Thiruvadirai

This festival is observed in December/January month tamil month margazi. it is the cosmic dance of lord siva in the form of nataraja. it represents the continuous cycle of creation and destruction. it is the source of energy.
in south india it is celebrated on the full moon day. in chidambaram it is celebrated elaborately to lord nataraja and goddess shivakami. cosmic dance is enacted. in all shiva temples abhishekam is held very early in the morning .at home unmarried girls get up pre dawn hour , take oil bath and wear new cloths. on the kolam they keep banana leaf served with kali and koottu. they offer this to god. it is considered as nombu for them to get good life. Nivediayam is done for god also on banana leaf.
naukoor,one of the 18 adikalar's of shiva, use to eat only after offering to lord shiva. for some reason he could not get proper items to prepare good food. he had with him only rice flour and water. he mixed both and offered to god. shiva went to his house and ate. next day the main idol in the temple was having left over paste on his mouth. after finding the reason for this that devotee was honoured. since then on thiruvadirai day we offer kali.