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, 22 January 2027
- Wednesday, 9 February 2028
- Tuesday, 30 January 2029
Where Thai Poosam · Thaipusam falls on the solar year, and how far the date moves between occurrences.
- 2027: 22 Jan
- 2028: 9 Feb, 18 days later
- 2029: 30 Jan, 10 days earlier
The dates, year by year
Tamil Nadu calendar, computed for Chennai
What the day is
Poosam nakshatra in Thai, the day Parvati gave Murugan the vel with which he killed Surapadman. Devotees walk to Palani and the other hill temples carrying kavadi and pots of milk, many with the mouth and the skin pierced by a small vel, having kept a vow for weeks beforehand. It is the largest Murugan day of the year and, outside India, the great Tamil festival of Malaysia and Singapore.
- Deity
- Murugan, Parvati
- Kind
- Festival Days of celebration: the house is decorated, a feast is cooked and the temple is visited.
Significance
The kavadi comes from the story of Idumban, the asura who served the sage Agastya and was sent to bring him two hills, Sivagiri and Sakthigiri, which he carried slung from a pole across his shoulders. At Palani he set them down to rest and found a boy standing on one who would not let him lift it again; after a fight Idumban knew the boy for Murugan and asked that whoever came to that hill carrying a load as he had should be blessed, which is why pilgrims carry a kavadi and why Idumban's shrine is greeted first on the way up. Poosam is also the star of Brihaspati, the teacher of the gods, and it is the day the Vallalar, Ramalinga Swamigal, is remembered at Vadalur, where the seven screens before the lamp in the Sathya Gnana Sabha are drawn back for the jothi darshan. A vow made for a child's recovery, a job or a safe birth is repaid on this day, and families plan the walk and its weeks of fasting as they would any other promise.
How it is kept
The puja as a household does it, in order. Tick each step as it is done.
Thai Poosam · Thaipusam: how it is kept
Keep ready
- a kavadi decorated with peacock feathers, flowers and bells
- a paal kudam of brass or clay
- milk
- a cloth to tie over the pot's mouth
- saffron or green clothes
- vibhuti and kumkum
- a vel and a picture of Murugan
- red flowers and garlands
- hill bananas, jaggery, ghee, honey, sugar candy and cardamom for panchamirtham
- coconut and camphor
- buttermilk and water for the pilgrims
The steps
0 of 8 done
What is cooked
Panchamirtham, the Palani prasadam of hill bananas mashed with jaggery, ghee, honey, sugar candy, dates and cardamom, and the milk of the abhishekam; sakkarai pongal at home, and a single plain vegetarian meal for the one who walks. In Malaysia and Singapore free vegetarian food and drinks are handed out all along the route.
The hour
Clock times for Friday, 22 January 2027 at Chennai
Poosam and the Pournami of Thai together: the day whose sunrise the Pournami holds and on which Poosam also runs is taken, and failing that the day the star holds the sunrise. In 2024 Poosam began at 08:17 on 25 January, so the star held the sunrise of the 26th, but the 25th was the Pournami and both the almanacs and the Tamil Nadu holiday list kept Thai Poosam on the 25th. The abhishekam runs through the day and night.
The main rite. The Poosam star at sunrise in Thai, usually beside the full moon; the walkers set out before dawn and the abhishekam at the Murugan temples runs through the day and the night.
| 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 who carry kavadi keep a fast of forty-eight days or more beforehand: one meal a day, no meat, no alcohol, sleeping on the floor. Milk, honey and panchamirtham are the offering.
What is avoided
Through the vratam no meat, fish, eggs, alcohol or tobacco, and no quarrels or harsh words; the kavadi bearer eats nothing on the day until the kavadi is set down. Piercing is not undertaken without the guidance of the temple and the family, and those who are unwell or elderly keep the vow with a paal kudam or the walk alone.
The name
The same day, in every language that has a word for it
Where the regions differ
Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Singapore and Mauritius keep it; the Telugu and Kannada calendars mark the same star only as a monthly Poosam day.
In other regions
- Tamil Nadu (the dates above)
- Palani is the centre, with the walk from every district of the west and south and the ten-day festival ending with the car on the star; Thiruchendur, Swamimalai, Thiruthani and Thiruparankundram fill too, Madurai holds its float festival at the Mariamman Teppakulam, and Vadalur its jothi darshan. Abroad, Batu Caves near Kuala Lumpur and the walk from the Srinivasa Perumal temple to the Thendayuthapani temple in Singapore are the largest gatherings.
- Kerala
- Kerala keeps Thaipooyam at its Subrahmanya temples with the kavadiyattam, the kavadi dance, strongest at Koorkenchery in Thrissur.
- Sri Lanka
- Sri Lanka's Tamils keep it at the Murugan kovils of the north, the east and Colombo, with kavadi and milk pots carried to the shrine.
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.
Greeting
What is said to family and friends on the day
இனிய தைப்பூச நல்வாழ்த்துக்கள்Iniya Thaipoosa nalvazhthukkal
Where this day is kept
Nearest first from Chennai, with what is recorded about each.
- Vadapalani Andavar Temple 7.3 kmChennai, Tamil Nadu
The gazetteer line for this temple names the day. Thaipusam and Panguni Uthiram are its festivals
- Dindigul, Tamil Nadu
The entry for this day names Palani. The gazetteer line for this temple names the day. Devotees walk to Palani and the other hill temples carrying kavadi and pots of milk, many with the mouth and the skin pierced by a small vel, having kept a vow for weeks beforehand.
- Mayiladuthurai, Tamil Nadu
The gazetteer line for this temple names the day. Thai Poosam and the Sambandar festival are its days.
- Viralimalai Murugan Temple 333 kmPudukkottai, Tamil Nadu
The gazetteer line for this temple names the day. Thaipusam is its day
- Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu
The gazetteer line for this temple names the day. Thaipusam and Skanda Sashti are its days
- Virudhunagar, Tamil Nadu
The gazetteer line for this temple names the day. Maha Sivaratri and Thai Poosam are its days.
16 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.
- Kanda Sashti Kavacham (opening)
- Om Saravanabhava
- Thiruppugazh (Arunagirinathar)
- Shadananam (Subrahmanya dhyana)
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
Thai Poosam · Thaipusam'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.