Aani Thirumanjanam · Aani Uthiram Festival Uthiram nakshatra in Aani, the day of the great abhishekam to Nataraja at Chidambaram.
The name
The same day, written in each of the six scripts this app keeps
- English
- Aani Thirumanjanam · Aani Uthiram
- தமிழ்
- ஆனித் திருமஞ்சனம்
Only the names actually in use are listed. A blank script is not an omission: the day may simply not be kept there, or be kept under a different festival's name.
UTC+5:30
The date of a festival depends on the place: a tithi that ends at dusk in Chennai can still be running at dusk a thousand kilometres west, which moves the day. Sunrise and sunset here are computed for the place above.
When it falls next
Looking for the calendar this day belongs to
This day does not fall again in the next three years at this place. A few days are tied to the solar month rather than to the civil year, so a year can hold two of them or none.
What the day is
Uthiram nakshatra in Aani, the day of the great abhishekam to Nataraja at Chidambaram. It is one of the six festival days on which the Chidambaram Nataraja is bathed in public, and Shiva temples across Tamil Nadu repeat the rite.
- Deity
- Nataraja, Shiva
- Kind
- Festival Days of celebration: the house is decorated, a feast is cooked and the temple is visited.
The hour
The rule in words
Uthiram nakshatra at sunrise in Aani; the thirumanjanam itself is done in the small hours and again in the morning.
The fast
No fast is prescribed. Devotees take the theertham after the abhishekam and eat a plain vegetarian meal.
Where the regions differ
A Tamil Saiva day, strongest at Chidambaram; the other traditions do not keep it.
Fixing a day for it
The muhurtham rules that go with this festival
A temple visit, or the first darshan at a new temple. No weekday is ruled out: Tuesday belongs to Murugan and the Amman, Saturday to Perumal and Sani, so the day usually follows the deity rather than the almanac. Ashtami and Chaturdasi are the two tithis held back for darshan, with the standing exceptions of Sivaratri on Krishna Chaturdasi and Kala Bhairava Ashtami, which are kept on those very days. Rahu kaal, Yamaganda and Gulika kaal are not scored here; the panchangam page prints them for the day you pick, and most families simply wait them out.
Every date here is computed from the Sun and Moon for the place entered, by the rule printed beside it. A printed panchangam can differ by a day where an almanac reads a tithi at a different instant, and a family's own custom always comes first. Where the practice genuinely varies, the text says so rather than choosing for you.