avani avittam

The avani avittam ceremony  derives its name from the month and the star of the day the it is performed. Any brahmin can perform it, not palakkad or tamil pattar alone. The day depends on the vedic sakhaa he follows. If your friend is of the sakhaa rik or yajus followed by you, he can perform it along with you, This year rk and yajur avaniavittam falls on the same day.13th Aug. The idea of Avaniaviittam is to start a new session of study of Vedas.  other upavedas and shastras. Yajurvedis perform kamamanyu japa as a prayaschiththam (expiatory ritual) for not stopping learning of vedas the previous  year by the pournami in makaram.. Then brahma yajnam according to rk or yaur veda has to be perfromed. Then mahasankalpam and punya snaanam are performed. After this new yajnopaveetham is worn and the old one is discarded. After this we have Kandarishi tarpanam.. In temples and assemblies of brahmins in a samoohamadam, the banks of river  or such gatherings, kandarishi homam and pooja for Veda vyasa are also  performed. Then there is vedarambham.. At least a few sentences from the four vedas, itihasas, puranas, sutras, bhashyas, etc are recited. This is essentially avani avittam or upakarma. For the followers of samaveda, upakarma is done on the hasta nakshatrm in chingam.. For all brahmins of every sakha  it is a rule that 1008 gayatri manthras or homas with palasa samith 1008times with gayatri should be performed on the krishna paksh prathama of Sravana. So any brahmin who is entitled to gayathri and vedas is eligible to perform Upakarma. Of course brahmins at various geographical areas perform this adopting different thithis or nakshatras.