Ayilyam · Ashlesha Observance Ashlesha nakshatra, the star of the nagas.
The name
The same day, written in each of the six scripts this app keeps
- English
- Ayilyam · Ashlesha
- தமிழ்
- ஆயில்யம்
- മലയാളം
- ആയില്യം
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.
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
Looking for the calendar this day belongs to
This day does not fall again in the next three years at this place. A few days are tied to the solar month rather than to the civil year, so a year can hold two of them or none.
What the day is
Ashlesha nakshatra, the star of the nagas. Milk, turmeric and sesame are poured at the naga stone under the peepal tree, and those with naga dosha or sarpa dosha in the horoscope keep the day; the Ayilyam of the month of Aadi and the one in Thai are the two kept hardest, and Mannarasala and Nagercoil fill on them.
- Deity
- Nagas, Subrahmanya
- Kind
- Observance Days marked, watched or begun, without a fast or a feast of their own.
The hour
The rule in words
The nakshatra running at sunrise; the offering at the naga stone is in the morning.
The fast
Those who keep it take one meal and avoid non-vegetarian food; milk, ghee and turmeric are poured on the naga stone.
Where the regions differ
Tamil Nadu and Kerala keep the monthly Ayilyam; the same instinct shows in Nag Panchami in the north and Nagula Chavithi in the Telugu country, which are annual rather than monthly.
Fixing a day for it
The muhurtham rules that go with this festival
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. 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.