Pongal, a harvest festival celebrated during the Tamil month of Thai (mid-January), is an important festival for Tamilians irrespective of their religion. It is celebrated over three days. On the first day, Bogi Pongal, discarded household items (brooms, mats, etc.) are burnt before sunrise and delicacies are offered to the Gods. On the second day, melagu pongal is cooked in earthen pots and offered to the Gods along with sarkarai pongal. The third day, Maatu Pongal (Maatu - Cow), is for paying respect to cattle. Cows are washed, their horns are painted, and they are taken to a nearby temple. Challikattu competitions are also held. On the fourth day, kaanum Pongal, family and friends are visited and new clothes are given to maids and servants.
Tamil Varsha Purappu (Tamil New Year) The 1st day of the Tamil month of Chittirai. Usually, this falls on 14th or 15th April.
Krishna jayanti or Gokulashtami A celebration of Lord Krishna. Women pray to Lord Krishna and offer foodstuffs to him.
Aadi Perukku (18th day of the Tamil Month of Aadi) is celebrated to welcome the huge infux of water in the seasonal-yet-major River Cauvery. The paddy fields in the cauvery delta are huely dependent on this water.
Varalakshmi pooja On this day, married women keep kalasam, they pray, they dress-up and they decorate the temples.
Navaratri is a festival in honor of the three goddesses Laxmi (prosperity), Sarasvati (learning), and Durga (strength). In Tamil Nadu, women prepare elaborate arrangements of dolls based on these goddesses and visits are made to see and compare these arrangements. As with all festivals, sweets and food feature in a large way.
Saraswati pooja, the ninth day of Navaratri, is in honor of the goddess of learning. Students and elders place their books in front of the goddess and neither study nor play musical instruments in honor of the goddess.
Vijayadashmi is the 10th day of Navaratri and is considered to be the day for starting new things like learning to play a new instrument or the start of a new school year.
Deepavali (Diwali), the festival of lights, is the time for new clothes, oil baths, bursting crackers, and eating sweets.
Karthigai is a festival in honor of Lord Muruga. It is celebrated in the month of November to December every year.
Karthigai deepam chariot festival this is one of the oldest festivals in south-india, honoring Lord Muruga, also known as kaarthikeya. In the month of Karthigai thousands of devotees assemble in Thiruvannamalai, Tamil-Nadu, to take part in the many street and temple ceremonies and to offer prayers to Lord Muruga.
Ayya Vaikunda Avatharam The incarnational day of Ayya Vaikundar from the sea at Tiruchendur. This is the most important festival of Ayyavazhi and on this day the celebrations in Swamithoppe is considered to be of high religious importance. Though it is celebrated with processions all over Tamil Nadu, celebrations are in grander in the south. Two processions, one from Tiruchendur, connected with the incarnation of Vaikundar, and another from Thiruvananthapuram, noting the relese of Vaikundar join at Nagercoil and then proceed towards Swamithoppe, the geographical focus point of Ayyavazhi.
Gowri PoojaSimilar to varlakshmi pooja is done on the eve of vinnayakar chaturthi,for all these amman festivals karugumani is mandatory to be offered to goddess,and even in maangalyam ladies can wear in addition to gold and is safe nowadays because gold is capable of getting stolen.
'Vinayaka Chaturthi Known as Ganesh Chaturthi in other parts of India, this festival is in honor of the elephant god Ganesh. An idol of Vinayaka is immersed in the sea or in a temple tank on the third day of this festival.
Purataasi Maadham famous for lord venkatachalapathy,many slokas,dance programmes,music concerts are all done in praise of lord narayana and brahmotsawam is done in thirupathi in grand scale.
Karthigai deepam fastivel(Tiruvannamalai deepam) a famous festival in temple city of Tiruvannamalai
Id Tamil Nadu has a large muslim population and Id and Ramzan are celebrated here.
Christmas, Good Friday and other Christian festivals are also celebrated.
Panguni Utaram utsavam in Ranganathar temple
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Tamil Nadu
Where To Stay & Best Hotels in Tamil Nadu - updated May 2024
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Tamil Nadu Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.
