Observance Ganapathi, Lakshmi
Chingam 1 · Kollavarsham begins
The first day of Chingam and of the Malayalam year, counted in the Kollam era, which is the Common Era year less 824 from this day.
Chingam 1 · Kollavarsham begins 2027 falls on Wednesday, 18 August, 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
Kerala calendar, computed for Chennai
- Wednesday, 18 August 2027
- Thursday, 17 August 2028
- Friday, 17 August 2029
Where Chingam 1 · Kollavarsham begins falls on the solar year, and how far the date moves between occurrences.
- 2027: 18 Aug
- 2028: 17 Aug, the same day of the year
- 2029: 17 Aug, 1 day earlier
The dates, year by year
Kerala calendar, computed for Chennai
What the day is
The first day of Chingam and of the Malayalam year, counted in the Kollam era, which is the Common Era year less 824 from this day. It is also Karshaka Dinam, the farmers' day, and the first harvest of the year is brought in; businesses in Kerala open their new account books on it.
- Deity
- Ganapathi, Lakshmi
- Kind
- Observance Days marked, watched or begun, without a fast or a feast of their own.
Significance
Chingam follows Karkidakam, the month of rain and want, and its old name, ponnin Chingam, golden Chingam, is the relief of a household whose paddy has come in. The Kollam era is usually traced to the founding or the refounding of Kollam as a port in the ninth century, though historians do not agree on which event it marks. North Malabar once began the year a month later, in Kanni, and older documents there are dated that way. Weddings, housewarmings and new ventures, put off through Karkidakam, come back with the new year, and Onam is never far away: Atham, the first day of the pookkalam, falls in this month.
How it is kept
The puja as a household does it, in order. Tick each step as it is done.
Chingam 1 · Kollavarsham begins: how it is kept
Keep ready
- the new paddy
- a lamp and oil
- the Kollam era almanac
- the mirror and the kani vessel
- coins for the kaineettam
The steps
0 of 7 done
What is cooked
Many houses cook the new rice as a payasam for the household shrine; there is no fixed dish.
The hour
Clock times for Wednesday, 18 August 2027 at Chennai
The first day of the Malayalam solar month Chingam, which begins on the day the Sun enters Simha before aparahna, otherwise the day after.
The main rite. The first sunrise of Chingam, on the day the Sun enters Simha before aparahna, otherwise the day after. The lamp is lit and the temple visited in the morning, and the new account books are opened at the hour the family's almanac gives.
| Instant | Time | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Aparahna | 13:28 | the afternoon, three fifths of the daylight after sunrise |
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 | Krishna Prathamai from previous day 12:59 until 15:16 | then Krishna Dwitiyai until next day 17:16 |
| Nakshatra | Shatabhisha until next day 05:15 | then Purva Bhadrapada until 2 days later, 07:39 |
| Rahu kaal | 12:13 to 13:47 (1 h 34 min) | the eighth of the daylight left alone for a beginning |
| Yamaganda | 07:31 to 09:05 (1 h 34 min) | the eighth ruled by Yama, also avoided |
| Gulika | 10:39 to 12:13 (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, not counted on a Wednesday |
| Moonrise | 19:07 | moonset next day 07:18 |
| Sankramana | previous day 14:14 | the instant the sidereal Sun enters the sign, for this place’s clock |
| Punya kala | 05:57 to 12:21 | the ingress fell in the night, so the 16 ghatis are kept from this sunrise; almanacs narrow it by sign |
For Wednesday, 18 August 2027 at Chennai. A time marked "previous day" or "next day" is on the clock of that day.
The fast
No fast is kept. The first rice of the harvest is cooked and offered at the household shrine.
What is avoided
No fast is kept. The day is not begun with a quarrel, a loan or anything thrown away, since the old belief is that the year follows the way its first day goes.
The name
The same day, in every language that has a word for it
Where the regions differ
A Kerala reckoning; Tamil Nadu counts its year from Chithirai and the lunar calendars from Ugadi, so four new years fall in four different months across the south.
In other regions
- Kerala (the dates above)
- Kerala's own new year, marked by the state as Karshaka Dinam with honours for farmers and kept by Malayali families wherever they live. Sabarimala and the other great temples open for the month on this day.
The dates above are the Kerala 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
പുതുവത്സരാശംസകൾPuthuvatsarashamsakal
Where this day is kept
Nearest first from Chennai, with what is recorded about each.
- Ernakulam, Kerala
The gazetteer line for this temple names the day. The ten-day Onam Utsavam in Chingam is its season.
Temples of Ganapathi and Lakshmi 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 · Venkatakrishnan (Parthasarathy) with the arrow scars on his face
- Chennai, Tamil Nadu · The eight forms of Lakshmi in shrines on four floors, facing the sea
- Chennai, Tamil Nadu · Adhivyadhihara Bhaktha Anjaneyar, thirty-two feet tall from a single block of granite
- Chennai, Tamil Nadu · Neervanna Perumal below and Ranganathar on the hill, in four postures
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.
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.