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
- Sunday, 17 January 2027
- Monday, 17 January 2028
- Tuesday, 16 January 2029
Where Kaanum Pongal falls on the solar year, and how far the date moves between occurrences.
- 2027: 17 Jan
- 2028: 17 Jan, the same day of the year
- 2029: 16 Jan, 1 day earlier
The four days of Pongal
Part of the same festival, in order, in the Tamil Nadu calendar
- Bhogi …
- Pongal · Thai Pongal …
- Mattu Pongal …
- Kaanum Pongal(this page) …
The dates, year by year
Tamil Nadu calendar, computed for Chennai
What the day is
Thai 3, the day of visiting: the family goes to the seashore, the river or a park with the leftovers of the feast, and married daughters come home. Sisters put out coloured rice on a turmeric leaf and pray for their brothers' well-being, which is the Tamil form of the brother and sister day the rest of India keeps after Deepavali.
- Deity
- Surya
- Kind
- Festival Days of celebration: the house is decorated, a feast is cooked and the temple is visited.
Significance
Kaanum means seeing, and the day is for seeing people: the relatives not met all year, the elders whose blessing is sought, and the married daughters who come home or are visited in theirs. In many homes, and in most Brahmin homes, the morning begins with the kanu pidi, the small balls of coloured rice the women set out for the crows with a prayer that their brothers and their families may prosper; traditions vary on whether this is done on this day or on the morning of Mattu Pongal. The brothers answer with the kanu seer, a gift to their sisters. Then the whole Tamil country goes out, to the Marina and the other beaches, the river banks and the parks, with packed rice, and the villages hold their games: the uriyadi, kabaddi and the kolam contest.
How it is kept
The puja as a household does it, in order. Tick each step as it is done.
Kaanum Pongal: how it is kept
Keep ready
- turmeric leaves from the pongal turmeric plant
- cooked rice
- turmeric powder
- slaked lime (sunnambu) for the red rice
- curd
- the leftover sakkarai pongal and ven pongal
- sugar cane pieces and bananas
- betel leaves and areca nut
- a vessel of turmeric water
- camphor
- gifts for the sisters and the young
- packed rice for the outing
The steps
0 of 7 done
What is cooked
The kanu pidi rice, turmeric rice, red rice, curd rice and the sweet and plain pongal of Thai 1, set out for the crows and then eaten by the family; for the outing, the kalandha sadam of lemon rice, tamarind rice and curd rice packed from home. In many homes that eat meat this is the kari naal, the meat day, with mutton or chicken kuzhambu; others keep it on Mattu Pongal instead.
The hour
Clock times for Sunday, 17 January 2027 at Chennai
The whole daylight of Thai 3; there is no puja hour to keep.
The main rite. The daylight of Thai 3; the kanu pidi is set out in the early morning, before the women eat, and there is no other puja hour.
This day's rule names no hour of its own: it is fixed by the tithi or the nakshatra running at sunrise. The rule above is the whole of it, and the day's own times are below.
The day itself
| What | When | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Tithi | Shukla Navami from previous day 13:44 until 12:27 | then Shukla Dasami until next day 10:28 |
| Nakshatra | Bharani until 22:43 | then Krittika until next day 21:06 |
| Rahu kaal | 16:37 to 18:02 (1 h 26 min) | the eighth of the daylight left alone for a beginning |
| Yamaganda | 12:19 to 13:45 (1 h 26 min) | the eighth ruled by Yama, also avoided |
| Gulika | 15:11 to 16:37 (1 h 26 min) | the eighth of Saturn’s son; what is done in it is said to repeat |
| Abhijit | 11:56 to 12:42 (0 h 46 min) | the midday muhurta, good for most things |
| Moonrise | 12:47 | moonset next day 01:59 |
For Sunday, 17 January 2027 at Chennai. A time marked "previous day" or "next day" is on the clock of that day.
The fast
No fast. The cooked rice of the previous days is eaten cold, and nothing new is cooked in some households.
What is avoided
In homes that keep the kanu pidi the women eat nothing until the rice has been set out for the birds. The beaches and river banks are left as they were found, and children are kept out of the sea, which is at its most crowded and most dangerous on this day.
The name
The same day, in every language that has a word for it
Where the regions differ
A Tamil day. The Telugu country has already kept Kanuma the day before, and the north keeps its brother and sister day as Bhai Dooj after Diwali.
In other regions
- Tamil Nadu (the dates above)
- A Tamil day, kept most visibly in Chennai, where the Marina, Elliot's Beach and Mamallapuram fill with families and the police close the sea to bathers; in the villages it is the day of the games, and in Madurai district the jallikattu at Alanganallur usually falls on it.
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
இனிய காணும் பொங்கல் நல்வாழ்த்துக்கள்Iniya Kaanum Pongal 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.