Festival Gomatha, Pashupati
Goru Bihu
The cattle day that opens the seven days of Bohag Bihu, kept on the last day of the outgoing Assamese year.
Goru Bihu 2027 falls on Wednesday, 14 April, computed for Chennai.
- Calendar Assam
- Dates to 2036
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
Assam calendar, computed for Chennai
- Wednesday, 14 April 2027
- Thursday, 13 April 2028
- Saturday, 14 April 2029
Where Goru Bihu falls on the solar year, and how far the date moves between occurrences.
- 2027: 14 Apr
- 2028: 13 Apr, the same day of the year
- 2029: 14 Apr, the same day of the year
The dates, year by year
Assam calendar, computed for Chennai
What the day is
The cattle day that opens the seven days of Bohag Bihu, kept on the last day of the outgoing Assamese year. The cows and buffaloes are taken to the river, rubbed with black gram paste and turmeric and struck lightly with dighalati and makhiyati sprigs while a rhyme tells them to eat the herbs and grow strong and to leave the old year behind; their old ropes are burnt and new ones put on. In the evening they are brought back to a house swept clean and given pitha and a fresh halter.
- Deity
- Gomatha, Pashupati
- Kind
- Festival Days of celebration: the house is decorated, a feast is cooked and the temple is visited.
Significance
The cattle come first in Bohag Bihu because the whole year's rice rests on the bullock and the cow, and the new year is not begun until they have been thanked. The bath at the river with black gram and turmeric, and the rhyme that tells them to eat and grow strong, are a blessing a farmer gives to the animals he depends on. Burning the old ropes and tying new ones is the old year let go. For children it is the start of seven days of Bihu, of new clothes, songs and the gamosa given by the elders.
How it is kept
The puja as a household does it, in order. Tick each step as it is done.
Goru Bihu: how it is kept
Keep ready
- black gram and turmeric for the mah-halodhi
- dighloti and makhioti sprigs
- bottle gourd and brinjal
- new ropes for the cattle
- dry leaves and husk for the smudge fire
- pitha and fresh grass
The steps
0 of 7 done
What is cooked
The cattle are fed gourd, brinjal and pitha. The family eats chira, doi and gur, flattened rice with curd and jaggery, with til pitha and narikol laru, and in many houses a dish of many wild greens is cooked in the evening for health in the new year.
The hour
Clock times for Wednesday, 14 April 2027 at Chennai
The Mesha sankranti day, the last day of Sot, because the Assamese month begins the day after the ingress; the bathing is in the morning and the new rope is put on at dusk.
The main rite. The last day of Sot, the Mesha sankranti day, since the Assamese month begins the day after the ingress. The bathing is in the morning and the new ropes are tied at dusk.
| Instant | Time | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Sunset | 18:22 | the moment the sun goes down |
| Pradosha kala | 18:22 to 20:46 | the 2 h 24 min after sunset, the evening worship hour |
Sunrise 05:57, sunset 18:22, 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 Ashtami from previous day 17:29 until 15:24 | then Shukla Navami until next day 13:21 |
| Nakshatra | Punarvasu until 10:53 | then Pushya until next day 09:34 |
| Rahu kaal | 12:09 to 13:42 (1 h 33 min) | the eighth of the daylight left alone for a beginning |
| Yamaganda | 07:30 to 09:03 (1 h 33 min) | the eighth ruled by Yama, also avoided |
| Gulika | 10:36 to 12:09 (1 h 33 min) | the eighth of Saturn’s son; what is done in it is said to repeat |
| Abhijit | 11:45 to 12:34 (0 h 50 min) | the midday muhurta, not counted on a Wednesday |
| Moonrise | 12:23 | moonset next day 01:32 |
For Wednesday, 14 April 2027 at Chennai. A time marked "previous day" or "next day" is on the clock of that day.
The fast
No fast is kept. Pitha, laru and curd are made for the days that follow, and the cattle are fed first from them.
What is avoided
The cattle are not worked or beaten on the day, and the old ropes are not kept. The house is not left unswept for the cattle's return.
The name
The same day, in every language that has a word for it
Where the regions differ
Assam keeps the cattle on the first of its seven Bihu days; Tamil Nadu keeps Mattu Pongal and the Telugu country Kanuma on the same instinct at their own harvest in January instead.
In other regions
- Tamil Nadu
- Tamil Nadu thanks the cattle at Mattu Pongal in January instead.
- Telugu
- The Telugu country thanks them at Kanuma, the day after Sankranti.
- Assam (the dates above)
- Assam keeps the cattle on the first of its seven Bihu days, in every village along the Brahmaputra.
The dates above are the Assam 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
ৰঙালী বিহুৰ শুভেচ্ছাRongali Bihur xubhessa
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.