Subrahmanya Shashti · Skanda Shashti Festival 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 name
The same day, written in each of the six scripts this app keeps
- English
- Subrahmanya Shashti · Skanda Shashti
- తెలుగు
- సుబ్రహ్మణ్య షష్ఠి
- ಕನ್ನಡ
- ಸುಬ್ರಹ್ಮಣ್ಯ ಷಷ್ಠಿ
Only the names actually in use are listed. A blank script is not an omission: the day may simply not be kept there, or be kept under a different festival's name.
UTC+5:30
The date of a festival depends on the place: 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
Looking for the calendar this day belongs to
This day does not fall again in the next three years at this place. A few days are tied to the solar month rather than to the civil year, so a year can hold two of them or none.
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.
The hour
The rule in words
Margashira Shukla Shashti at sunrise; the abhishekam is in the morning and the procession in the evening.
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.
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.
Fixing a day for it
The muhurtham rules that go with this festival
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. 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.