Festival Vishnu, Shakambhari, Ganga
Paush Purnima
The full moon of Pausha, the day the Magha kalpavas begins at Prayagraj: pilgrims move onto the sands at the Sangam and live there in tents for a month, bathing three times a day, eating once and hearing the recitations.
Paush Purnima 2027 falls on Friday, 22 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.
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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
North India calendar, computed for Chennai
- Friday, 22 January 2027
- Wednesday, 12 January 2028
- Saturday, 19 January 2030
Where Paush Purnima falls on the solar year, and how far the date moves between occurrences.
- 2027: 22 Jan
- 2028: 12 Jan, 10 days earlier
- 2030: 19 Jan, 7 days later
The dates, year by year
North India calendar, computed for Chennai
What the day is
The full moon of Pausha, the day the Magha kalpavas begins at Prayagraj: pilgrims move onto the sands at the Sangam and live there in tents for a month, bathing three times a day, eating once and hearing the recitations. It is a bathing day at Haridwar and Varanasi too, and the Shakambhari Purnima of the goddess of green food.
- Deity
- Vishnu, Shakambhari, Ganga
- Kind
- Festival Days of celebration: the house is decorated, a feast is cooked and the temple is visited.
Significance
The kalpavasi who arrives at the Sangam on this full moon has made a promise for a month: to sleep on straw on the ground, eat one simple meal a day, bathe three times in the cold river and spend the hours between in hearing the Puranas, and many sow barley beside the tent door to grow with the vow. The Magh snan, the month of dawn bathing, is counted from this day to the Magha Purnima, and those who cannot go to Prayagraj take its first bath in their own river or at home before sunrise. It is also the last day of the Shakambhari Navratri, for the goddess who, when a drought had lasted a hundred years, fed the starving world on the leaves, fruit and roots that grew from her own body; her temples at Saharanpur and at Sambhar in Rajasthan keep it as her jayanti. The moon usually stands in Pushya nakshatra that night, which gives the month its name, and many families keep the Satyanarayan katha as on any full moon.
How it is kept
The puja as a household does it, in order. Tick each step as it is done.
Paush Purnima: how it is kept
Keep ready
- Ganga water and black sesame
- a copper lota
- red flowers and rice
- tulsi leaves
- fresh vegetables, greens and fruit for Shakambhari
- panjiri, panchamrit and bananas for the katha
- grain, jaggery and blankets to give away
The steps
0 of 6 done
What is cooked
The Satyanarayan prasad of panjiri, panchamrit and bananas is shared, with khichdi or kheer made with sesame and jaggery for the cold; the Shakambhari temples offer and give out dishes of vegetables and greens, and the kalpavasi eats one plain meal cooked at the tent.
The hour
Clock times for Friday, 22 January 2027 at Chennai
Pausha Purnima at sunrise; the bath is at dawn, and the vows for the kalpavas are taken during the day.
The main rite. Pausha Purnima at sunrise, with the bath taken before sunrise; the kalpavas vows are taken at the Sangam during the day, and the Shakambhari puja is done in the morning.
| Instant | Time | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Sunrise | 06:36 | the udaya tithi, the tithi running as the sun comes up |
Sunrise 06:36, sunset 18:05, 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 21:31 until 17:47 | then Krishna Prathamai until next day 14:13 |
| Nakshatra | Punarvasu until 10:25 | then Pushya until next day 07:32 |
| Rahu kaal | 10:54 to 12:20 (1 h 26 min) | the eighth of the daylight left alone for a beginning |
| Yamaganda | 15:13 to 16:39 (1 h 26 min) | the eighth ruled by Yama, also avoided |
| Gulika | 08:02 to 09:28 (1 h 26 min) | the eighth of Saturn’s son; what is done in it is said to repeat |
| Abhijit | 11:57 to 12:43 (0 h 46 min) | the midday muhurta, good for most things |
| Moonrise | 18:03 | moonset next day 07:11 |
For Friday, 22 January 2027 at Chennai. A time marked "previous day" or "next day" is on the clock of that day.
The fast
Those beginning the kalpavas eat one meal a day for the month. Grain, blankets and sesame are given away on the day itself.
What is avoided
Those beginning the kalpavas or the Magh snan give up meat, onion and garlic, a second meal and a soft bed for the month. No one who comes asking on this bath day is sent away empty-handed.
The name
The same day, in every language that has a word for it
Where the regions differ
Prayagraj is the centre, and in a Kumbh or Magh Mela year this is one of the great bathing dates. The south marks the same full moon as Thai Pournami without the mela.
In other regions
- Tamil Nadu
- Tamil Nadu marks the full moon that falls in Thai as Thai Poosam, which in many years is this same night, since both take their name from the Pushya star.
- Kannada
- Karnataka keeps the same full moon as Banada Hunnime, the full moon of Banashankari, who is Shakambhari, with the chariot festival and the long fair at Badami.
- North India (the dates above)
- Prayagraj is the centre, where the Magh Mela holds one of its first great baths and the kalpavasis settle on the sands, and Haridwar and Varanasi fill for the dawn bath; the Shakambhari temples at Saharanpur and at Sambhar in Rajasthan keep her jayanti.
The dates above are the North India 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.
- Triveni Sangam, Prayagraj 1,383 kmUttar Pradesh
The entry for this day names Prayagraj, and it is a temple of Ganga. The full moon of Pausha, the day the Magha kalpavas begins at Prayagraj: pilgrims move onto the sands at the Sangam and live there in tents for a month, bathing three times a day, eating once and hearing the recitations.
- Uttar Pradesh
The entry for this day names Varanasi, and it is a temple of Ganga. It is a bathing day at Haridwar and Varanasi too, and the Shakambhari Purnima of the goddess of green food.
Temples of Vishnu 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 · Venkatakrishnan (Parthasarathy) with the arrow scars on his face
- Chennai, Tamil Nadu · The eight forms of Lakshmi in shrines on four floors, facing the sea
- Chennai, Tamil Nadu · Adhivyadhihara Bhaktha Anjaneyar, thirty-two feet tall from a single block of granite
- Chennai, Tamil Nadu · Neervanna Perumal below and Ranganathar on the hill, in four postures
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.
- Vishnu Sahasranamam: Vyasam Vasishtha Naptaram
- Surya gayatri
- Satyanarayana katha
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.
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.