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
- Tuesday, 5 January 2027
- Sunday, 9 January 2028
- Friday, 12 January 2029
Where Pradosham falls on the solar year, and how far the date moves between occurrences.
- 2027: 5 Jan
- 2028: 9 Jan, 4 days later
- 2029: 12 Jan, 3 days later
The dates, year by year
Tamil Nadu calendar, computed for Chennai
What the day is
The Trayodasi evening, twice a lunar month, when Shiva is held to dance between the horns of Nandi. The abhishekam is done in the two and a half hours around sunset and the Nandi is worshipped first; Saturday's Pradosham, Sani Pradosham, draws the largest crowd, and Monday's is Soma Pradosham. It is kept in memory of the churning of the ocean, when Shiva held the poison in his throat.
- Deity
- Shiva, Nandi, Parvati
- Kind
- Vratam Days kept by a fast or a vow, most of them coming round every lunar month.
Significance
Pradosham is the hour when day turns to night, and the Siva temple is at its fullest then because the story places Siva's dance between Nandi's horns in exactly that hour, after he had held the poison in his throat and the gods came to praise him. That is why the Nandi is bathed before the lingam on this day, and why devotees look at the lingam through the space between Nandi's horns: Nandi is the one who sees Siva first, and the devotee sees through him. The round of the sanctum is also changed for the hour into the soma sutra pradakshinam, a crescent-shaped round that turns back at the somasutra, the spout that carries the abhishekam water away, because that water is never stepped across. Some keep Pradosham as a vow for a set number of fortnights, for an illness to lift or a hard year to end.
How it is kept
The puja as a household does it, in order. Tick each step as it is done.
Pradosham: how it is kept
Keep ready
- milk, curd and honey for the abhishekam
- bilva leaves
- white or yellow flowers
- vibhuti
- sandal paste
- a small ghee lamp and camphor
- a tender coconut if you can
The steps
0 of 8 done
What is cooked
The temple hands out prasadam after the procession, often sundal of chickpeas, sakkarai pongal or curd rice. At home the fast is broken at night with a light vegetarian meal, and those keeping the strict vow take only the milk and fruit of the offering.
The hour
Clock times for Tuesday, 5 January 2027 at Chennai
Pradosha kala, from about an hour and a half before sunset to about an hour after: the Trayodasi running at sunset is the day. The abhishekam is at dusk.
The main rite. The Trayodasi running through the pradosha kala at sunset fixes the day. At the temple the Nandi abhishekam begins before sunset and the deeparadhanai to the lingam comes as the light goes, with the procession after it.
| Instant | Time | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Sunset | 17:56 | the moment the sun goes down |
| Pradosha kala | 17:56 to 20:20 | the 2 h 24 min after sunset, the evening worship hour |
Sunrise 06:33, sunset 17:56, 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 | Krishna Trayodasi from previous day 18:16 until 20:40 | then Krishna Chaturdasi until next day 23:15 |
| Nakshatra | Jyeshtha until next day 03:07 | then Mula until 2 days later, 06:08 |
| Rahu kaal | 15:05 to 16:30 (1 h 25 min) | the eighth of the daylight left alone for a beginning |
| Yamaganda | 09:23 to 10:49 (1 h 25 min) | the eighth ruled by Yama, also avoided |
| Gulika | 12:14 to 13:40 (1 h 25 min) | the eighth of Saturn’s son; what is done in it is said to repeat |
| Abhijit | 11:51 to 12:37 (0 h 46 min) | the midday muhurta, good for most things |
| Moonrise | 04:23 | moonset 15:50 |
For Tuesday, 5 January 2027 at Chennai. A time marked "previous day" or "next day" is on the clock of that day.
The fast
A fast through the day, broken after the evening abhishekam; many take only fruit and water and eat at night. No rice until the puja is over.
What is avoided
No rice or cooked grain before the puja. At the temple nobody walks or stands between the Nandi and the lingam, and the somasutra where the abhishekam water flows is never crossed.
The name
The same day, in every language that has a word for it
Where the regions differ
Kept across the south at every Shiva temple. The north calls it Pradosh vrat and Shani Pradosh, with the same Trayodasi evening and the same fast.
In other regions
- Tamil Nadu (the dates above)
- Every Siva temple in Tamil Nadu keeps it, and the Nandi abhishekam at the Brihadeeswara temple in Thanjavur, with its great monolithic Nandi, is the sight people travel for; Sani Pradosham draws the largest crowds of all.
- Kerala
- Kerala keeps Pradosha vratham with a visit to the Siva temple at dusk, where the deeparadhana of the evening is the moment watched, and many hold the Saturday one the strongest.
- Telugu
- The Telugu country keeps Pradosham at Srisailam, Srikalahasti and the village Siva temples, and many households do a small abhishekam to the lingam at home in the pradosha hour.
- Kannada
- Karnataka calls it Pradosha and keeps it at Nanjangud, Gokarna and the local Ishwara temples, with an evening abhishekam in which the Nandi is given its share.
- Maharashtra
- Marathi panchangs print it as Pradosh, and Shani Pradosh on a Saturday; the Jyotirlingas of Maharashtra, Trimbakeshwar, Bhimashankar, Grishneshwar, Aundha Nagnath and Parli Vaijnath, keep the evening puja with large crowds.
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.
Where this day is kept
Nearest first from Chennai, with what is recorded about each.
- Tiruvallur, Tamil Nadu
The gazetteer line for this temple names the day. Visited through Sade sati and on Pradosham days.
Temples of Shiva and Parvati 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 · Kapaleeswarar and Karpagambal, with the peacock shrine
- Chennai, Tamil Nadu · Adipureeswarar and Vadivudai Amman with Thyagaraja
- Chennai, Tamil Nadu · Masilamaniswarar with Kodiyidai Nayaki
- Chennai, Tamil Nadu · Adi Kamakshi and Kamakshi, standing on the pancha agni penance
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.
Fixing a day for it
The muhurtham rules for a puja held alongside, whose day the family chooses
Pradosham'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.