Festival Murugan, Deivanai, Shiva, Parvati
Panguni Uthiram
Uthiram nakshatra in Panguni, when the full moon stands in Uthiram and the great marriages are celebrated: Murugan to Deivanai, Shiva to Parvati, Rama to Sita and Ranganatha to Andal.
Panguni Uthiram 2027 falls on Monday, 22 March, 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.
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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
- Monday, 22 March 2027
- Saturday, 8 April 2028
- Thursday, 29 March 2029
Where Panguni Uthiram falls on the solar year, and how far the date moves between occurrences.
- 2027: 22 Mar
- 2028: 8 Apr, 18 days later
- 2029: 29 Mar, 11 days earlier
The dates, year by year
Tamil Nadu calendar, computed for Chennai
What the day is
Uthiram nakshatra in Panguni, when the full moon stands in Uthiram and the great marriages are celebrated: Murugan to Deivanai, Shiva to Parvati, Rama to Sita and Ranganatha to Andal. Temples hold the thirukalyanam, and couples take their own vows to the temple on the day.
- Deity
- Murugan, Deivanai, Shiva, Parvati
- Kind
- Festival Days of celebration: the house is decorated, a feast is cooked and the temple is visited.
Significance
Uthiram is the star of weddings, and each great temple keeps its own divine marriage on it: at Srirangam it is the one day in the year Ranganatha sits beside Ranganayaki in the Serthi Sevai, at Srivilliputhur Andal is wedded to Rangamannar, at Mylapore the Panguni festival of Kapaleeswarar ends in his wedding, and at Thiruparankundram Murugan's marriage to Deivanai is kept. The day is also held to be the birth of Sastha, who is Ayyappa to Kerala and Aiyanar to the Tamil villages, and so it has become the great day of the kula deivam: families travel back to the shrine of the family deity to cook pongal, pay vows and give the children their first tonsure. Arjuna, called Phalguna for the star he was born under, and Mahalakshmi, said to have risen from the ocean of milk on it, are remembered too. Because it is a wedding day, the unmarried pray for a good match and couples for a long marriage.
How it is kept
The puja as a household does it, in order. Tick each step as it is done.
Panguni Uthiram: how it is kept
Keep ready
- rice flour for the kolam
- kuthuvilakku and ghee
- a picture of Murugan with Valli and Deivanai, or of Shiva and Parvati
- garlands of jasmine and red flowers
- raw rice, moong dal, jaggery and ghee for the pongal
- milk for the paal kudam
- betel leaves, areca nut, bananas and coconut
- turmeric thread (manjal kayiru) and kumkum
- camphor
- buttermilk for neer mor
- jaggery, dry ginger and cardamom for panakam
The steps
0 of 8 done
What is cooked
Sakkarai pongal and payasam at home, panchamirtham at the Murugan temples, and at the kula deivam shrine the pongal cooked in the open and shared, with a meat feast where the shrine's custom allows; neer mor and panakam along the roads. At Sabarimala the aravana payasam and appam are the prasadam of the festival.
The hour
Clock times for Monday, 22 March 2027 at Chennai
Uthiram and the Pournami of Panguni together: the Pournami day on which Uthiram also runs, and failing that the day the star holds the sunrise. The kalyanam is in the evening.
The main rite. The Uthiram star at sunrise in Panguni, beside the full moon; the thirukalyanam at the temples is in the evening.
| Instant | Time | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Sunrise | 06:12 | the udaya tithi, the tithi running as the sun comes up |
Sunrise 06:12, sunset 18:20, 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 18:22 until 16:14 | then Krishna Prathamai until next day 14:29 |
| Nakshatra | Uttara Phalguni until 20:46 | then Hasta until next day 19:50 |
| Rahu kaal | 07:43 to 09:14 (1 h 31 min) | the eighth of the daylight left alone for a beginning |
| Yamaganda | 10:45 to 12:16 (1 h 31 min) | the eighth ruled by Yama, also avoided |
| Gulika | 13:47 to 15:18 (1 h 31 min) | the eighth of Saturn’s son; what is done in it is said to repeat |
| Abhijit | 11:52 to 12:40 (0 h 49 min) | the midday muhurta, good for most things |
| Moonrise | 18:19 | moonset next day 06:30 |
For Monday, 22 March 2027 at Chennai. A time marked "previous day" or "next day" is on the clock of that day.
The fast
Murugan devotees keep a fast and carry kavadi or paal kudam; others eat one meal after the temple visit.
What is avoided
Those keeping the vratam eat no meat and take one meal, after the temple. It is a wedding day in every temple, so the house keeps free of quarrels and harsh words, and a vow made to the kula deivam is not put off to another year if it can be kept.
The name
The same day, in every language that has a word for it
Where the regions differ
Kept across Tamil Nadu and by Tamils abroad, at Palani, Thiruthani and Srirangam above all. Kerala keeps the same full moon as Panguni Uthram at the Ayyappa temples; the Telugu calendar does not mark it.
In other regions
- Tamil Nadu (the dates above)
- Kept across Tamil Nadu: Palani, Thiruthani and Thiruparankundram for Murugan, Srirangam for the Serthi Sevai, Srivilliputhur for Andal, Mylapore and Kanchipuram for Shiva's wedding, and in the south above all the Sastha and Aiyanar shrines of the kula deivam, when the roads fill with families going home to their villages.
- Kerala
- Kerala keeps Painkuni Uthram as the birthday of Ayyappa: Sabarimala opens for its ten-day festival, which ends with the arattu, the deity's holy bath, in the Pampa on this star.
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 பங்குனி உத்திர நல்வாழ்த்துக்கள்Iniya Panguni Uthira nalvazhthukkal
Where this day is kept
Nearest first from Chennai, with what is recorded about each.
- Tiruttani, Tiruvallur, Tamil Nadu
The entry for this day names Tiruttani, and it is a temple of Murugan. Kept across Tamil Nadu and by Tamils abroad, at Palani, Thiruthani and Srirangam above all.
- Vadapalani Andavar Temple 7.3 kmChennai, Tamil Nadu
The gazetteer line for this temple names the day. Thaipusam and Panguni Uthiram are its festivals
- Chennai, Tamil Nadu
The gazetteer line for this temple names the day. Panguni Uthiram and the Aadi festival are its days
- Tamil Nadu
The gazetteer line for this temple names the day. Panguni Uthiram is its festival
- Dindigul, Tamil Nadu
The entry for this day names Palani. The gazetteer line for this temple names the day. Kept across Tamil Nadu and by Tamils abroad, at Palani, Thiruthani and Srirangam above all.
- Mayiladuthurai, Tamil Nadu
The gazetteer line for this temple names the day. Panguni Uthiram is its day.
9 more temples in this gazetteer are recorded for the day. Find temples near you.
Your family's own temple comes first, and its calendar is the one that decides.
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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.
- Thiruppugazh (Arunagirinathar)
- Kanda Sashti Kavacham (opening)
- Swamiye Saranam Ayyappa
- Sarvamangala Mangalye
A name without a link is a long reading, read in full from the family’s own copy or at the place of worship; the library prints the shorter prayers.
Fixing a day for it
The muhurtham rules for a puja held alongside, whose day the family chooses
Panguni Uthiram'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.
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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.