ತೈ ಪೂಸಂ | Thai Poosam

Thai Poosam is a festival of Murugan, kept on the day the nakshatra Pushya, Poosam in Tamil, falls in the Tamil solar month of Thai, the month the sun spends in Makara, from the middle of January to the middle of February. The Pushya of Thai falls close to the full moon, and the festival has the character of a full-moon festival. It is kept in Murugan temples across Tamil Nadu, in Kerala as Thaipooyam, and with large gatherings by Tamil communities in Malaysia, Singapore, Mauritius and elsewhere.

The vel

The day is held to mark Murugan’s victory over the asura Surapadman. In the Tamil telling of the Kanda Puranam, three asuras, Surapadman, Tarakasura and Simhamukha, had won near-immortality from Shiva and oppressed the three worlds. Murugan was born from sparks of Shiva to meet them, and Parvati gave him the vel, the spear, with which he split Surapadman in two. The two halves became the peacock he rides and the rooster on his banner. The vel is at the centre of the day’s worship.

Kavadi

The best-known offering is the kavadi, a wooden or metal arch carried across the shoulders and decorated, often with peacock feathers. Devotees carry it on foot to the temple in fulfilment of a vow, for help received or sought. The simplest and commonest is the pal kavadi, which carries pots of milk for the abhisheka; others carry sugarcane, tender coconuts or flowers. Some take on the piercing of the skin, cheeks or tongue with small vels. The days before are kept with a vegetarian diet, fasting, prayer and celibacy.

The kavadi has its own story at Palani. The sage Agastya asked his disciple Idumban to carry two hills, Shivagiri and Shaktigiri, to the south. Idumban slung them from a pole across his shoulders, the first kavadi, and set them down near Palani to rest. Murugan, who had come there after losing the fruit of wisdom to Ganesha, claimed the hills. Idumban fought him, fell, was restored to life, and asked to be his door-guardian. Pilgrims to Palani worship Idumban first, at the foot of the hill.

Where it is kept

At Palani, in the Dhandayuthapani temple, Thai Poosam is a festival of ten days. Tiruchendur, held to be the place of the victory, and the other abodes of Murugan draw large crowds, and float festivals are held in the tanks of the Meenakshi temple at Madurai and the Kapaleeshwarar temple at Mylapore. At Vadalur, in the Sathya Gnana Sabha that Ramalinga Adigal, Vallalar, dedicated in 1872, the seven curtains before the sanctum are parted on this day. Outside India the best known gathering is at the Batu Caves near Kuala Lumpur. Tamil Nadu made the day a public holiday in 2021.

In Karnataka, where Murugan is worshipped as Subrahmanya, his principal days are Skanda Shashti and Subrahmanya Shashti; Thai Poosam is kept here mainly by Tamil families and in Murugan temples of the Tamil tradition.

Which day Anudina gives

Anudina gives the day on which Pushya is the nakshatra at sunrise while the sun is in Makara. The moon returns to Pushya roughly every twenty-seven days, so the sun’s month can hold the nakshatra twice. When it does, Anudina keeps the one nearer the full moon, the day whose tithi at sunrise is closest to purnima, and drops the other. Because the solar month and the lunar month do not keep step, the full moon in question is the Pausha full moon in some years and the Magha full moon in others: 1 February 2026 was the Magha full moon, and the next date Anudina gives, 23 January 2027, is by the Pausha full moon. Thai Poosam is listed among the Tamil festivals: it appears under the South setting, and elsewhere when festivals of other regions are turned on.