sweet pumpkin curry (kumbala kari) ) and payasa. Nothing but vegetarian food is cooked on this day, and this is the only festival which is strictly vegetarian. Alcohol is prohibited. The Kaveri cult has its center and origin in Kodagu. It is only those Kodava rites associated with the river Kaveri that are Brahmanical in influence. Puttari (Harvest festival) Puttari (pudiya ari) means "new rice" and is the rice harvest festival. This takes place in late November or early December and is always on the night of a full moon. Celebrations and preparations for this festival start a week in advance by all family members cleaning up the entire house and surroundings, painting the house (whitewash in olden days). On the day of Puttari, the whole family assembles and all the ancestral homes (ain mane) and houses are decorated with marigold flowers and green mango leaves. Specific foods are prepared: thambuttu (a sweet made with ripe bananas and roasted rice flour), kadambutt pandhi curi and also a special food of yam and jaggery water with coconut which is eaten before going to the field. All food prepared is first offered to the ancestors (meedi) before the family eats. Then the eldest member of the family hands a sickle to the head of the family and one of the women leads a procession to the paddy fields with a lit lamp in her hands. A gun is fired to mark the beginning of the harvest, with chanting of "Poli Poli Deva" (may the Gods grant bountious harvests) by all present. Then the symbolic harvesting of the crop begins. The paddy is cut and stacked and tied in sheaves that are then carried home to be offered to the gods. The sheaves are attached over the front door and the main lamp in the home to mark the generosity of the gods and attract a good harvest in the following season. The younger generation then lite fire crackers and revel, symbolising prosperity. Groups of youngsters visit neighboring houses to celebrate and are given monetary gifts. A week later, this money is pooled and the entire village celebrates a communal dinner. All family members gather for this meal. Dinner normally consists of meat dishes, such as pork, and mutton curry. Alcoholic beverages are also served at such feasts in Coorg. Religion Shrines and deities The Kodavas have a local trinity comprising the Kuladevi