Karadaiyan Nombu

Today is Karadaiyan Nombu. It's a festival celebrated by Tamilians (South Indians) for the well being and long life of husbands. The time or date is when there on the transition between the Tamil months Maasi and Panguni. During a particular auspicious time during that day the woman takes a head bath and then makes a particular type of sweet called the adai or kozhakattai keeps it with unmelted butter in front of god and ties a sacred yellow thread around her neck. This is also done by kumari's ie young unmarried girls (for their future husband) .
This is done as it is believed that on this day Savitri snatched her husband Satyavan back from Lord of Death - Yama with her cleverness and her vratha (ritual ) (by which she could see Lord yama) - More of the story can be read at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savitri_and_Satyavan
So woke up early today as my mom told I have to do all this by 7:30 AM
Preparing the kozhakattai or sweet adai took some time
I roasted the rice flour and then roasted the some black eyed beans and boiled the beans. Then melted some jaggery in microwave and then in a pan added the jaggery water and then the roasted rice flour , some shredded coconut , crushed cardamom and the beans and stirred till it formed a dough. Then allowed it to cool and then formed it into balls the size of lemon and flattened them and steamed them like we do for idli in a pressure cooker. Then kept these along with the some fruits , butter in front of god - prayed  saying these words "Urukaatha vennayum oradiayum naan nootren, orukaalam en kanavan piriyammal irukkanum" (which translated means I kept unmelted butter and one adai and tied the thread, always my husband should not be separated from me ) and then tied the yellow thread.