Latitude, longitude and time zone 13.08, 80.27
Asia/Kolkata · UTC+5:30
The date of a festival depends on the place.
Read more Show less
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
- Tuesday, 12 January 2027
- Saturday, 1 January 2028
- Thursday, 18 January 2029
Where Vinayagar Chaturthi (monthly) falls on the solar year, and how far the date moves between occurrences.
- 2027: 12 Jan
- 2028: 1 Jan, 11 days earlier
- 2029: 18 Jan, 17 days later
The dates, year by year
Tamil Nadu calendar, computed for Chennai
What the day is
The fourth day of the bright fortnight, the monthly Ganesha day. It is the lighter of the two Chaturthis: the puja is done in the morning, durva grass and modakam are offered, and anything new is begun on it, since Ganesha is asked first in any case. It is also called Vinayaka Chaturthi or Varad Chaturthi.
- Deity
- Ganesha
- Kind
- Observance Days marked, watched or begun, without a fast or a feast of their own.
Significance
The bright Chaturthi is the morning Ganesha day, where the dark one waits for the moon: nothing is being escaped, and something is being begun. Families bring to it whatever is about to start, a child's first day at school, the first sale of the month in a shop, a new account book, because it is Ganesha as Varada, the giver of boons, who is asked. Pillaiyar is honoured first in any rite, so this monthly day is less a separate vow than a regular renewal of that first place. Some keep the twelve bright Chaturthis as a year's vow ending at the great Vinayagar Chaturthi in Aavani.
How it is kept
The puja as a household does it, in order. Tick each step as it is done.
Vinayagar Chaturthi (monthly): how it is kept
Keep ready
- arugampul, twenty one blades
- kozhukattai or modakam
- a clay or metal Pillaiyar
- red flowers
- the thing that is being begun
The steps
0 of 7 done
What is cooked
Kozhukattai, sundal and fruit are offered, and those who keep it eat once, after the morning puja.
The hour
Clock times for Tuesday, 12 January 2027 at Chennai
The Shukla Chaturthi at sunrise; the puja is in the morning, unlike the dark-fortnight Chaturthi which waits for the moon.
The main rite. The Shukla Chaturthi at sunrise fixes the day, and the puja is in the morning, before the work of the day begins.
| Instant | Time | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Sunrise | 06:34 | the udaya tithi, the tithi running as the sun comes up |
Sunrise 06:34, sunset 18:00, 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 Chaturthi from previous day 09:29 until 11:30 | then Shukla Panchami until next day 13:02 |
| Nakshatra | Shatabhisha until 20:14 | then Purva Bhadrapada until next day 22:05 |
| Rahu kaal | 15:08 to 16:34 (1 h 26 min) | the eighth of the daylight left alone for a beginning |
| Yamaganda | 09:26 to 10:51 (1 h 26 min) | the eighth ruled by Yama, also avoided |
| Gulika | 12:17 to 13:43 (1 h 26 min) | the eighth of Saturn’s son; what is done in it is said to repeat |
| Abhijit | 11:54 to 12:40 (0 h 46 min) | the midday muhurta, good for most things |
| Moonrise | 09:29 | moonset 21:38 |
For Tuesday, 12 January 2027 at Chennai. A time marked "previous day" or "next day" is on the clock of that day.
The fast
No fast is required. Those who keep it eat once, after the morning puja.
What is avoided
Tulasi is not offered to Pillaiyar. Some families avoid looking at the moon on every bright Chaturthi, stretching the rule of the Bhadrapada one, though most keep it for that night alone.
The name
The same day, in every language that has a word for it
Where the regions differ
The monthly bright-fortnight Chaturthi is marked in the Tamil and Kerala lists; the north marks only the dark-fortnight Sankashti. The Bhadrapada one is the birthday and the great festival.
In other regions
- Tamil Nadu (the dates above)
- Tamil calendars mark it every month as Vinayagar Chathurthi, and the street-corner Pillaiyar under the arasu and vembu trees is given milk and arugampul in the morning.
- Kerala
- Kerala marks the monthly Vinayaka Chathurthi at the Ganapathy temples with a morning Ganapathi homam, the fire offering of coconut, jaggery and rice that Kerala homes also make before any new venture.
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 Ganesha 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.
- Chittoor, Andhra Pradesh · Varasiddhi Vinayaka, self-manifest in the well and said to be growing
- Manakula Vinayagar Temple 137 kmPuducherry · Manakula Vinayagar, who would not leave the shore
- Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu · Swetha Vinayagar, the white Ganesha of sea foam, with Kapardeeswarar
- Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu · Uchi Pillayar (Ganapathi) on the summit, with Thayumanavar below
Your family's own temple comes first, and its calendar is the one that decides.
Read more Show less
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.
Every date here is computed from the Sun and Moon for the place entered, by the rule printed beside it.
Read more Show less
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.