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
Maharashtra calendar, computed for Chennai
- Tuesday, 17 August 2027
- Saturday, 5 August 2028
- Friday, 24 August 2029
Where Narali Purnima falls on the solar year, and how far the date moves between occurrences.
- 2027: 17 Aug
- 2028: 5 Aug, 11 days earlier
- 2029: 24 Aug, 18 days later
The dates, year by year
Maharashtra calendar, computed for Chennai
What the day is
The full moon of Shravan on the Konkan coast, when a coconut is given to the sea and the fishing season opens again after the monsoon. The boats are repainted and garlanded, the first coconut is thrown into the water with a prayer to Varuna for a quiet sea and a full net, and narali bhat, a sweet rice of coconut and jaggery, is cooked at home. The rakhi is tied on the same day.
- Deity
- Varuna, Samudra
- Kind
- Festival Days of celebration: the house is decorated, a feast is cooked and the temple is visited.
Significance
For the koli fishing families the monsoon months are the closed season, when the sea is too rough and the fish are breeding, and Narali Purnima is the day the sea is asked to take the boats back. The coconut is given because it is the most complete offering a coast has, with water, flesh and shell in one. The rite is also a thanksgiving for the lives the sea did not take the year before. Inland families keep the same full moon as Raksha Bandhan, so in a coastal town the sister's rakhi and the fisherman's coconut are the same morning.
How it is kept
The puja as a household does it, in order. Tick each step as it is done.
Narali Purnima: how it is kept
Keep ready
- whole coconuts
- gold or silver foil for the sea coconut
- haldi-kunku
- flowers and garlands
- rice
- a lamp and incense
- new flags for the boat
- rakhis
The steps
0 of 7 done
What is cooked
Narali bhat is the dish of the day: rice cooked with fresh coconut, jaggery, cloves, cardamom and saffron. Coconut karanji and coconut barfi are made alongside, and the koli houses keep the day vegetarian.
The hour
Clock times for Tuesday, 17 August 2027 at Chennai
Shravan Pournima at sunrise; the coconut is offered at the shore in the morning, when the tide serves.
The main rite. Shravan Pournima at sunrise. The coconut is given to the sea in the morning or the afternoon, when the tide serves.
| Instant | Time | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Sunrise | 05:57 | the udaya tithi, the tithi running as the sun comes up |
Sunrise 05:57, sunset 18:29, 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 | Shukla Pournami from previous day 10:29 until 12:59 | then Krishna Prathamai until next day 15:16 |
| Nakshatra | Dhanishta until next day 02:32 | then Shatabhisha until 2 days later, 05:15 |
| Rahu kaal | 15:21 to 16:55 (1 h 34 min) | the eighth of the daylight left alone for a beginning |
| Yamaganda | 09:05 to 10:39 (1 h 34 min) | the eighth ruled by Yama, also avoided |
| Gulika | 12:13 to 13:47 (1 h 34 min) | the eighth of Saturn’s son; what is done in it is said to repeat |
| Abhijit | 11:48 to 12:38 (0 h 50 min) | the midday muhurta, good for most things |
| Moonrise | 18:32 | moonset next day 06:32 |
For Tuesday, 17 August 2027 at Chennai. A time marked "previous day" or "next day" is on the clock of that day.
The fast
No fast is kept. Narali bhat and the coconut sweets of the season are the food of the day.
What is avoided
No boat goes out to fish until the coconut has been given. The coconut is not broken or thrown carelessly; it is offered whole and with both hands.
The name
The same day, in every language that has a word for it
Where the regions differ
The koli villages of the Konkan and of Mumbai keep the sea offering, and coastal Andhra keeps the same full moon the same way; inland Maharashtra keeps it only as Raksha Bandhan. The Upakarma of the southern and Deccan households falls on this full moon too.
In other regions
- Telugu
- The fishing villages of coastal Andhra make the same offering to the sea on the full moon before the season opens.
- North India
- The north keeps the same full moon as Raksha Bandhan.
- Maharashtra (the dates above)
- The koli villages of the Konkan and of Mumbai, at Worli, Versova and Sassoon Dock, keep the sea offering; inland Maharashtra keeps the day only as Raksha Bandhan.
- Nepal
- Nepal keeps it as Janai Purnima, with the sacred thread changed and the doro tied.
The dates above are the Maharashtra 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
नारळी पौर्णिमेच्या हार्दिक शुभेच्छाNarali Paurnimechya hardik shubhechha
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.