Panguni Uthiram 2028: Date, Rituals & Significance

Purnima runs 10 Mar, 10:21 → 11 Mar, 06:36.

The deities are brought together on a decorated mandapam, a thali (mangalsutra) is tied, and the marriage is performed with Vedic and Agamic rites before huge crowds; the utsava-murtis are then taken in procession. At Tiruchendur, Palani and Thiruparankundram the Murugan–Deivanai wedding is the focus; at Madurai it is Meenakshi's Thirukalyanam (though the main Chithirai festival is a month later).

Kavadi is also carried on this day, as on Thaipusam. At Sabarimala the annual festival ends with the aarattu on this day, kept as Ayyappa's birthday, and at Srirangam and Srivilliputhur the Vaishnava kalyanam of Andal is kept.

The Skanda Purana and the Tamil Kanda Puranam place Murugan's marriage to Deivanai, Indra's daughter, on Panguni Uthiram; the day gathered to itself the marriage anniversaries of other couples over time, making it the great kalyana-utsavam day of the Tamil temple year.

Source: Regional festival tradition and the Puranic / Sangam sources named

Panguni Uthiram is a major Tamil temple festival, prominent at all six Arupadai Veedu Murugan shrines and at the Shaiva and Vaishnava kshetras; the kalyana-utsavam form is old and Agama-based.

• Wikipedia

1. On the Uttiram star of the Tamil month Panguni, temples celebrate the divine weddings: Shiva and Parvati, Murugan and Deivanai, Rama and Sita, Andal and Ranganatha.
2. Thirukalyanam ceremonies are held, and at Srirangam Ranganatha and Ranganayaki appear together in the Serthi Sevai.
3. Murugan devotees carry kavadi to Palani, and at Sabarimala the annual festival ends with the aarattu.

• Tamil Nadu (Tiruchendur, Palani, Thiruparankundram, Madurai, Srirangam). The kalyana-utsavam — the deities' ceremonial wedding — with processions and kavadi.
• Kerala (Sabarimala). The temple's annual festival closes with the aarattu on Panguni Uthiram, celebrated as Ayyappa's birthday.

• Panakam and neer mor — Cooling drinks offered at the temple weddings and to kavadi pilgrims.

Panguni Uthiram falls on Saturday, 11 March 2028. Uttara Phalguni (Uthiram) nakshatra in Panguni (Phalguna); divine weddings.

at sunrise

Panguni Uthiram falls when the Uttara-phalguni (Uthiram) nakshatra coincides with the full moon of the Tamil month Panguni — in March or April, near Holi. It follows the star; the kalyanam is performed at the temple muhurta.

A lunar date: the tithi of the bright half of Phalguna drifts about 11 days earlier each solar year, then jumps back ~19 days when a leap (Adhika) month is inserted.