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, 21 February 2027
- Friday, 10 March 2028
- Wednesday, 28 February 2029
Where Maasi Magam falls on the solar year, and how far the date moves between occurrences.
- 2027: 21 Feb
- 2028: 10 Mar, 18 days later
- 2029: 28 Feb, 11 days earlier
The dates, year by year
Tamil Nadu calendar, computed for Chennai
What the day is
Magam nakshatra in Maasi, when the deities of the coastal temples are taken to the sea or the tank for the theerthavari, the holy bath. Kumbakonam keeps the greatest of them at the Mahamaham tank every twelfth year, when Guru stands in Simha; in the other years the same rite is done in a smaller way at Thiruvarur, Thiruchendur and Mylapore.
- Deity
- Shiva, Vishnu, Amman
- Kind
- Festival Days of celebration: the house is decorated, a feast is cooked and the temple is visited.
Significance
Kumbakonam takes its name from the story told of this day: at the great flood the pot of amrita in which Brahma had kept the seeds of creation floated south and came to rest there, Shiva as a hunter broke it with an arrow, and the nectar that ran out filled the Mahamaham tank. The nine sacred rivers, burdened with what the bathers leave in them all year, are said to come to that tank on Maasi Magam to be washed clean themselves, and the nine river maidens have a shrine beside it. Another telling has Varuna, bound by a curse in the sea, freed by Shiva on this day, and asking that whoever bathes in the waters then be freed as he was. Magam is also the star of the Pitrus, so many families offer tarpanam after the bath.
How it is kept
The puja as a household does it, in order. Tick each step as it is done.
Maasi Magam: how it is kept
Keep ready
- a change of clothes and a towel
- coconut and flowers
- camphor
- black sesame and darbha for the tarpanam
- rice or clothes to give away
The steps
0 of 5 done
What is cooked
Nothing special is cooked for the day: a plain vegetarian meal after the bath, with whatever prasadam the temple gives on the shore.
The hour
Clock times for Sunday, 21 February 2027 at Chennai
Magam and the Pournami of Maasi together: the Pournami day on which Magam also runs, and failing that the day the star holds the sunrise, the second when the star is the day-star twice in the month (13 February and 12 March in 2025, kept on 12 March). The theerthavari is at the hour the temple announces, often at dawn.
The main rite. The Magam star at sunrise in Maasi, usually beside the full moon; the bath belongs to the theerthavari, the hour the temple announces for the deity's own dip, often at dawn.
| Instant | Time | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Sunrise | 06:29 | the udaya tithi, the tithi running as the sun comes up |
Sunrise 06:29, sunset 18:16, 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 Prathamai from previous day 08:00 until next day 02:04 | then Krishna Dwitiyai until next day 23:40 |
| Nakshatra | Magha until 13:51 | then Purva Phalguni until next day 11:55 |
| Rahu kaal | 16:48 to 18:16 (1 h 28 min) | the eighth of the daylight left alone for a beginning |
| Yamaganda | 12:23 to 13:51 (1 h 28 min) | the eighth ruled by Yama, also avoided |
| Gulika | 15:19 to 16:48 (1 h 28 min) | the eighth of Saturn’s son; what is done in it is said to repeat |
| Abhijit | 11:59 to 12:46 (0 h 47 min) | the midday muhurta, good for most things |
| Moonrise | 18:45 | moonset next day 07:16 |
For Sunday, 21 February 2027 at Chennai. A time marked "previous day" or "next day" is on the clock of that day.
The fast
No fast is prescribed. A bath in the sea or the tank on that day is the observance.
What is avoided
The bath is not hurried ahead of the theerthavari: families wait for the deity's astra to enter the water and bathe with it. Old clothes, plastic and puja waste are not left in the tank or the sea.
The name
The same day, in every language that has a word for it
Where the regions differ
A Tamil coastal day; Kerala keeps the Maasi festivals of Attukal and Arattupuzha in the same month, and the north does not mark the star.
In other regions
- Tamil Nadu (the dates above)
- Kumbakonam keeps the Mahamaham every twelfth year and a Maasi Magam bath every year at the same tank; the deities of the Puducherry temples come down to the sea at Vaithikuppam, and Mylapore, Thiruchendur and the other shore and river temples hold their own theerthavari.
- Kerala
- Kerala keeps the same star in Kumbham as the Makam Thozhal at Chottanikkara, when crowds of women come for the darshan of the goddess.
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.
- Chengalpattu, Tamil Nadu
The gazetteer line for this temple names the day. Masi Magam is its day.
- Adi Kumbeswarar Temple 255 kmKumbakonam, Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu
The entry for this day names Kumbakonam. The gazetteer line for this temple names the day. Kumbakonam keeps the greatest of them at the Mahamaham tank every twelfth year, when Guru stands in Simha
- Viluppuram, Tamil Nadu
The gazetteer line for this temple names the day. The Amman of the smasanam: the Mayana Kollai on the amavasai after Masi Magam is one of the fiercest nights in Tamil Nadu.
- Cuddalore, Tamil Nadu
The gazetteer line for this temple names the day. Masi Magam at the Nithya Pushkarini is its day.
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
Maasi Magam'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.