Latitude, longitude and time zone 13.08, 80.27
Asia/Kolkata · UTC+5:30
The date of a festival depends on the place.
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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
Tamil Nadu calendar, computed for Chennai
- Tuesday, 17 August 2027
- Saturday, 5 August 2028
- Friday, 24 August 2029
Where Aavani Avittam · Upakarma falls on the solar year, and how far the date moves between occurrences.
- 2027: 17 Aug
- 2028: 5 Aug, 11 days earlier
- 2029: 24 Aug, 18 days later
The dates, year by year
Tamil Nadu calendar, computed for Chennai
What the day is
The day the sacred thread is changed and the year's study of the Veda is formally begun again. The Kamokarsheet japam, a rite of expiation, is done first, the old poonal is given up and a new one worn, and the Gayatri japam follows the next day. Yajur, Rig and Sama branches keep it on different days.
- Deity
- Brahma, Varuna, Gayatri
- Kind
- Festival Days of celebration: the house is decorated, a feast is cooked and the temple is visited.
Significance
Upakarma means the beginning: in the old order it was the day the students came back to the teacher at the start of the rains to take up the Veda again, the course being closed some months later with the utsarjanam. The new poonal renews the vow of the upanayanam, and the Kamokarsheet japam before it owns that the year's wrongs were done by desire and anger rather than by the self, so that the thread goes on clean. The rishis who first heard each part of the Veda are thanked by name in the kanda rishi tarpanam, and for Vaishnavas the same Pournami is Hayagriva Jayanti, the day the horse-faced form of Vishnu restored the Vedas. A man's first Aavani Avittam after his wedding, and a boy's first after his upanayanam, is the thalai Aavani Avittam, kept with new clothes and a feast, the new son-in-law at his wife's home.
How it is kept
The puja as a household does it, in order. Tick each step as it is done.
Aavani Avittam · Upakarma: how it is kept
Keep ready
- a new poonal, dipped in turmeric
- a new or washed veshti and angavastram
- darbha grass and a pavitram
- a panchapaathram and uddharani
- water and akshatai for the tarpanam
- vibhuti or namam
- betel leaves, fruit and dakshina for the vadhyar
- a new veshti for the vadhyar
The steps
0 of 8 done
What is cooked
The meal after the rite is a full Tamil saappadu on a banana leaf: ulundu vadai, pal payasam or paruppu payasam, sambar, rasam, kootu, poriyal and appalam, with a sweet such as boli or adhirasam for a thalai Aavani Avittam. Telugu homes cook pulihora and payasam for Jandhyala Pournami, the north shares the sweets sisters bring for Raksha Bandhan, and Nepal eats kwati, a soup of nine sprouted beans, on Janai Purnima.
The hour
Clock times for Tuesday, 17 August 2027 at Chennai
The morning of Shravana Pournami, before midday; the Gayatri japam is on the day after.
The main rite. The morning of the Aavani Pournami (Shravana Pournami) for the Yajurvedins, taken on the day the Pournami runs at sunrise. The japam, the new thread and the tarpanam are all finished before midday, and the Gayatri japam is done the next morning.
| Instant | Time | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Madhyahna | 12:13 | midday, the midpoint of sunrise and sunset |
Sunrise 05:57, sunset 18:29, UTC+5.5. These are the instants the rule is read at, not the temple's own puja times, which every temple prints for itself.
The day itself
| What | When | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Tithi | Shukla Pournami from previous day 10:29 until 12:59 | then Krishna Prathamai until next day 15:16 |
| Nakshatra | Dhanishta until next day 02:32 | then Shatabhisha until 2 days later, 05:15 |
| Rahu kaal | 15:21 to 16:55 (1 h 34 min) | the eighth of the daylight left alone for a beginning |
| Yamaganda | 09:05 to 10:39 (1 h 34 min) | the eighth ruled by Yama, also avoided |
| Gulika | 12:13 to 13:47 (1 h 34 min) | the eighth of Saturn’s son; what is done in it is said to repeat |
| Abhijit | 11:48 to 12:38 (0 h 50 min) | the midday muhurta, good for most things |
| Moonrise | 18:32 | moonset next day 06:32 |
For Tuesday, 17 August 2027 at Chennai. A time marked "previous day" or "next day" is on the clock of that day.
The fast
The men who change the thread fast until the rite is finished, usually to midday, and then eat a plain meal. No fish or meat on the day.
What is avoided
No meat, fish or eggs, and no food for the men before the new thread is on. The old poonal is not thrown away with the rubbish; it goes to water or to the foot of a tree.
The name
The same day, in every language that has a word for it
Where the regions differ
Yajurvedins keep it on Shravana Pournami, Rigvedins on Shravana nakshatra in Aavani and Samavedins in Purattasi, so one household can keep three dates. Telugu and Kannada families call the same day Jandhyala Pournami or Upakarma, and the north ties the rakhi on it.
In other regions
- Tamil Nadu (the dates above)
- Yajurvedins, the greater part of Tamil Brahmins, keep it on this Pournami, Rigvedins on the Thiruvonam star in Aavani and Samavedins on the Hastham star in Purattasi, so the calendar may show a day the family does not keep; the Vishwakarma and other Tamil communities that wear the poonal also change it on this day.
- Kerala
- Kerala keeps it as Avani Avittam among its Brahmin families, the Palakkad Iyers keeping it exactly as Tamil Nadu does.
- Telugu
- Andhra and Telangana call it Jandhyala Pournami, the full moon of the thread, and the same day is Rakhi Pournami, with sisters tying rakhis on their brothers.
- Kannada
- Karnataka keeps Upakarma on the same full moon, the thread changed at the mathas and temples, and the rakhi is tied as well.
- North India
- The north keeps the same full moon as Raksha Bandhan, the rakhi tied on the brother's wrist, and its Brahmins change the thread as Shravani Upakarma at the ghats.
- Maharashtra
- Maharashtra keeps it as Narali Pournima: the Koli fishing families offer a coconut to the sea to reopen the fishing season, and the Brahmins do the Shravani.
- Nepal
- Nepal keeps it as Janai Purnima: the janai is changed, a protective thread from the priest is tied on every wrist, and pilgrims climb to Gosaikunda.
The dates above are the Tamil Nadu reckoning, because that is the calendar this key belongs to. Switch the tradition on the calendar page to see how another one dates the same day.
Greeting
What is said to family and friends on the day
ஆவணி அவிட்ட நல்வாழ்த்துக்கள்Aavani Avitta nalvazhthukkal
Mantras
The prayers said with the day. Each opens with its words and meaning.
Every date here is computed from the Sun and Moon for the place entered, by the rule printed beside it.
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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.