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
Maharashtra calendar, computed for Chennai
- Thursday, 14 October 2027
- Monday, 2 October 2028
- Sunday, 21 October 2029
Where Kojagiri Purnima 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
Maharashtra calendar, computed for Chennai
What the day is
The full moon of Ashwin, the brightest of the year, on which Lakshmi is held to walk the night asking ko jagarti, who is awake. Milk is boiled down with saffron, cardamom and dry fruit, set out in the moonlight and drunk at midnight while the household stays up playing and singing. The eldest child of the family is given an arati and honoured on the same night.
- Deity
- Lakshmi, Chandra
- Kind
- Festival Days of celebration: the house is decorated, a feast is cooked and the temple is visited.
Significance
The brightest moon of the year is held to pour amrit into anything set out beneath it, and the milk left in the moonlight is taken as a share of that. Lakshmi is said to walk the land asking who is awake, and blessing the houses where someone answers, which is why the family stays up together. The eldest child is honoured with an arati by the mother on the same night, a Marathi custom that thanks the first-born for being the first to make the house a family. The night is also the first cool one after the monsoon, and the elders say the saffron milk is simply good for the change of season.
How it is kept
The puja as a household does it, in order. Tick each step as it is done.
Kojagiri Purnima: how it is kept
Keep ready
- milk
- sugar, saffron and cardamom
- nutmeg and dry fruit
- a thin muslin cloth
- lotus or other flowers
- lamps
- an arati plate and a gift for the eldest child
The steps
0 of 8 done
What is cooked
Masala doodh, milk boiled down with saffron, cardamom and dry fruit, is the dish of the night, and is drunk at midnight. Many houses eat bhel, chivda or poha with it while they wait.
The hour
Clock times for Thursday, 14 October 2027 at Chennai
Ashwin Pournima running at nishita, true midnight, because the milk stands in the moonlight of that night; this puts it a day before the Pournima that holds the sunrise whenever the full moon begins in the evening.
The main rite. Ashwin Pournima as it runs at true midnight, since the milk is drunk under that night's moon. The puja is at dusk and the milk is taken at midnight.
| 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
No fast is prescribed. Many keep the day light and break it with the masala doodh at midnight.
What is avoided
No one sleeps before midnight if it can be helped. The milk is not drunk before it has stood under the moon and been offered.
The name
The same day, in every language that has a word for it
Where the regions differ
Bengal and Odisha keep the same night as Kojagari Lakshmi Puja with a full puja, the Hindi belt as Sharad Purnima with kheer in the moonlight, Braj as the night of the Maha Raas, and Nepal closes Dashain on it as Kojagrat Purnima.
In other regions
- North India
- The Hindi belt keeps it as Sharad Purnima, with kheer left in the moonlight, and Braj keeps it as the night of the Maha Raas.
- Maharashtra (the dates above)
- Maharashtra keeps the night with the masala doodh on the terraces and the aukshan of the eldest child.
- Bengal
- Bengal keeps the same full moon as Kojagari Lakshmi Puja, with a full puja at home, the alpana of Lakshmi's feet and the whole family awake.
- Nepal
- Nepal closes Dashain on it as Kojagrat Purnima, with Lakshmi worshipped and the night kept awake.
The dates above are the Maharashtra 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
कोजागिरी पौर्णिमेच्या हार्दिक शुभेच्छाKojagiri Paurnimechya hardik shubhechha
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.
Fixing a day for it
The muhurtham rules for a puja held alongside, whose day the family chooses
Kojagiri Purnima'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.