Observance Bhairava, Shiva
Kala Bhairava Ashtami
The eighth day of the dark fortnight, kept for Bhairava, the fierce form of Shiva who guards the temple and the directions and holds the keys of the shrine.
Kala Bhairava Ashtami 2027 falls on Friday, 29 January, 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
Tamil Nadu calendar, computed for Chennai
- Friday, 29 January 2027
- Wednesday, 19 January 2028
- Sunday, 7 January 2029
Where Kala Bhairava Ashtami falls on the solar year, and how far the date moves between occurrences.
- 2027: 29 Jan
- 2028: 19 Jan, 10 days earlier
- 2029: 7 Jan, 12 days earlier
The dates, year by year
Tamil Nadu calendar, computed for Chennai
What the day is
The eighth day of the dark fortnight, kept for Bhairava, the fierce form of Shiva who guards the temple and the directions and holds the keys of the shrine. The lamp is lit at the Bhairava shrine after dark, vadai malai and sesame rice are offered, and a dog, his vahana, is fed. The one in Margazhi is Kalabhairava Ashtami, the biggest of them.
- Deity
- Bhairava, Shiva
- Kind
- Observance Days marked, watched or begun, without a fast or a feast of their own.
Significance
Bhairava was born of Siva's anger at Brahma's pride: he took off Brahma's fifth head, and the skull stuck to his hand until he reached Kashi, where it fell, and he stayed on there as the kotwal, the guardian of the city. Every Siva temple keeps him the same way, in a shrine near the north-east corner, and in the Tamil temples he is the last deity worshipped at night. The waning Ashtami, theipirai Ashtami in Tamil, is his, and families keep it for protection: from enemies, from fear, from the losses of a hard Saturn period, and, before Swarna Akarshana Bhairava, from want. The dog at his side is why a dog is fed on the day.
How it is kept
The puja as a household does it, in order. Tick each step as it is done.
Kala Bhairava Ashtami: how it is kept
Keep ready
- sesame oil and a lamp
- urad dal vadai for the garland
- sesame rice
- dark cloth where the house keeps that custom
- food for the dogs
The steps
0 of 7 done
What is cooked
Vadai malai, a garland of urad dal vadai, is offered at the shrine with sesame rice and payasam, and those who keep the vow take one meal.
The hour
Clock times for Friday, 29 January 2027 at Chennai
The Krishna Ashtami at sunrise; the puja is after dark, since Bhairava is worshipped at night and the shrine is often opened last.
The main rite. The Krishna Ashtami at sunrise fixes the day; the Bhairava puja is after dark, or at the Rahu kalam of the day in the temples that keep that custom.
| Instant | Time | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Sunrise | 06:36 | the udaya tithi, the tithi running as the sun comes up |
Sunrise 06:36, sunset 18:08, 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 Ashtami from 04:03 until next day 04:59 | then Krishna Navami until 2 days later, 06:34 |
| Nakshatra | Swati until next day 01:55 | then Vishakha until 2 days later, 03:56 |
| Rahu kaal | 10:55 to 12:22 (1 h 27 min) | the eighth of the daylight left alone for a beginning |
| Yamaganda | 15:15 to 16:42 (1 h 27 min) | the eighth ruled by Yama, also avoided |
| Gulika | 08:02 to 09:29 (1 h 27 min) | the eighth of Saturn’s son; what is done in it is said to repeat |
| Abhijit | 11:59 to 12:45 (0 h 46 min) | the midday muhurta, good for most things |
| Moonrise | no moonrise this date | moonset 11:28 |
For Friday, 29 January 2027 at Chennai. A time marked "previous day" or "next day" is on the clock of that day.
The fast
Those who keep it take one meal and avoid rice at night. Vadai, sesame rice and a lamp of gingelly oil are the offering.
What is avoided
Dogs, the vahana of Bhairava, are never struck or driven off, least of all on this day. Those keeping the vow take no rice at night and no non-vegetarian food.
The name
The same day, in every language that has a word for it
Where the regions differ
Tamil Nadu and Kerala mark it monthly; Varanasi keeps Kaal Bhairav Ashtami in Margashirsha as the day of the city's guardian, and the north keeps it as Kalashtami.
In other regions
- Tamil Nadu (the dates above)
- Tamil Nadu calls it Theipirai Ashtami and lights the milagu deepam at the Bhairava shrine, a lamp of gingelly oil with a knot of pepper tied in cloth; the Vairavar temples of Chettinad and the Swarna Akarshana Bhairava shrines draw the largest crowds.
- Kerala
- Kerala honours the same guardian mostly as Kshetrapalan, whose shrine stands at the edge of many temples, and the Ashtami lamp is lit there.
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.
Where this day is kept
Nearest first from Chennai, with what is recorded about each.
- Uttar Pradesh
The entry for this day names Varanasi, and it is a temple of Bhairava. Varanasi keeps Kaal Bhairav Ashtami in Margashirsha as the day of the city's guardian, and the north keeps it as Kalashtami.
- Kaal Bhairav Temple, Varanasi 1,391 kmUttar Pradesh
The entry for this day names Varanasi, and it is a temple of Bhairava. Varanasi keeps Kaal Bhairav Ashtami in Margashirsha as the day of the city's guardian, and the north keeps it as Kalashtami.
Temples of 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
Kala Bhairava Ashtami'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.