Festivals
Every canonical festival across Gujarati and Tamil traditions — sorted by next date. Search by name, filter by culture, or browse the cards below.
Punjabi
July 30 – August 28, 2026
Sawan
ਸਾਵਣ
The monsoon month — Sawan Somvar fasts for Shiva, Teeyan swings and gidda, and a whole tradition of Punjabi rain songs.
Gujarati
August 14 – September 11, 2026
Shravan Maas
શ્રાવણ માસ
The holiest lunar month, dedicated to Shiva. Gujarati families keep the Shravan Monday fasts and lighten their eating; Raksha Bandhan and Janmashtami fall inside it.
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.
Punjabi
August 28, 2026
Raksha Bandhan
ਰੱਖੜੀ
Celebrates the bond between brothers and sisters.
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.
Punjabi
October 29, 2026
Karva Chauth
ਕਰਵਾ ਚੌਥ
A day-long fast observed especially by married women for the wellbeing of their husbands.
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.
Punjabi
November 8, 2026
Bandi Chhor Divas
ਬੰਦੀ ਛੋੜ ਦਿਵਸ
The 'Day of Liberation' commemorating Guru Hargobind's release; coincides with Diwali.
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.
Punjabi
November 24–26, 2026
Guru Nanak Gurpurab
ਗੁਰੂ ਨਾਨਕ ਗੁਰਪੁਰਬ
The birth anniversary of Guru Nanak, founder of Sikhism — the most widely observed Gurpurab.
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.
Punjabi
January 5, 2027
Guru Gobind Singh Gurpurab
ਗੁਰੂ ਗੋਬਿੰਦ ਸਿੰਘ ਗੁਰਪੁਰਬ
Birth anniversary of the tenth Guru, who founded the Khalsa and finalized the Guru Granth Sahib as eternal Guru.
Punjabi
January 13, 2027
Lohri
ਲੋਹੜੀ
Bonfire festival marking the end of deep winter and the coming of longer days.
Punjabi
January 14, 2027
Maghi
ਮਾਘੀ
The day after Lohri; for Sikhs it commemorates the Forty Liberated Ones (Chali Mukte).
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.
Punjabi
February 11, 2027
Basant Panchami
ਬਸੰਤ ਪੰਚਮੀ
The arrival of spring, marked by the color yellow and (historically) kite-flying.
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.
Punjabi
March 22–23, 2027
Holi
ਹੋਲੀ
The festival of colors welcoming spring; observed by Punjabi Hindus.
Punjabi
March 23–25, 2027
Hola Mohalla
ਹੋਲਾ ਮਹੱਲਾ
A Sikh festival of martial valor established by Guru Gobind Singh, held the day after Holi.
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.
Punjabi
April 14, 2027
Vaisakhi
ਵਿਸਾਖੀ
Punjab's spring harvest festival and the day the Khalsa was founded in 1699.
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
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.
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.
Tamil
July 17 – August 16, 2027
Aadi
ஆடி
The Tamil solar month of the goddess — Aadi Velli Fridays for Amman, Aadi Perukku for the rivers, and Aadi Amavasai for the ancestors.
Tamil
August 3, 2027
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.
Punjabi
August 4, 2027
Teeyan
ਤੀਆਂ
A monsoon women's festival of gidda, swings, and song.
37 of 37 festivals · sorted by next date