Vratam Shiva
Masa Sivarathri
The monthly Shivaratri: the Chaturdasi of the dark fortnight, the night before every new moon, kept by the same rule as Maha Shivaratri in Magha but in a smaller way.
Masa Sivarathri 2027 falls on Tuesday, 5 January, 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.
Read more Show less
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
- Tuesday, 5 January 2027
- Monday, 24 January 2028
- Friday, 12 January 2029
Where Masa Sivarathri falls on the solar year, and how far the date moves between occurrences.
- 2027: 5 Jan
- 2028: 24 Jan, 19 days later
- 2029: 12 Jan, 12 days earlier
The dates, year by year
Tamil Nadu calendar, computed for Chennai
What the day is
The monthly Shivaratri: the Chaturdasi of the dark fortnight, the night before every new moon, kept by the same rule as Maha Shivaratri in Magha but in a smaller way. The lingam is given an abhishekam at night and the Panchakshara is recited; those who keep the great night often keep all twelve.
- Deity
- Shiva
- Kind
- Vratam Days kept by a fast or a vow, most of them coming round every lunar month.
Significance
The night before the new moon, when only a thin sliver of the moon is left, is kept for the god who wears the crescent in his hair, and the Tamil calendar marks every such night as a Sivarathri, of which the one in Maasi is only the greatest. Many who keep Maha Sivarathri keep all twelve monthly nights as a year's vow, so the monthly night is both a practice and a promise. In a Tamil temple its abhishekam comes late, near the ardhajama puja that closes the day, and the devotee who has come for it is among the last to leave the temple. Home is where most of it happens: a small lingam, a handful of bilva leaves and the Siva Puranam of Manikkavasagar are enough.
How it is kept
The puja as a household does it, in order. Tick each step as it is done.
Masa Sivarathri: how it is kept
Keep ready
- a small lingam, spatika, bana or stone
- bilva leaves
- milk, curd and honey
- a tender coconut
- vibhuti and sandal paste
- white flowers
- a ghee lamp and camphor
- a rudraksha mala
The steps
0 of 8 done
What is cooked
Tamil homes offer ven pongal or sakkarai pongal and fruit at the night puja and eat it when the fast is broken, and Kerala often offers aval with jaggery and banana. Telugu and Kannada homes make a simple payasam, and the strict take nothing but fruit and milk until sunrise.
The hour
Clock times for Tuesday, 5 January 2027 at Chennai
The Chaturdashi running at nishita, true midnight; the abhishekam is at night, in one watch rather than four.
The main rite. The Krishna Chaturdasi running at midnight, nishita, fixes the night. The abhishekam is done once, late in the evening or toward midnight, and the vow runs until the bath at the next sunrise.
| Instant | Time | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Nishita | 00:14 | true midnight, the midpoint of sunset and the next sunrise |
Sunrise 06:33, sunset 17:56, 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 Trayodasi from previous day 18:16 until 20:40 | then Krishna Chaturdasi until next day 23:15 |
| Nakshatra | Jyeshtha until next day 03:07 | then Mula until 2 days later, 06:08 |
| Rahu kaal | 15:05 to 16:30 (1 h 25 min) | the eighth of the daylight left alone for a beginning |
| Yamaganda | 09:23 to 10:49 (1 h 25 min) | the eighth ruled by Yama, also avoided |
| Gulika | 12:14 to 13:40 (1 h 25 min) | the eighth of Saturn’s son; what is done in it is said to repeat |
| Abhijit | 11:51 to 12:37 (0 h 46 min) | the midday muhurta, good for most things |
| Moonrise | 04:23 | moonset 15:50 |
For Tuesday, 5 January 2027 at Chennai. A time marked "previous day" or "next day" is on the clock of that day.
The fast
One meal, taken at night after the abhishekam, without rice for many; some keep it as a full fast until the next sunrise.
What is avoided
No rice for those keeping it and nothing non-vegetarian in the house. Thazhampoo, the ketaki flower, is never offered to Siva, since in the story it bore false witness for Brahma, and the night is not given to sleep or entertainment by those who have vowed to watch.
The name
The same day, in every language that has a word for it
Where the regions differ
Kept across the south and, as Masik Shivratri, across the north. The Magha one is the great one everywhere.
In other regions
- Tamil Nadu (the dates above)
- Tamil Nadu keeps Masa Sivarathri at every Siva temple with a late abhishekam, and Tiruvannamalai, Chidambaram and Thanjavur mark it with special pujas; the one in Maasi is Maha Sivarathri.
- Kerala
- Kerala calls it Masa Shivaratri and keeps it at the Siva temples, many families only with a visit at the evening deeparadhana and a meal without rice.
- Telugu
- The Telugu country keeps Masa Shivaratri at Srisailam and Srikalahasti, and many homes do a night abhishekam with the Rudram or the Panchakshari.
- Kannada
- Karnataka keeps Masa Shivaratri with a night abhishekam at home or at the Ishwara temple, and Nanjangud and Gokarna mark it with a special puja.
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.
Temples of Shiva 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 · Kapaleeswarar and Karpagambal, with the peacock shrine
- Chennai, Tamil Nadu · Adipureeswarar and Vadivudai Amman with Thyagaraja
- Chennai, Tamil Nadu · Masilamaniswarar with Kodiyidai Nayaki
- Tiruvallur, Tamil Nadu · Vadaranyeswarar with Vandarkuzhali, and the Urdhva Tandava Nataraja
Your family's own temple comes first, and its calendar is the one that decides.
Read more Show less
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
Masa Sivarathri'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.
Read more Show less
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.