ಆಯುಧ ಪೂಜೆ | Ayudha Puja

Ayudha Puja is the worship of the instruments of one’s work. It falls on Mahanavami, the ninth day of Navaratri, the navami of the bright fortnight of Ashwayuja, and it is kept all over Karnataka and across the South: as Ayudha Pooje in Karnataka, as Ayutha Pooja in Tamil Nadu, and together with the worship of Saraswati in Kerala and Andhra Pradesh. Ayudha means a weapon, and by extension any tool by which a living is made.

How it is kept

Tools, machines, vehicles and the implements of one’s trade are cleaned, marked with turmeric, kumkuma and sandal paste, garlanded and worshipped, and they are rested for the day. Books, pens and musical instruments are kept before Saraswati. A vehicle is washed and decorated, and when it is first moved after the puja a lime is crushed under its wheel. In shops, workshops, factories and offices the staff do the puja together, and the day is often a holiday; Karnataka’s list for 2026 names it “Mahanavami / Ayudha Pooja”.

The household’s Navaratri worship goes on alongside it, and any nine-day homa or parayana is usually completed on this day. The next morning is Vijayadashami, when the tools and books are taken up again and work and study begin afresh.

Why it is kept

The story most often told is from the Mahabharata. Before their year in disguise the Pandavas hid their weapons in a shami tree, and at its end they took them down again. The worship of tools and weapons at the close of Navaratri recalls that, and the shami is itself worshipped on Vijayadashami. Underneath the story the sense of the day is simple: gratitude to the means by which one lives and works.

At Deepavali in coastal Karnataka

In the coastal districts some traditions perform Ayudha pooje and vahana pooje at Deepavali instead of, or as well as, on Mahanavami. Which day of Deepavali they use varies from family to family, so Anudina does not list it as a separate day. A household that keeps it at Deepavali will know its own day.

Which day Anudina gives

Anudina gives Ayudha Puja on the same day as Mahanavami and by the same rule: the day on which the navami of Ashwayuja shukla paksha is running at sunrise. Tamil almanacs take the day on which navami holds in the afternoon, and in some years that is a day earlier; Anudina notes the Tamil day when it differs. The row is shown under the South Indian custom, and under the North Indian custom only when “Show festivals of other regions too” is turned on. In 2026 Anudina gives Tuesday, 20 October, the day the Karnataka list gives, with the Tamil day on 19 October.