The last festival of this year for us happens to be Thiruvathira. Thiruvathira Nakshatram ( star)in the month of Dhanu ( Capricorn Zodiac) is supposed to be the day in which Shiva Parvathi became Ardha Nareeshwarar . So for the women in North & Central Kerala, it is the day they would fast, pray and dance for a good marriage. I think even then they knew getting a decent human being as a husband is a real challenge 😁 Thiruvathira Kali is a beautiful synchronous dance of women clapping their hands and moving in rhythmic graceful movements. Hence also called as Kaikottikkali. Interestingly the dish made in Tamil Nadu with broken rice , jaggery & moongdal is also called thiruvathirai kali during this festival. Another belief is also that it celebrates the rebirth of Kamadevan after he was reduced to ashes by the thrikkannu ( third eye ) of Paramashivan. You can see a sculpture of Manmadhan in the 3rd pic at Mutharamman Kovil in Nedumangad. On the day of Thiruvathira, women are expected to eschew rice and primarily eat tubers. One of the traditional dishes made during this period is Koova Payasam. Koova is arrowroot which belongs to Zingiberales order . This is essentially a kurukku or a sort of porridge made with arrowroot flour , spiced with dry ginger and sweetened with jaggery. The other flavoring agent is banana which is also from the same order and grated fresh coconut with a tsp of nei ( ghee). I also added a touch of elakka ( cardamom) which we all had as an evening meal. If you reduce it further it will become a halwa like consistency a la Karachi. A hearty nutritious dish people have with puzhukku or ettangadi or pappadom. #foodloose #thiruvathira #koova #arrowroot #koovapayasam #musaceae #traditional #kaikottikali #keralagram #keralan #native #indian #hindu #festivals #dhanu #capricorn #december #shiva #parvathi #vegetarian (at Trivandrum, India) https://www.instagram.com/p/CJdtkLgFaiz/?igshid=111sybyz4c082