Festival Subrahmanya, Murugan, Nagas
Subrahmanya Shashti · Skanda Shashti
The sixth day of the bright fortnight of Margashira, kept as the day Subrahmanya defeated Tarakasura and as the great festival of Kukke Subrahmanya in Karnataka and of the Telugu naga temples.
Subrahmanya Shashti · Skanda Shashti 2026 falls on Tuesday, 15 December, 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
Telugu calendar, computed for Chennai
- Tuesday, 15 December 2026
- Saturday, 4 December 2027
- Wednesday, 22 November 2028
Where Subrahmanya Shashti · Skanda Shashti falls on the solar year, and how far the date moves between occurrences.
- 2026: 15 Dec
- 2027: 4 Dec, 11 days earlier
- 2028: 22 Nov, 11 days earlier
The dates, year by year
Telugu calendar, computed for Chennai
What the day is
The sixth day of the bright fortnight of Margashira, kept as the day Subrahmanya defeated Tarakasura and as the great festival of Kukke Subrahmanya in Karnataka and of the Telugu naga temples. The naga and Subrahmanya are worshipped together, since the serpent is his form.
- Deity
- Subrahmanya, Murugan, Nagas
- Kind
- Festival Days of celebration: the house is decorated, a feast is cooked and the temple is visited.
Significance
In the Kannada telling the naga and the god are one because of Kukke: Vasuki, the king of the serpents, fled from Garuda and did penance there, and Subrahmanya took him under his protection and stays with him still, which is why the temple in the Western Ghats is the great place for the rites of sarpa dosha. The Shashti of Margashira is Champa Shashti at Kukke, when the temple chariots are drawn before pilgrims from across the south, and at Ghati Subramanya near Doddaballapur the hillside fills with the naga stones of couples who have prayed there for children. In the Telugu villages he is Subbarayudu and the day is Subbaraya Shashti, kept at Mopidevi, Biccavolu and the anthill shrines, where childlessness, skin trouble and eye trouble are laid before the naga.
How it is kept
The puja as a household does it, in order. Tick each step as it is done.
Subrahmanya Shashti · Skanda Shashti: how it is kept
Keep ready
- milk
- turmeric and kumkum
- flowers
- bananas
- tambittu or chalimidi
- a lamp and camphor
- the Subrahmanya Bhujangam
The steps
0 of 7 done
What is cooked
Karnataka offers tambittu, balls of roasted rice flour, jaggery and sesame, with milk and bananas, and cooks a simple meal of chitranna, kosambari and payasa after the fast. Telugu homes offer chalimidi, vadapappu and panakam, and eat pulihora and payasam; at Kukke the pilgrims are fed the temple's own meal.
The hour
Clock times for Tuesday, 15 December 2026 at Chennai
Margashira Shukla Shashti at sunrise; the abhishekam is in the morning and the procession in the evening.
The main rite. Margashira Shukla Shashti at sunrise. The milk abhishekam at the naga stone or the temple is in the morning, and the chariot or the procession in the evening.
| Instant | Time | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Sunrise | 06:23 | the udaya tithi, the tithi running as the sun comes up |
Sunrise 06:23, sunset 17:45, 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 previous day 19:17 until 21:20 | then Shukla Saptami until next day 22:46 |
| Nakshatra | Dhanishta until 11:53 | then Shatabhisha until next day 14:03 |
| Rahu kaal | 14:54 to 16:20 (1 h 25 min) | the eighth of the daylight left alone for a beginning |
| Yamaganda | 09:13 to 10:39 (1 h 25 min) | the eighth ruled by Yama, also avoided |
| Gulika | 12:04 to 13:29 (1 h 25 min) | the eighth of Saturn’s son; what is done in it is said to repeat |
| Abhijit | 11:41 to 12:27 (0 h 45 min) | the midday muhurta, good for most things |
| Moonrise | 10:53 | moonset 22:55 |
For Tuesday, 15 December 2026 at Chennai. A time marked "previous day" or "next day" is on the clock of that day.
The fast
Devotees keep a fast of one meal, some for six days from the new moon. Milk and turmeric are offered to the naga stone.
What is avoided
The earth near a naga stone or anthill is not dug, a snake seen that day is left alone, and no meat is eaten. Those in the six-day fast keep to one meal a day until the Shashti is over.
The name
The same day, in every language that has a word for it
Where the regions differ
Karnataka and the Telugu country keep it in Margashira; Tamil Nadu keeps its Skanda Shashti in Aippasi, just after Deepavali, with the Soorasamharam at Tiruchendur.
In other regions
- Telugu (the dates above)
- Andhra and Telangana keep Subbaraya Shashti at Mopidevi, Biccavolu and Skandagiri in Secunderabad and at the village anthills, the naga and the god worshipped as one.
- Kannada
- Karnataka keeps it as Subrahmanya Shashti or Champa Shashti, with the car festival at Kukke Subrahmanya and the crowds at Ghati Subramanya near Doddaballapur, and the naga stones of the village temples bathed in milk.
- Maharashtra
- Maharashtra keeps the same Shashti as Champa Shashti for Khandoba at Jejuri, closing his six-day Navratra, with the bhandara turmeric thrown into the air.
The dates above are the Telugu 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
ಸುಬ್ರಹ್ಮಣ್ಯ ಷಷ್ಠಿಯ ಶುಭಾಶಯಗಳುSubrahmanya Shashtiya shubhashayagalu
Where this day is kept
Nearest first from Chennai, with what is recorded about each.
- Chengalpattu, Tamil Nadu
The gazetteer line for this temple names the day. Skanda Sashti and Krithikai are its days
- Srikalahasti Temple 97 kmTirupati district, Andhra Pradesh
This day is kept for Nagas, and the gazetteer keeps this temple for Sarpa and Kala sarpa. Vayu, air, and the classic kshetram for Rahu-Ketu and Sarpa dosha nivarana pooja, booked for the same morning.
- Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu
The gazetteer line for this temple names the day. Thaipusam and Skanda Sashti are its days
- Mayiladuthurai, Tamil Nadu
This day is kept for Nagas, and the gazetteer keeps this temple for Sarpa and Kala sarpa. The Ketu sthalam, near Poompuhar, where Ketu worships Sivan with a serpent body and a human face.
- Thiruvarur, Tamil Nadu
This day is kept for Nagas, and the gazetteer keeps this temple for Sarpa and Kala sarpa. The delta sthalam where Rahu and Ketu are given human faces and worshipped together, and the serpents are said to have been freed of a curse.
- Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu
This day is kept for Nagas, and the gazetteer keeps this temple for Sarpa and Kala sarpa. visited for Kala sarpa, Naga dosham and delayed marriage.
14 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.
Fixing a day for it
The muhurtham rules for a puja held alongside, whose day the family chooses
Subrahmanya Shashti · Skanda Shashti'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.