தமிழ்

Aadi Pooram

Andal's day: Pooram nakshatra in Aadi. Srivilliputhur dresses her; Iyengar houses offer a pavai-nombu plate and recite a Thiruppavai verse.

Purattasi Saturdays

The Tamil solar month of Perumal. Iyengar and Vaishnava houses keep Saturdays for Venkateswara, drop onion and garlic, and eat a sattvic meal after darshan.

Navaratri

Nine nights for the goddess, Tamil style — nothing like garba. The center is the Bommai Kolu, the tiered doll display, with evening visits, devotional songs, coffee, and a different sundal each night.

Deepavali

Tamil Deepavali comes a day before the northern Diwali, marking Krishna's dawn defeat of Narakasura. It's built around the pre-dawn oil bath, new clothes, and a spoon of Deepavali Lehiyam to handle the sweets.

Skanda Sashti

Six days for Murugan, the warrior god. It climaxes in Soorasamharam — the temple re-enactment of Murugan spearing the demon Soorapadman — with the Kanda Sashti Kavasam recited daily throughout.

Karthigai Deepam

The Tamil festival of lights, older in the south than Diwali. At sunset, rows of oil lamps go up everywhere — and a giant flame crowns Arunachala hill at Tiruvannamalai.

Margazhi

The Tamil dawn month: Andal's thirty Thiruppavai verses, one a day, sung before sunrise. Vaikunta Ekadasi and Arudra sit inside it.

Vaikunta Ekadasi

The year's most important Ekadasi for Sri Vaishnavas — the day the northern gate of Vaikunta opens. Temples like Srirangam open a special door at midnight, and thousands queue through a grain-free fast.

Arudra Darisanam

Nataraja's day: the cosmic dance shown at Chidambaram, and at home a pot of kali with ezhukari kootu.

Pongal

The four-day Tamil harvest festival, and the calendar's most important date. The defining moment: sweet pongal boiled until it overflows the pot, to shouts of "Pongalo Pongal!"

Thai Pusam

The day Tamils celebrate Parvati giving Murugan his vel. Its most visible form is the kavadi — a carried burden, from a milk-pot pole to skin piercings — every one of them a vow being repaid.

Thai Amavasai

The new moon of Thai: tarpanam for the father's line, often at the sea. Death is the subject. Do not soften it.

Maha Shivaratri

The great night of Shiva: a day-long fast and four-kala puja, vilvam on the lingam, and Thevaram or Thiruvasagam kept through the dark.

Karadaiyan Nombu

The women's nombu at the last day of Maasi: steamed karadai with unmelted butter, and a yellow thread tied at the sankramana.

Panguni Uthiram

The full-moon Uthiram of Panguni: the day Tamil temples mark divine marriages — Murugan and Deivanai, Shiva and Parvati — and many houses keep a fast.

Puthandu

Tamil New Year, every April 14. The day opens with kanni — an auspicious first sight arranged by the bedside — and maanga pachadi, a relish built across all six tastes of the year to come.

Ram Navami

Ram's birth at noon, held high by Tamil Sri Vaishnavas. Temples mark it with a chariot procession and the kalyana utsavam — Ram and Sita's ceremonial wedding — over panakam and neer mor.

Vaikasi Visakam

Murugan's birth star: Visakam in the month of Vaikasi. Palani and Tiruchendur fill; houses offer a simple puja and, in some, a milk pot.

Aadi

The Tamil solar month of the goddess — Aadi Velli Fridays for Amman, Aadi Perukku for the rivers, and Aadi Amavasai for the ancestors.

Adi Perukku

Adi-18, when the Cauvery runs full with the monsoon. Tamils gather at the riverbank to offer flowers, coconut, and jaggery-sweet aval to the rising water.

Varalakshmi Nombu

The Friday nombu in Aavani when Tamil sumangalis dress a kalasam as Varalakshmi, keep a day-long vow, and tie the nombu saradu.

Avani Avittam

The day Iyer and Iyengar men change the poonal. Kamokarsheet japam, a new thread, and Gayatri japam the next morning.

Gokulashtami

Tamil Nadu's midnight celebration of Krishna's birth, known as Sri Jayanti or Gokulashtami. Families draw the infant Krishna's footprints in kolam leading from the doorstep into the home and offer seedai, butter, and aval to the newborn Lord.

Vinayagar Chaturthi

The Tamil Pillaiyar day: a clay or bronze Ganesha at home, kozhukattai, and a short puja. Most Tamil houses do not take the murti to a lake.