Kandha Sashti · Soorasamharam Festival The sixth day after the Deepavali new moon, the last of the six days on which Murugan fought Surapadman.
The name
The same day, written in each of the six scripts this app keeps
- English
- Kandha Sashti · Soorasamharam
- தமிழ்
- கந்த சஷ்டி
Only the names actually in use are listed. A blank script is not an omission: the day may simply not be kept there, or be kept under a different festival's name.
UTC+5:30
The date of a festival depends on the place: 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
Looking for the calendar this day belongs to
This day does not fall again in the next three years at this place. A few days are tied to the solar month rather than to the civil year, so a year can hold two of them or none.
What the day is
The sixth day after the Deepavali new moon, the last of the six days on which Murugan fought Surapadman. At Tiruchendur the Soorasamharam is enacted on the shore on the sixth evening and the Thirukalyanam, Murugan's marriage to Deivanai, follows the next day. The Kandha Sashti Kavacham is recited through the six days.
- Deity
- Murugan, Deivanai
- Kind
- Festival Days of celebration: the house is decorated, a feast is cooked and the temple is visited.
The hour
The rule in words
Kartika Shukla Sashti running at sunset, because the Soorasamharam is enacted in the late afternoon and the evening; in 2025 the Sashti ran from 06:05 on 27 October to 08:00 on the 28th and the Soorasamharam was the 27th.
The fast
The strict form is six days of fasting from the day after Deepavali Amavasai: one meal a day, or only fruit and milk, with no rice at night. The fast is broken after the Soorasamharam.
Where the regions differ
A Tamil Murugan vratam, kept at Tiruchendur, Palani and Thiruthani. The Telugu and Kannada calendars keep the same tithi in Margashira as Subrahmanya Shashti instead.
Fixing a day for it
The muhurtham rules that go with this festival
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. 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.