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
- Friday, 12 February 2027
- Monday, 3 January 2028
- Sunday, 21 January 2029
Where Sashti viratham falls on the solar year, and how far the date moves between occurrences.
- 2027: 12 Feb
- 2028: 3 Jan, 40 days earlier
- 2029: 21 Jan, 18 days later
The dates, year by year
Tamil Nadu calendar, computed for Chennai
What the day is
The sixth day of the bright fortnight, kept monthly for Murugan. Devotees fast and go to one of the Arupadai Veedu or the local Murugan temple, recite the Kandha Sashti Kavacham and offer milk and panchamirtham. The one after Deepavali, in Aippasi, is the great Kandha Sashti of six days.
- Deity
- Murugan, Subrahmanya
- Kind
- Vratam Days kept by a fast or a vow, most of them coming round every lunar month.
Significance
Sashti is Murugan's tithi because it is the day of his victory: the war with Surapadman ended on a Sashti, and every bright sixth is kept as a small return of that victory, over whatever the family is fighting. It is also the vratam of couples waiting for a child, and the old Tamil saying about a pot and a ladle, chattiyil irundhal agappaiyil varum, is retold with a pun as sashtiyil irundhal agappaiyil varum: keep the Sashti and a child will come to the womb. The number six runs through the god himself, with six faces, six Krittika mothers and the six-syllable shadakshari mantra, and some keep the fast as a vow for a set number of months. For most families it is simply the monthly Murugan day, kept with a temple visit and the Kavacham.
How it is kept
The puja as a household does it, in order. Tick each step as it is done.
Sashti viratham: how it is kept
Keep ready
- a vel or a picture of Murugan
- red flowers and a garland
- vibhuti and kumkum
- milk for the abhishekam
- banana, jaggery, honey, ghee and cardamom for panchamirtham
- a lamp with ghee
- camphor
- the Kandha Sashti Kavacham
The steps
0 of 7 done
What is cooked
The offering is panchamirtham in the Palani way, of hill banana, jaggery, honey, ghee, cardamom and dates, or milk and fruit. Those who eat take one meal of rice without onion or garlic, often with a sakkarai pongal; in Kerala the fast is broken with the payasam or panchamritham of the Subrahmanya temple.
The hour
Clock times for Friday, 12 February 2027 at Chennai
The Shukla Sashti at sunrise; the temple visit and the abhishekam are in the morning or the evening.
The main rite. The Shukla Sashti at sunrise fixes the day. The temple abhishekam is in the morning or at the evening puja, and the fast is broken after the evening darshan, or on Saptami morning in the stricter homes.
| Instant | Time | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Sunrise | 06:33 | the udaya tithi, the tithi running as the sun comes up |
Sunrise 06:33, sunset 18:14, 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 Shashti from 03:19 until next day 03:00 | then Shukla Saptami until 2 days later, 02:07 |
| Nakshatra | Ashwini until next day 05:56 | then Bharani until 2 days later, 05:38 |
| Rahu kaal | 10:56 to 12:23 (1 h 28 min) | the eighth of the daylight left alone for a beginning |
| Yamaganda | 15:18 to 16:46 (1 h 28 min) | the eighth ruled by Yama, also avoided |
| Gulika | 08:00 to 09:28 (1 h 28 min) | the eighth of Saturn’s son; what is done in it is said to repeat |
| Abhijit | 12:00 to 12:47 (0 h 47 min) | the midday muhurta, good for most things |
| Moonrise | 09:59 | moonset 22:54 |
For Friday, 12 February 2027 at Chennai. A time marked "previous day" or "next day" is on the clock of that day.
The fast
One meal a day, usually after the temple visit; many keep it on fruit and milk. No non-vegetarian food on the day.
What is avoided
No meat, eggs, liquor, onion or garlic in the house, and those fasting take no rice until the evening. A vow taken for a set number of Sashtis is not broken midway.
The name
The same day, in every language that has a word for it
Where the regions differ
Tamil Nadu and Kerala keep the monthly Sashti; the Telugu and Kannada calendars mark only the annual Subrahmanya Shashti in Margashira.
In other regions
- Tamil Nadu (the dates above)
- Tamil Nadu keeps it at the six Arupadai Veedu, Tiruchendur, Palani, Swamimalai, Tiruparankundram, Tiruttani and Pazhamudircholai, and at every local Murugan temple, where women sit together to recite the Kavacham.
- Kerala
- Kerala keeps Shashti vratham for Subrahmanya, most of all at Haripad and Payyanur, and many mothers keep it monthly for their children.
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.
Temples of Murugan and Subrahmanya 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.
- Vadapalani Andavar Temple 7.3 kmChennai, Tamil Nadu · Murugan as Vadapalani Andavar
- Chennai, Tamil Nadu · Shanmuganathar (Murugan) on the hill
- Chengalpattu, Tamil Nadu · Kandaswamy (Murugan) of the battlefield
- Kancheepuram, Tamil Nadu · Subramanya Swamy with Valli and Deivanai
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.
- Kanda Sashti Kavacham (opening)
- Om Saravanabhava
- Thiruppugazh (Arunagirinathar)
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
Sashti viratham'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.