Thiruvathira

Thruvathira festival  takes place on the full moon night in the tamil month of Margazhi and malayalam month Dhanu(December–January) and this is also the longest night in a year.Thiruvathira is essentially a women's festival.Ladies in this  day worship Lord Shiva and pray for conjugal harmony and marital bliss.The very interesting facet of this festival is the enchanting Thiruvathirakkali dance performed by women on this day.
Thiruvathira is said to be celebrated to commemorate The death of Kamadheva,The god of love according to Hindu mythology.. Some people also consider it auspicious to worship Lord Shiva on this day and take his Darshan in Shiva temples before sunrise.
This festival is extremely popular amongst womenfolk of Nambuthiri,Kshathriya and Nair communities in Kerala.Celebrations begin a week before from asterism Aswathi.Not withstanding the biting cold of the winter season,women wake up as early as 4 am and takes bath  in the pond.While taking bath they sing songs in worship of Lord Kamadheva on the rhythm produced by splashing of water with their fist.. At he end ,they will stand in a circle holding hands of each other and sing songs and perform Thiruvathirakkali..Women observe fast on thiruvathira .Instead of rice meal,they take preparations of Chama (Panicum miliaceum) or wheat dishes besides fruit.There is also a tradition to eat hundred betel leaves on this day.At night women wear ten types of flowers and it is known as 'Pathirappoochoodal',meaning 'wearing of flowers in midnight" An image of Lord Shiva is placed in the central court yard of  Kerala homes and a big brass lamp will be lit in front of it. Offerings of flowers, plantains and jaggery are made before  the god and then they will perform the very elegant Thiruvathira dance.  Women dressed in typical Kerala style with mundu and neriyathu and the hair bun adorned with jasmine garlands perform this dance
It is a wonderful sight to watch women dancing on the rhythm of the song and clapping their hands in unison.
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