Tamil New Year - Varusha Pirappu: a celebration rooted in sharing and tradition

On this Tuesday, April 14, the Tamil community of Mauritius celebrates the transition to the year 5128. The Tamizhe Puttaandu (or Varusha Pirappu) is welcomed with particular fervor. Between the symbolic reading of the Panjangam and the tasting of the traditional six-flavor meal, this New Year is an invitation to spiritual resilience in the face of the challenges of the modern world.

“We are celebrating the 5128th year according to the ancestral calendar. It will not be an easy year: there will be calamities, unforeseen events and new illnesses, but we must remain hopeful. To face it, today as in the future, it has become imperative to demonstrate detachment from the material world,” underlines Aya Indiren Vyapooree of the Mauritius Tamil Temples Federation.

So, the preparation to welcome the new year began a few days ago with the big cleaning of the house. Then, on New Year's Eve, the rituals begin, including the preparation of 'Tambālam'. The latter is a tray in which three fruits are placed: mango, banana and jackfruit. We also add betel leaves, saffron, among others, as well as a mirror. We then place the Tambālam in the bedroom or living room before going to bed.

On this Tuesday, April 14, a holiday, it's time for a purifying bath with water composed of aromatic and medicinal leaves. Then comes the time of the ‘Nazhi Pādou’ prayer, before receiving the blessing of the elders.

Then, head to the kovil for a prayer session as well as the reading of the Panjangam for the new year. “The Panjangam announces everything that will happen this year, in terms of health, weather, agriculture, politics, the economy, among others. Then, the faithful exchange their New Year greetings with each other,” our interlocutor said.

Once the rituals are completed at the kovil, return home for a family lunch. Here too, it is important to enjoy a meal where all six tastes — sweet, bitter, salty, sour, strong and pungent — are present. “The six different tastes are symbolic of the different situations we face in life,” he says.

Former president of the Tamil Union of Mauritius, Ganessen Annavee delivers a message imbued with gravity and spirituality on the occasion of Varusha Pirappu. For him, if the celebration is intended to be sober, it nonetheless remains an essential pillar of identity.

“Even if, in Mauritius, the festival is celebrated without pomp or great fanfare, this milestone of our ancestral traditions nevertheless retains all its symbolic value, which contributes to the beauty of our centuries-old culture, a culture that we have an interest in perpetuating, especially since we are a minority within a multi-ethnic society,” he says.

Addressing his “parents in the faith”, he recalls the importance of preserving this heritage while remaining citizens engaged in the consolidation of social harmony. However