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
- Thursday, 20 May 2027
- Monday, 5 June 2028
- Sunday, 27 May 2029
Where Vaikasi Visakam falls on the solar year, and how far the date moves between occurrences.
- 2027: 20 May
- 2028: 5 Jun, 17 days later
- 2029: 27 May, 10 days earlier
The dates, year by year
Tamil Nadu calendar, computed for Chennai
What the day is
Visakam nakshatra in the month of Vaikasi, the birth star of Murugan. The six Padai Veedu temples keep their largest abhishekam of the year, and the day is also kept as the birth of Adi Shankara and, in some Vaishnava calendars, of Nammalvar.
- Deity
- Murugan
- Kind
- Festival Days of celebration: the house is decorated, a feast is cooked and the temple is visited.
Significance
The Kandha Puranam tells how the devas, harried by Surapadman, begged Shiva for a son who could defeat him, and six sparks from Shiva's third eye were carried by Vayu and Agni to the Saravana Poigai, where they became six infants nursed by the six Karthigai maidens. Parvati gathered them into one child with six faces and twelve arms, Arumugam, and because he took form under Visakam he is also called Visakan. Families keep the day to ask him for courage, for the clearing of obstacles to a marriage and for children, and many carry a paal kudam, a pot of milk on the head, to pour over the vel in fulfilment of a vow. The Vaikasi full moon usually falls within a day of Visakam, so in many years the day is also Buddha Purnima.
How it is kept
The puja as a household does it, in order. Tick each step as it is done.
Vaikasi Visakam: how it is kept
Keep ready
- a vel or a small image of Murugan
- milk, curd and honey
- banana, jaggery, ghee, dates and cardamom for the panchamirtham
- tender coconut
- sandal paste, vibhuti and kumkum
- red flowers: sevvarali, arali
- thinai maavu (foxtail millet flour)
- rice, moong dal and jaggery for the pongal
- kuthuvilakku and camphor
- a milk pot, for those who have vowed a paal kudam
The steps
0 of 9 done
What is cooked
Tamil Nadu offers panchamirtham in the Palani manner (hill banana, jaggery, ghee, honey, dates and cardamom), sakkarai pongal, and thinai maavu, millet flour mixed with honey, the food of the hill people among whom Valli grew up; neer mor and panagam are given to the paal kudam bearers on the road. Kerala's Subrahmanya temples give panchamritham and payasam as prasadam.
The hour
Clock times for Thursday, 20 May 2027 at Chennai
The nakshatra running at sunrise in Vaikasi; the abhishekam is in the morning and the deity is taken out in the evening.
The main rite. Visakam nakshatra at sunrise in the solar month of Vaikasi. The abhishekam is done in the morning while the star is running, and the fast is broken after it.
| Instant | Time | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Sunrise | 05:43 | the udaya tithi, the tithi running as the sun comes up |
Sunrise 05:43, sunset 18:28, 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 16:03 until 16:29 | then Krishna Prathamai until next day 17:24 |
| Nakshatra | Vishakha until 13:21 | then Anuradha until next day 14:51 |
| Rahu kaal | 13:41 to 15:17 (1 h 36 min) | the eighth of the daylight left alone for a beginning |
| Yamaganda | 05:43 to 07:18 (1 h 36 min) | the eighth ruled by Yama, also avoided |
| Gulika | 08:54 to 10:30 (1 h 36 min) | the eighth of Saturn’s son; what is done in it is said to repeat |
| Abhijit | 11:40 to 12:31 (0 h 51 min) | the midday muhurta, good for most things |
| Moonrise | 18:30 | moonset next day 06:03 |
For Thursday, 20 May 2027 at Chennai. A time marked "previous day" or "next day" is on the clock of that day.
The fast
Devotees of Murugan keep a partial fast and eat one meal, usually after the morning abhishekam. Panchamirtham and milk are offered.
What is avoided
No meat, fish or eggs, and nothing eaten before the abhishekam by those who keep the fast. A vow of paal kudam or kavadi, once made, is kept on the day and not put off to another year.
The name
The same day, in every language that has a word for it
Where the regions differ
Kept mainly in Tamil Nadu and among Tamils abroad; Kerala marks the same star as Vaishakha Vishakam at the Subrahmanya temples, and the north does not keep it.
In other regions
- Tamil Nadu (the dates above)
- Kept hardest at the six Padai Veedu of Murugan, Tiruchendur, Palani, Swamimalai, Thiruparankundram, Thiruthani and Pazhamudircholai, with paal kudam processions on the roads to every Murugan temple; Vaishnavas keep the same star as the birth of Nammalvar at Alwarthirunagari.
- Kerala
- Kerala marks the same star as Vaishakha Vishakam at the Subrahmanya temples, with abhishekam and a fast kept by devotees.
- Sri Lanka
- Sri Lankan Tamils keep it at Nallur and the Murugan temples of the north and east, though for the Sinhala majority the same full moon is Vesak.
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
வைகாசி விசாக நல்வாழ்த்துக்கள்Vaikasi Visaka nalvazhthukkal
Where this day is kept
Nearest first from Chennai, with what is recorded about each.
- Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu
The gazetteer line for this temple names the day. Vaikasi Visakam is its day
- Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu
The gazetteer line for this temple names the day. Vaikasi Visakam is its day.
Temples of Murugan 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.
- Om Saravanabhava
- Kanda Sashti Kavacham (opening)
- 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
Vaikasi Visakam'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.