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
Bengal calendar, computed for Chennai
- Thursday, 14 October 2027
- Monday, 2 October 2028
- Sunday, 21 October 2029
Where Kojagari Lakshmi Puja falls on the solar year, and how far the date moves between occurrences.
- 2027: 14 Oct
- 2028: 2 Oct, 11 days earlier
- 2029: 21 Oct, 18 days later
The dates, year by year
Bengal calendar, computed for Chennai
What the day is
The full moon of Ashwin, four days after the Durga idols go into the river, when Lakshmi is worshipped in almost every Bengali house. An alpana of her small feet is drawn from the door inward, the lakshmir jhanpi and the dhaner chhara, ears of new paddy, are set before her, and the panchali is read aloud by the women of the house. The night is kept awake, because the goddess is said to walk it asking ko jagarti, who is awake.
- Deity
- Lakshmi, Chandra
- Kind
- Festival Days of celebration: the house is decorated, a feast is cooked and the temple is visited.
Significance
Coming four days after Durga leaves for Kailash, Kojagari brings one of her daughters back: the house that has just said goodbye to the mother turns at once to Lakshmi, and the empty days after Bijoya fill with the smell of naru being rolled. Lakshmi rides the owl, the pencha, and in Bengal an owl seen or heard on this night is taken as her visit, which is one reason the bird is never harmed. The Bengali Lakshmi is a household goddess before she is a goddess of wealth: she is worshipped every Thursday with the panchali, and she is held to stay only where the house is clean, the lamp lit at dusk and the family at peace, and to leave a house of quarrels and waste. Families of East Bengal descent keep Kojagari as the great Lakshmi Puja of the year, often on a painted clay sora, while many West Bengal families keep their main Lakshmi Puja on the Kali Puja night, though most keep this one too.
How it is kept
The puja as a household does it, in order. Tick each step as it is done.
Kojagari Lakshmi Puja: how it is kept
Keep ready
- rice paste for the alpana
- an image, a painted sora or the lakshmir jhanpi
- the dhaner chhara of new paddy
- cowries and a small mirror
- sindur, sandal paste, flowers and durba
- a ghee lamp and incense
- a conch
- the Lakshmi panchali
- banana leaves
The steps
0 of 8 done
What is cooked
The offering is uncooked in most houses: chirer moa and khoi er moa, narkel naru and til naru, murki, sliced fruit and a little cut sugarcane. Many East Bengal families also cook a khichuri bhog with labra, five fried vegetables and payesh.
The hour
Clock times for Thursday, 14 October 2027 at Chennai
Ashwin Purnima running at nishita, true midnight, because the puja is kept through the night; this can put it a day before the Purnima that holds the sunrise.
The main rite. Ashwin Purnima running at nishita, true midnight, since the puja belongs to the night and the night is kept awake; this can put it on the evening before the Purnima that holds the sunrise.
| Instant | Time | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Sunrise | 05:59 | the udaya tithi, the tithi running as the sun comes up |
| Nishita | 23:55 | true midnight, the midpoint of sunset and the next sunrise |
Sunrise 05:59, sunset 17:51, 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 Chaturdasi from previous day 17:49 until 18:50 | then Shukla Pournami until next day 19:17 |
| Nakshatra | Uttara Bhadrapada until 22:31 | then Revati until next day 23:30 |
| Rahu kaal | 13:24 to 14:53 (1 h 29 min) | the eighth of the daylight left alone for a beginning |
| Yamaganda | 05:59 to 07:28 (1 h 29 min) | the eighth ruled by Yama, also avoided |
| Gulika | 08:57 to 10:26 (1 h 29 min) | the eighth of Saturn’s son; what is done in it is said to repeat |
| Abhijit | 11:31 to 12:19 (0 h 47 min) | the midday muhurta, good for most things |
| Moonrise | 16:54 | moonset next day 05:31 |
For Thursday, 14 October 2027 at Chennai. A time marked "previous day" or "next day" is on the clock of that day.
The fast
The women who keep it fast through the day and eat after the puja. The offering is chirer moa, narkel naru, khoi and fruit, with no cooked rice in most houses.
What is avoided
In many Bengali houses the bell is not rung at a Lakshmi Puja, since she is held to love quiet, and the conch and the ulu take its place. Many households lend no money and let no rice or salt leave the house after dusk, and the house is not left dark or asleep before the puja is done.
The name
The same day, in every language that has a word for it
Where the regions differ
Bengal and Odisha keep the Ashwin Purnima this way; the Hindi belt keeps the same night as Sharad Purnima with kheer in the moonlight, Maharashtra as Kojagiri with masala milk, and Nepal as Kojagrat Purnima, the last day of Dashain.
In other regions
- North India
- The Hindi belt keeps the same night as Sharad Purnima, setting kheer out in the moonlight to take in the amrit of the brightest moon of the year.
- Maharashtra
- Maharashtra keeps it as Kojagiri Purnima, with saffron milk under the moon and an arati for the eldest child.
- Bengal (the dates above)
- Bengal keeps Kojagari in nearly every house, and Bangladesh on the same full moon; families of East Bengal descent keep it as the largest home puja of their year, many with the painted sora their grandparents brought across.
- Assam
- Assam keeps the same full moon as Lakshmi Puja in its homes, with the alpana, the fast and the night kept awake, and the Bengali families of the Barak Valley keep it as Kojagari.
- Nepal
- Nepal keeps it as Kojagrat Purnima, the last day of Dashain, with Lakshmi worshipped at night and the house kept awake.
The dates above are the Bengal 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
শুভ কোজাগরী লক্ষ্মীপূজাShubho Kojagari Lakshmipuja
Where this day is kept
Nearest first from Chennai, with what is recorded about each.
Temples of 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.
- Lakshmi Ashtottaram (the 108 names)
- Namaste’stu Mahamaye (Mahalakshmi Ashtakam)
- Sri Suktam (opening verses)
- Navagraha stotram: Chandra
A name without a link is a long reading, read in full from the family’s own copy or at the place of worship; the library prints the shorter prayers.
Fixing a day for it
The muhurtham rules for a puja held alongside, whose day the family chooses
Kojagari Lakshmi Puja's own date is set by the rule in "The hour" above, and no muhurtham moves it. For a satyanarayana puja around it, whose day the family does choose, the finder below applies these rules.
The Satyanarayana vratam and katha at home. Pournami is the day of the vratam and Ekadasi the next best; Kartika Pournami, Vaishakha Pournami and the Sankranti days are the ones most families choose. Thursday, the day of Guru, comes first among the weekdays, and Tuesday is the one usually passed over. The puja is done in the evening and the prasadam shared after the katha, so no lagna window is computed here.
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.