month Āṭi, when the Sun begins its southward journey. It is one of the three great days of the year for tarpanam, with Thai Amavasai and Mahalaya Amavasai.

From before dawn the shores and riverbanks fill with families offering sesame, water and rice balls to the ancestors: at the Agni Theertham of Rameswaram, at Kanyakumari, at Papanasam on the Thamirabarani, at Thiruvaiyaru and Srirangam on the Kaveri, and at Courtallam. Crows are fed, the poor are fed, and the day is spent in the ancestors' memory.

On Aadi Amavasai thousands climb to the Sathuragiri hills for the festival of the Sundara Mahalingam shrine.