Festivals
Every canonical festival across Gujarati and Tamil traditions — sorted by next date. Search by name, filter by culture, or browse the cards below.
Tamil
August 3, 2026
Adi Perukku
ஆடி பெருக்கு
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.
Gujarati
August 28, 2026
Raksha Bandhan
રક્ષા બંધન
The day a sister ties a rakhi on her brother's wrist and the two renew a promise to look out for each other. The thread, the tilak, the sweet — that's the whole of it.
Tamil
September 4–5, 2026
Gokulashtami
கோகுலாஷ்டமி / ஸ்ரீ ஜெயந்தி
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.
Gujarati
September 4–5, 2026
Janmashtami
જન્માષ્ટમી
Krishna's birth, marked at midnight in a Mathura prison. Pushtimarg families rock the infant Krishna in a cradle and sing "Nand ke Anand bhayo" as the clock turns.
Gujarati
September 8–15, 2026
Paryushana
પર્યુષણ
The most important festival of the Jain year — eight or ten days of fasting and reflection, closing with Samvatsari, the day of universal forgiveness: "Micchami Dukkadam."
Gujarati
September 14–25, 2026
Ganesh Chaturthi
ગણેશ ચતુર્થી
Ganesh's birthday — the remover of obstacles, invoked before anything new. Families install a murti at home, offer modak, and end with visarjan, sending the year's obstacles back into the water.
Tamil
October 11–19, 2026
Navaratri
நவராத்திரி / கொலு
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.
Gujarati
October 11–19, 2026
Navratri
નવરાત્રી
Nine nights for the goddess, and the Gujarati community's biggest cultural event — garba and dandiya raas circled around the lamp-lit garbo, in chaniya choli and kediyu, peaking on Ashtami and Navami.
Gujarati
November 6–11, 2026
Diwali
દિવાળી / બેસતું વર્ષ
The five-day heart of the Gujarati year: Lakshmi Puja on the dark-moon night, Chopda Pujan over the business ledgers, and Bestu Varas — the Gujarati New Year — the morning after.
Tamil
November 8, 2026
Deepavali
தீபாவளி
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.
Tamil
November 10–15, 2026
Skanda Sashti
கந்த சஷ்டி
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.
Tamil
November 24, 2026
Karthigai Deepam
கார்த்திகை தீபம்
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.
Tamil
December 20, 2026
Vaikunta Ekadasi
வைகுண்ட ஏகாதசி
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.
Tamil
January 14–17, 2027
Pongal
பொங்கல்
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!"
Gujarati
January 15–16, 2027
Uttarayan
ઉત્તરાયણ
The day the sun turns north — and in Gujarat, the day rooftops fill with kites from sunrise to sundown. The food is undhiyu and til-gud, sesame sweets for a sweet-spoken year.
Tamil
January 22, 2027
Thai Pusam
தைப்பூசம்
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.
Gujarati
March 6, 2027
Mahashivratri
મહાશિવરાત્રિ
"The great night of Shiva" — the one major festival kept entirely at night. Families fast, then bathe the Shiva lingam in milk and bilva leaves through the four watches till dawn.
Gujarati
March 22–23, 2027
Holi
હોળી
A festival in two acts: the Holika Dahan bonfire on the eve, and Dhuleti — the color day — the morning after. Gujaratis save the gulal for day two.
Tamil
April 14, 2027
Puthandu
புத்தாண்டு
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.
Gujarati
April 15, 2027
Ram Navami
રામ નવમી
Ram's birth, marked at noon at the close of Chaitra Navratri. Vaishnava families keep the day with fasting and a Ramayana reading — often the Sundarkand recited in full.
Tamil
April 15, 2027
Ram Navami
இராம நவமி
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.
Gujarati
May 9, 2027
Akha Teej
અક્ષય તૃતીયા
One of the year's few whole-day-auspicious dates — no pandit needed to pick a muhurat. Anything begun today, from a business to a marriage, is believed to keep giving.
22 of 22 festivals · sorted by next date