Mahalaya Amavasai Festival The new moon that closes Pitru Paksha, on which shraddha is offered to every ancestor, and above all to those whose day of death is not known or who were missed during the fortnight.
Mahalaya Amavasai 2027 falls on Wednesday, 29 September, 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: 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
- Wednesday, 29 September 2027
- Monday, 18 September 2028
- Sunday, 7 October 2029
Where Mahalaya Amavasai falls on the solar year, and how far the date moves between occurrences.
- 2027: 29 Sep
- 2028: 18 Sep
- 2029: 7 Oct
The dates, year by year
Tamil Nadu calendar, computed for Chennai
| Year | Mahalaya Amavasai |
|---|---|
| 2025 | Sunday, 21 September 2025 |
| 2026 | Saturday, 10 October 2026 |
| 2027 | Wednesday, 29 September 2027 |
| 2028 | Monday, 18 September 2028 |
| 2029 | Sunday, 7 October 2029 |
| 2030 | Friday, 27 September 2030 |
| 2031 | Wednesday, 15 October 2031 |
| 2032 | Monday, 4 October 2032 |
| 2033 | Friday, 23 September 2033 |
| 2034 | Wednesday, 11 October 2034 |
| 2035 | Monday, 1 October 2035 |
| 2036 | Friday, 19 September 2036 |
Worked out for Chennai, Lahiri ayanamsa. A date is a function of the place: set yours above and the next three come back for where you are.
What the day is
The new moon that closes Pitru Paksha, on which shraddha is offered to every ancestor, and above all to those whose day of death is not known or who were missed during the fortnight. Gaya, Prayagraj, Haridwar and Nashik fill with families doing the pind daan; in Bengal the Mahalaya dawn broadcast of the Chandi opens the Durga Puja season.
- Deity
- Pitrus, Yama, Durga
- Kind
- Festival Days of celebration: the house is decorated, a feast is cooked and the temple is visited.
The hour
Clock times for Wednesday, 29 September 2027 at Chennai
The Amavasai of Purattasi read over the aparahna, the afternoon the tarpanam belongs to, which is how the Tamil almanac reads all three of its amavasai days; the first when the solar month holds two.
| Instant | Time | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Aparahna | 13:12 | the afternoon, three fifths of the daylight after sunrise |
Sunrise 05:58, sunset 18:00, 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 fast
The one who offers it fasts until the rite is over, then eats one plain meal. Food is set out for the crow, the cow, the dog and the guest before anyone eats.
The name
The same day, in every language that has a word for it
- English
- Mahalaya Amavasai
- தமிழ்
- மகாளய அமாவாசை
- हिन्दी
- सर्व पितृ अमावस्या · महालय
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.
Where the regions differ
The whole country keeps this new moon, under the names Sarva Pitru Amavasya, Mahalaya Amavasya and Mahalaya Amavasai. Kerala's largest bali day is Karkidaka Vavu two months earlier instead. Tamil Nadu keeps three amavasais for the ancestors and this is the greatest of them, with Aadi Amavasai and Thai Amavasai: the son of the house offers water and sesame facing south, at the sea, a river or a tank, and Rameswaram and the Kaveri ghats fill from before dawn.
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.
- Kollumangudi, Mayiladuthurai, Tamil Nadu
This day is kept for Pitrus, and the gazetteer keeps this temple for Pitru and ancestors. Visited where a family quarrel or a father’s displeasure is read into the chart, and on amavasai for the ancestors.
- Tamil Nadu
This day is kept for Pitrus, and the gazetteer keeps this temple for Pitru and ancestors. Tula snanam through Aippasi, when lakhs bathe at the ghats, and amavasai tarpanam are what most come for.
- Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu
This day is kept for Pitrus, and the gazetteer keeps this temple for Pitru and ancestors. Amavasai tarpanam and Maha Sivaratri are its days
- Nagapattinam, Tamil Nadu
This day is kept for Pitrus, and the gazetteer keeps this temple for Pitru and ancestors. Amavasai and Aadi Amavasai tarpanam on the nearby shore are what most come for.
- Erode, Tamil Nadu
This day is kept for Pitrus, and the gazetteer keeps this temple for Pitru and ancestors. Maha Sivaratri and amavasai tarpanam are its days.
- Jaffna, Northern Province, Sri Lanka
This day is kept for Pitrus, and the gazetteer keeps this temple for Pitru and ancestors. Aadi Amavasai tarpanam at Keerimalai is the largest ancestor rite in the north of the island.
26 more temples in this gazetteer are recorded for the day. Find temples near you.
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. Your family's own temple comes first, and its calendar is the one that decides.
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.