Thaipusam: What, Why, When, How

What it is

Thaipusam is a festival of Murugan, kept in the Tamil month of Thai when the full moon comes with the Pusam (Pushya) nakshatra. Its name joins the two: Thai, the month, and Pusam, the star.

It is the day of the kavadi. Devotees who have made a vow to Murugan prepare for weeks with a simple diet and prayer, then walk to his temple carrying a kavadi, a decorated arch on a pole across the shoulders, or a pot of milk (paal kudam) on the head, and offer it to him. The greatest gatherings are at Palani in Tamil Nadu, one of Murugan's six holy abodes, and abroad, at the Batu Caves near Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, in Singapore, Mauritius, South Africa, Fiji and wherever Tamil families have settled. It is a public holiday in Tamil Nadu, in Mauritius and in several states of Malaysia.

Why it is kept

The fruit and the hill. The Madura District Gazetteer (1906) retells the temple story of Palani. Shiva offered a fruit to whichever of his two sons, Murugan or Ganesha, could go round the world first. Murugan set off on his peacock at great speed. Ganesha walked slowly round his father and said that, since Shiva is all in all, he had gone round the world. Shiva gave him the fruit. When Murugan came back he was hurt, and went away to the hill. His father comforted him with the words "Palani", "you yourself are the fruit", and that, the story says, is how the place got its name. Families also tell that Parvati comforted her son there.

Idumban and the first kavadi. The same story tells of Idumban, the servant of the sage Agastya. Agastya asked him to carry two hills to the south. Idumban tied them to the two ends of a kavadi, a pole carried across the shoulders. When he tried to lift them, one hill would not move: Murugan was sitting on it. Idumban was struck down, but at Agastya's request Murugan raised him up again and granted that pilgrims would worship Idumban first, at his shrine halfway up the hill. This, the gazetteer says, is why pilgrims to Palani bring a kavadi on their shoulders, a custom since copied at many other temples of Murugan.

The vel. Tamil tradition also holds that on Thaipusam Parvati gave Murugan the vel, his spear, before he set out against Surapadman (see Skanda Sashti). Many others keep Thaipusam as the day that remembers his victory over Surapadman, won with that vel. Either way, the vel is honoured on this day, and many devotees carry a small vel.

The texts behind the story

• W. Francis, Madras District Gazetteers: Madura, vol. I (Madras: Government Press, 1906), "Palni", pp. 305–306: the sthala purana of Palani, Idumban and the kavadi, Shiva's fruit and his two sons, and why pilgrims bring kavadis. Read on the page images; summarised in our own words. (pp. 305–306, leaves n336–n337)
• The Travancore State Manual, by V. Nagam Aiya, vol. II (Trivandrum: Travancore Government Press, 1906) ("Thye-poosam", p. 311, leaf n350 (a day sacred to Subrahmanya; the great festival at Palani, ten days ending with the asterism of Poosam); the Kavadi vow, pp. 52–53, leaves n73 and n76 (forty-one days of preparation; two pots of milk, honey or rose-water on a pole; Palani and Tiruchendur))
• Parvati's gift of the vel on Thaipusam: Tamil temple tradition. Summarised in our own words.

When it is kept

Thaipusam is the full moon of the Tamil solar month of Thai (the Sun in Makara) joined with the Pusam (Pushya) nakshatra. The engine takes the day on which Pushya and the full-moon tithi are both in force together during the daytime at your location. If there is no such day, it takes the day on which Pushya is present at sunrise. The Pushya nearest the full moon of Thai is the one used. The Tamil month begins by the Tamil rule: if the Sun enters Makara before sunset, the month begins that day; otherwise the next day.

The date, from the calendar engine

• Thaipusam 2027: Thaipusam falls on Friday, January 22, 2027 in Washington DC (Tamil rule, computed for this city). The date is the same in New Delhi.

The date depends on your city. Every city we cover is on the year page.

