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
- Saturday, 16 January 2027
- Sunday, 16 January 2028
- Monday, 15 January 2029
Where Mattu Pongal falls on the solar year, and how far the date moves between occurrences.
- 2027: 16 Jan
- 2028: 16 Jan, the same day of the year
- 2029: 15 Jan, 1 day earlier
The four days of Pongal
Part of the same festival, in order, in the Tamil Nadu calendar
- Bhogi …
- Pongal · Thai Pongal …
- Mattu Pongal(this page) …
- Kaanum Pongal …
The dates, year by year
Tamil Nadu calendar, computed for Chennai
What the day is
Thai 2, the day of the cattle. The bullocks and cows that pulled the plough are washed, their horns painted and tipped with brass, and garlands, bells and turmeric are put on them; pongal is fed to them first. The jallikattu of the southern districts is held on this day or the days about it.
- Deity
- Nandi, Pashupati
- Kind
- Festival Days of celebration: the house is decorated, a feast is cooked and the temple is visited.
Significance
The best-known story is Nandi's: Shiva sent his bull to tell people to bathe with oil every day and eat once a month, Nandi muddled it and told them to eat every day and bathe with oil once a month, and Shiva sent him down to pull the plough so that there would be food enough for so much eating. Whatever the story, the day repays a debt the Tamil farmer has always owed, since the paddy was ploughed, threshed and carted by the animals now being washed and garlanded. The name jallikattu comes from the salli kaasu, the coins once tied in a cloth to the bull's horns for whoever could take them. The Tamil Nadu government also keeps the day as Thiruvalluvar Day, in honour of the poet of the Thirukkural.
How it is kept
The puja as a household does it, in order. Tick each step as it is done.
Mattu Pongal: how it is kept
Keep ready
- turmeric and kumkum
- safe paints for the horns
- brass horn caps (kombu kuppi)
- new nose ropes and neck ropes
- bells and flower garlands
- a new clay pot, raw rice, jaggery and milk
- bananas and sugar cane
- agathi keerai
- neem or mango leaves
- turmeric and lime water for the aalam
- camphor
- plantain leaves
The steps
0 of 8 done
What is cooked
The cattle eat the sakkarai pongal first, with bananas, sugar cane and agathi keerai, and the family eats the same pongal after them. Many Tamil homes that eat meat keep the kari naal, the meat day, on this day or the next, with mutton or chicken kuzhambu, while others keep all four days vegetarian; traditions vary. The Telugu Kanuma is likewise the day of the festival's meat meal, and Sri Lanka's Patti Pongal cooks its pongal at the cattle pen.
The hour
Clock times for Saturday, 16 January 2027 at Chennai
The morning of Thai 2, after the cattle are bathed; the arati is done before they are let out.
The main rite. The morning of Thai 2, after the cattle have been bathed; the pongal is boiled and the arati done before the animals are let out.
This day's rule names no hour of its own: it is fixed by the tithi or the nakshatra running at sunrise. The rule above is the whole of it, and the day's own times are below.
The day itself
| What | When | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Tithi | Shukla Ashtami from previous day 14:14 until 13:44 | then Shukla Navami until next day 12:27 |
| Nakshatra | Ashwini until 23:39 | then Bharani until next day 22:43 |
| Rahu kaal | 09:27 to 10:53 (1 h 26 min) | the eighth of the daylight left alone for a beginning |
| Yamaganda | 13:44 to 15:10 (1 h 26 min) | the eighth ruled by Yama, also avoided |
| Gulika | 06:35 to 08:01 (1 h 26 min) | the eighth of Saturn’s son; what is done in it is said to repeat |
| Abhijit | 11:56 to 12:41 (0 h 46 min) | the midday muhurta, good for most things |
| Moonrise | 12:00 | moonset next day 01:00 |
For Saturday, 16 January 2027 at Chennai. A time marked "previous day" or "next day" is on the clock of that day.
The fast
No fast. The cattle are fed first, then the household eats the same pongal.
What is avoided
The cattle are not yoked, loaded or worked on this day. Only safe colours go on the horns, and no animal is struck, chased or teased at home; the bull sports are left to the licensed grounds and their rules.
The name
The same day, in every language that has a word for it
Where the regions differ
The Telugu country keeps the day after Sankranti as Kanuma, also for the cattle. Kerala has no separate cattle day, and the north keeps Makar Sankranti as one day.
In other regions
- Tamil Nadu (the dates above)
- Tamil Nadu keeps it in every farming village; the jallikattu of Madurai district, at Avaniyapuram, Palamedu and Alanganallur, runs through the Pongal days, the manju virattu of Sivaganga lets the bulls loose across the open fields, and the Kongu country holds its rekla cart races.
- Telugu
- The Telugu country keeps the same day as Kanuma, with the cattle bathed, painted and garlanded, bull races in the coastal districts, and a custom of not travelling so the family stays with its animals.
- Kannada
- Karnataka keeps its cattle day with the kicchu haisodu, leading the decorated animals across a bonfire of straw in the villages of the south of the state.
- Sri Lanka
- Sri Lanka's Tamils keep the day after Thai Pongal as Patti Pongal, cooking the pongal at the patti, the cattle pen, and garlanding the cows.
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.
Greeting
What is said to family and friends on the day
இனிய மாட்டுப் பொங்கல் நல்வாழ்த்துக்கள்Iniya Mattu Pongal nalvazhthukkal
Mantras
The prayers said with the day. Each opens with its words and meaning.
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.