Tamil festivals
Dates, significance, and observances for each festival — and how families in the diaspora actually celebrate. Search or browse below.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!"
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.
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.
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.
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