Traditions and regional customs

• Tamil temples and Malaysia's state holidays: Pushya and the Thai full moon together in daytime (engine id thaipusam)
• Some Tamil almanacs: Pushya at sunrise (engine alternative udaya)
• Palani and other Murugan temples: a ten-day festival ending on the Pusam day

Why the day can differ

In some years Pushya and the full moon overlap on one day but Pushya holds the sunrise of the next, so almanacs that go by the nakshatra at sunrise give the next day. The app shows both when they differ. A city abroad can also differ from Tamil Nadu by a day, because the overlap falls in a different part of its day.

Temples hold their kavadi processions on their own day, and the ten-day festival at Palani ends on it. Temples abroad often hold the main procession on the day itself, with more devotees coming on the nearest weekend.

How to keep it at home

1. Devotees who will carry a kavadi or a milk pot make the vow ahead of time, often at the temple, and prepare for days or weeks: a simple vegetarian diet, prayer each day, and quiet, kind living. V. Nagam Aiya (1906) records a preparation of forty-one days; today many keep ten days or a few days.
2. On Thaipusam morning, bathe, wear yellow or saffron clothes if that is your family's custom, and worship Murugan at home with a lamp, flowers and an offering of milk, fruit or panchamritam. Say "Om Saravanabhava" or sing the Murugan songs your family knows. You can also read the Subrahmanya Bhujangam, a Sanskrit hymn to Murugan that tradition credits to Adi Shankaracharya; it is in our library with its meaning.
3. Go to a Murugan temple. Those under a vow walk with their kavadi or milk pot, often barefoot, singing "Vel Vel, Muruga, Vetrivel Muruga", and offer it at the shrine, where the milk is poured over the deity. Others offer milk, fruit or flowers and join the procession. Some devotees keep stricter vows, such as carrying a small vel through the cheek; these are kept only with temple guidance and are never needed to take part.
4. After the offering, break the fast with prasad and share a meal. Large processions are long and crowded: carry water, keep children close, and follow the temple's directions.

Fasting

Those under a kavadi vow usually keep a vegetarian diet for the days of preparation and fast on the day until the offering is made. Others may fast until the temple visit, or not at all. These are personal vows, kept by choice. Anyone who is pregnant, unwell, diabetic, elderly or on regular medicine should keep a light fast, or none, and talk to a doctor first, and should not walk long distances fasting.

Food

The prasad of Palani is panchamritam, a sweet mix of banana, jaggery, honey, ghee and dates or raisins. At home, families make sweet pongal, payasam, sundal and a vegetarian festive meal. Many temples and volunteers give free food and water to the pilgrims (annadanam).

For children

One day Shiva held up a special fruit. "Whoever goes round the world first can have it," he said. Murugan jumped on his peacock and flew off round the whole world. Ganesha thought, then walked slowly round his mother and father. "You are my whole world," he said, and he got the fruit. When Murugan came back, he felt sad and went to sit on a hill. His father went to him and said, "You yourself are the fruit." That hill is Palani, and on Thaipusam families walk there with gifts of milk and flowers for Murugan.

Something to do together

Make a small kavadi: bend a strip of card into an arch, tape it to a ruler or a stick, and decorate it with paper flowers and peacock feathers drawn in colour. Carry it round the house to your prayer place, and offer a cup of milk to Murugan.

Sources

• Panchang engine rule thaipusam (packages/panchang/data/festivals.json), with the sources it lists, the engine's alternative udaya and its records nagam-aiya-1906-festivals and my-holidays-thaipusam (packages/panchang/src/festivals/extras.ts).
• W. Francis, Madras District Gazetteers: Madura, vol. I (Madras: Government Press, 1906), pp. 305–307 (Palni).
• The Travancore State Manual, by V. Nagam Aiya, vol. II (Trivandrum: Travancore Government Press, 1906) (pp. 52–53, leaves n73 and n76; p. 306, leaf n345; p. 311, leaf n350)
• H. R. Pate, Madras District Gazetteers: Tinnevelly, vol. I (Madras: Government Press, 1917), p. 506 (pilgrims to Tiruchendur bearing kavadis on their shoulders).

Related guides

• Skanda Sashti (Soorasamharam)
• Karthigai Deepam
• Makar Sankranti, Pongal, Lohri and Bihu