Atchaya Trithiai

'Atchaya Trithiai' a very auspicious day in the Tamil-Hindu calender is not a very good one for me. On this 'Thithi', twenty-four years ago, I lost my father. Then it was known only as 'Trithiai Thithi'. The thithi trithiai comes twice a month. It is the third day after the full moon as well as the new moon days. The new moon day known as 'Amavasya' in the Hindu terminology is an auspicious day for Hindus. On this day many Hindus remember their forefathers and pay homage to the dear-departed. The Brahmins have been a very strict adherents to tenets as they perform 'Darpanam' (honouring the dead) on that day. The trithiai that comes after the new moon is considered to be much friendly and austere than the one that comes after 'Pournami' (full moon).

The month of Chitirai, the first of the Tamil months (falls between 14 or 15 April to mid May), is welcomed with a lot of festivities and rituals. The full moon of this month is known as 'Chitra Pournami' and the thithi Trithiai that comes after the Chitirai Amavasya is known as the 'Atchaya Trithiai'. The word 'Atchaya' can be translated rougly to mean the term 'Cornucopia', a horn that suckled Zeus and gave overflowing fruits and has stood as a symbol of prosperity. The Tamil work 'Manimekalai' discusses the vessel of 'Atchaya Pathiram', with which the female monk Manimekalai fed every one.

In the year 1986, i lost my father. It happened in the afternoon and he died in hospital. Then there was no commercialisation of Hindu austere occasions. From then on i have been paying my honour to my father on that day. Though i was only eleven, at the time of my father's death, the thithi got entrenched in memory as one of my relatives who knew a lot about 'Panchangam' (Hindu-Tamil calender) taught me the differences between 'Thei Pirai' and 'Valar Pirai' (waning and waxing of the moon respectively) thithis. In the twenty-four year history of my knowledge of the thithi of Trithiai, i can state very confidently that the fad to grapple gold has been only a recent phenomenon. It took shape only recently. It may be in full swing only for ten to twelve years. This shows how commercialisation and promotion of sales of commodities have taken up religious days for their viability. Now it is strongly believed that even a pint of gold is enough if that is procured on Atchaya Trithiai to make one a millionaire next year. Thanks to these beliefs of highly modern, technically sound people who love to make their wards high technocrats, tradition co-exists with radicalism. I do not buy gold, which has been my policy for long. I think of buying books on that day, hoping that i am gifted with umpteen books in future. By doing so, i have proven that i too cannot extricate myself from beliefs of the yore.