Thiru aadi pooram is celebrated in accordance with the birthday of the famous tamil poetess Andal. Andal (a.k.a Kothai Naachiar) is well known for her masterpieces in tamil literature which includes works like Thiruppaavai and Naachiar Thirumozhi. Andal spent her whole life worshiping lord Vishnu and composing poems about the lord.
The most famous story told about her is when she decorated an idol of lord vishnu in the temple in srivilliputhur (Tamil Nadu) where her father used to perform poojas. In the story she wears the flower garland before offering to lord. This was found by her father who replaced the garland with a new one. But when the decoration was done the lord refused to accept the new garland and asked for the garland which kodhai had used. This made Kodhai’s father realize that she was a miracle child. This event was referred by people as ‘soodi kodutha sudar kodi’ which means ‘garland offered after being worn’ . It was after this event that people started calling Kodhai as Andal (which means one who won over lord’s heart)
Thiru aadi pooram is a funtion which is celebrated in the tamil month of Aadi ( which falls in the months of july – august) on the day of the birth star Pooram.
Events on the festival day:
- The holy books lalithaa sahasranamam and Thiruppavai are read aloud in the temple along with special poojas for the hindu god Ambaal.
- The festival is considered auspicious for married women without children. Such women get their hand painted with mehandi and are given bangles by elderly women. Such women are considered to be the primary figures in the festival.
- Food offering are made for the lord and are distributed amongst the people. The standard offerings include puliodharai(tamarind rice), lemon rice, sakkara pongal(sweet rice) , curd rice and mulai payaru(soaked moong dal)
It is believed that women who participate in the event get blessed with children.
The whole event is a way of remembering the great poetess Andal and her works.
The divine mother 
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