The Tamil Calendar

The Tamil Calendar The Tamil calendar is a derivative of the old Hindu solar calendar and is based on the sidereal year (i.e. the time taken for one revolution of the Earth around the sun, or the mean time taken by the sun to return to the same position relative to the background of the fixed stars in the sky). In contrast, most other languages of India (Telugu, Hindi) use lunar calendars. • • • •

The Twelve Months The Sixty-Year Cycle The Seven-Day Week More Information

The Twelve Months The Tamil new year usually falls in mid-April and the calendar consists of twelve months. Unlike the Gregorian calendar, the number of days in a given month can vary between years. Moreover, Tamil months may even have 32 days. For example, the month of Vaikasi had 32 days in 1996 and 31 days in 1998. Similarly, Aani had 31 days in 1996 and 32 days in 1998. The following table shows when the first day of each month occurs: No. Tamil month in English Start date 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 10. Thai January 15* 14* 14* 15* 14* 14* 14* 11. Maasi February 13 12 13 13 13 12 12 12.

Panguni

March

14

14

15

15

14

14

14

13+

14+

14+

14+

13+

13+

13+

1.

Chiththirai April

2.

Vaikasi

May

14

15

15

15

14

14

14

3.

Aani

June

15

15

15

15

15

14

15

4.

Aadi

July

16

17

17

17

16

16

16

5.

Aavani

August

17

17

17

18

16

17

17

6.

Purattasi

September

17

17

17

18

16

17

17

7.

Aippasi

October

17

17

18

18

17

17

17

8.

Karthikai November

16

16

17

17

16

16

16

9.

Markazhi December

16

16

16

16

15

15

16

*

Thai 1 : Pongal Festival Chiththirai 1 : Tamil New Year's Day More Festivals +

The Sixty-Year Cycle Each year in the Tamil calendar has a name. These names follow a 60-year cycle. (The number 60 represents five Jovian periods i.e. it takes Jupiter about 12 years to orbit the sun). The following table lists the cycle of sixty year names: No.

Name

in English

Year

1

Prabhava

1987--1988

2 3

Vibhava Sukla

1988--1989 1989--1990

4

Pramodhudha 1990--1991

5

Prajorpati

1991--1992

6

Angirasa

1992--1993

7

Srimukha

1993--1994

8 9 10

Bhava Yuva Dhatu

1994--1995 1995--1996 1996--1997

11

Isvara

1997--1998

12

Vehudhanya

1998--1999

13

Pramathi

1999--2000

14

Vikrama

2000--2001

15

Vishu

2001--2002

16

Chitrabanu

2002--2003

17 18

Subanu Tarana

2003--2004 2004--2005

19

Parthiba

2005--2006

20

Viya

2006--2007

21

Sarvajit

2007--2008

22

Sarvadhari

2008--2009

23

Virodhi

2009--2010

24

Viruti

2010--2011

25

Kara

2011--2012

26

Nandana

2012--2013

27

Vijaya

2013--2014

28

Jaya

2014--2015

29

Manmatha

2015--2016

30

Dhunmuki

2016--2017

31

Hevilambi

2017--2018

32 33

Vilambi Vikari

2018--2019 2019--2020

34

Sarvari

2020--2021

35

Plava

2021--2022

36

Subakrit

2022--2023

37

Sobakrit

2023--2024

38

Krodhi

2024--2025

39 40 41

Visuvasuva Parabhava Plavanga

2025--2026 2026--2027 2027--2028

42

Kilaka

2028--2029

43

Saumya

2029--2030

44

Sadharana

2030--2031

45

Virodhikritu

2031--2032

46

Paridhabi

2032--2033

47

Pramadhisa

2033--2034

48

Ananda

2034--2035

49

Rakshasa

2035--2036

50 51

Nala Pingala

2036--2037 2037--2038

52

Kalayukti

2038--2039

53

Siddharthi

2039--2040

54

Raudri

2040--2041

55

Dunmati

2041--2042

56

Dundubhi

2042--2043

57

Rudhrodhgari 2043--2044

58

Raktakshi

2044--2045

59

Krodhana

2045--2046

60

Akshaya

2046--2047

The Seven-Day Week The Tamil calendar also follows a seven-day week. The names of the seven days are analogous to those used in most other calendars i.e. they correspond to the same celestial bodies Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, and Saturn, in that order. The following table lists the days of the week in Tamil: No. Tamil day in English English day 1.

Nyaayitru-kizhamai Sunday

2.

Thingat-kizhamai

Monday

3.

Sevvaai-kizhamai

Tuesday

4.

Budhan-kizhamai

Wednesday

5.

Vyaazha-kizhamai

Thursday

6.

Velli-kizhamai

Friday

7.

Sani-kizhamai

Saturday

http://www.cs.utk.edu/~siddhart/tamilnadu/CAL/index.html