Festival Khandoba, Martanda Bhairava, Shiva
Champa Shashthi
The sixth day of the bright fortnight of Margashirsha, the last of the six days of the Khandoba navratra at Jejuri.
Champa Shashthi 2026 falls on Tuesday, 15 December, computed for Chennai.
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
Maharashtra calendar, computed for Chennai
- Tuesday, 15 December 2026
- Saturday, 4 December 2027
- Wednesday, 22 November 2028
Where Champa Shashthi falls on the solar year, and how far the date moves between occurrences.
- 2026: 15 Dec
- 2027: 4 Dec, 11 days earlier
- 2028: 22 Nov, 11 days earlier
The dates, year by year
Maharashtra calendar, computed for Chennai
What the day is
The sixth day of the bright fortnight of Margashirsha, the last of the six days of the Khandoba navratra at Jejuri. Khandoba, the Martanda Bhairava form of Shiva whom much of the Deccan keeps as a kuladaivat, is held to have killed the demons Mani and Malla on it, and bhandara, turmeric powder, is thrown until the hill and everyone on it is yellow. The six days' vow is given up at the temple.
- Deity
- Khandoba, Martanda Bhairava, Shiva
- Kind
- Festival Days of celebration: the house is decorated, a feast is cooked and the temple is visited.
Significance
Khandoba is the family god of a great many Marathi houses, farmer and warrior, Brahmin and Dhangar alike, and Champa Shashthi closes the six days of his navratra with his victory over the demons Mani and Malla. The bhandara, turmeric thrown by the handful, turns Jejuri gold, and a family that keeps him as kuladaivat tries to go there once in its life on this day. At home the tali is filled, a plate of the god's things raised and set down five times with the cry of his name. The name of the day is said to come from the champa flowers offered to him.
How it is kept
The puja as a household does it, in order. Tick each step as it is done.
Champa Shashthi: how it is kept
Keep ready
- bhandara, the turmeric
- bel leaves
- brinjal and bajra for the naivedya
- a lamp kept burning the six days
- the ghat set up at the start of the navratra
The steps
0 of 7 done
What is cooked
The naivedya is vangyache bharit, a roasted brinjal dish, with bajra or jowar bhakri, a leafy bhaji and onion, and the family eats it after the god has.
The hour
Clock times for Tuesday, 15 December 2026 at Chennai
Margashirsha shuddha Shashthi at sunrise; the naivedya is offered and the vow given up at the temple during the day.
The main rite. Margashirsha shuddha Shashthi at sunrise, the sixth day of the Khandoba navratra. The naivedya is offered and the vow given up during the day.
| Instant | Time | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Sunrise | 06:23 | the udaya tithi, the tithi running as the sun comes up |
Sunrise 06:23, sunset 17:45, 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 Shashti from previous day 19:17 until 21:20 | then Shukla Saptami until next day 22:46 |
| Nakshatra | Dhanishta until 11:53 | then Shatabhisha until next day 14:03 |
| Rahu kaal | 14:54 to 16:20 (1 h 25 min) | the eighth of the daylight left alone for a beginning |
| Yamaganda | 09:13 to 10:39 (1 h 25 min) | the eighth ruled by Yama, also avoided |
| Gulika | 12:04 to 13:29 (1 h 25 min) | the eighth of Saturn’s son; what is done in it is said to repeat |
| Abhijit | 11:41 to 12:27 (0 h 45 min) | the midday muhurta, good for most things |
| Moonrise | 10:53 | moonset 22:55 |
For Tuesday, 15 December 2026 at Chennai. A time marked "previous day" or "next day" is on the clock of that day.
The fast
Those keeping the navratra fast six days from the Pratipada on one meal a day, and break it on this day with the naivedya of brinjal bhaji, bajra bhakri and a patal bhaji.
What is avoided
Those keeping the navratra do not break the six days' vow early, and in many houses the brinjal is not eaten before this day in the season, since the first of it is offered to Khandoba.
The name
The same day, in every language that has a word for it
Where the regions differ
Maharashtra and northern Karnataka keep Khandoba at Jejuri, Pali and Nagar; the same deity is Mailara in Karnataka and Mallanna in Telangana, and the days kept for him differ from shrine to shrine.
In other regions
- Telugu
- Telangana keeps him as Mallanna at Komuravelli, with the Mallanna jatara in its own season.
- Kannada
- Northern Karnataka keeps the same god as Mailara, at Mylara and Devaragudda, on his own festival days.
- Maharashtra (the dates above)
- Maharashtra keeps Khandoba at Jejuri above all, and at Pali and Naldurg, with the bhandara thrown on the hill.
The dates above are the Maharashtra 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.
Where this day is kept
Nearest first from Chennai, with what is recorded about each.
- Khandoba Temple, Jejuri 873 kmPune, Maharashtra
The entry for this day names Jejuri. The gazetteer line for this temple names the day. The sixth day of the bright fortnight of Margashirsha, the last of the six days of the Khandoba navratra at Jejuri.
Temples of Martanda Bhairava and Shiva near you
Not recorded for this day in particular: the nearest temples of the day's own gods, for a reader whose own temple is not listed above.
- Chennai, Tamil Nadu · Kapaleeswarar and Karpagambal, with the peacock shrine
- Chennai, Tamil Nadu · Adipureeswarar and Vadivudai Amman with Thyagaraja
- Chennai, Tamil Nadu · Masilamaniswarar with Kodiyidai Nayaki
- Tiruvallur, Tamil Nadu · Vadaranyeswarar with Vandarkuzhali, and the Urdhva Tandava Nataraja
Your family's own temple comes first, and its calendar is the one that decides.
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A temple is listed here only where the gazetteer's own line names this day, or where this day's own entry names the town, or where the day belongs to the ancestors or the nagas and the temple is recorded for that rite. Where neither table says anything, nothing is listed as kept for the day; where fewer than three are, the nearest temples of the day's own gods are added under a heading of their own.
Mantras
The prayers said with the day. Each opens with its words and meaning.
Fixing a day for it
The muhurtham rules for a puja held alongside, whose day the family chooses
Champa Shashthi's own date is set by the rule in "The hour" above, and no muhurtham moves it. For a temple visit around it, whose day the family does choose, the finder below applies these rules.
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.
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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.