On October 25th 2011, the village Koovathupatti near Tirunelveli in Tamil Nadu celebrated the Mulaipari festival for their Amman temple.
The Mulaipari (Sprouting or Germination of Nine Grains or Navadhanyam) is a very important ritual which takes place at almost every celebration for a village Goddess. In its most original form, like here in Kuvathupatti, it is a ritual exclusively for women and it is of great importance for the whole village. The participants of the procession carry earthen pots or baskets with grown grains (nine different types of grains) on their heads. The original meaning of the ritual is a request to the village Goddess for rain for the fertility of the land in order to secure a rich harvest. But being a ritual for women, the Goddess shall also grant the fertility of women, thus ensuring the continuation of the human race. (cf. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aadi_Perukku )
The women of Koovathupatti walked three times around the temple with the Mulaipari pots on their heads, after that they made a procession through their village that ended in front of the Amman temple, where they put down their pots. There the women started a frantic dance, facing the Goddess. Already during the procession some women had gone into a trance, some others followed during this dance. Finally, the women, being no longer in a trance, danced in a circle around the Mulaipari pots.

List of the Navadhanyam (Vedic Nine Grains) with their corresponding planets and temples which are in the old undivided Tanjore District of Tamil Nadu:
Suriyan (Sun) – Wheat – Suryanar Koil
Chandiran (Moon) - Paddy – Thingalur
Chevvai (Mars) - Thuvarai (Toor) - Vaithiswarnkoil
Bhudhan (Mercury) - Greengram (Moong) - Tiruvenkadu
Guru( Jupitor) - Chana (Kadalai) - Alankudi
Sukiran (Venus) - White Rajma or Avari kai - Kanjanur
Sani(Saturn) - Black Sesame (Til) - Tirunallar
Rahu – Black gram (Ulundu or Urad) - Thirunageswarm
Kethu – Horse gram (Kollu) - Keezhaperumpalla http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090822100749AABtZWy
Have a full preview of my book (120 pages) in English: Christa Neuenhofer, AYYANAR AND MARIAMMAN, FOLK DEITIES IN SOUTH INDIA (see below) and in German: