Tamil New Year

Tamil New Year, called Puthandu (புத்தாண்டு), is the first day of the Tamil month of Chithirai (சித்திரை). It is a bright and hopeful day. Houses are cleaned, doorsteps are decorated with kolam, families dress in new clothes and visit the temple, and lunch includes a special dish that tastes sweet, sour, bitter and spicy all at once. Everywhere you go, you will hear the greeting "Puthandu vazhthukal!" (புத்தாண்டு வாழ்த்துகள்!) — "New Year greetings!"

When is it celebrated

Puthandu falls on Chithirai 1, which is usually 14 April. The traditional Tamil calendar follows the sun, and the year begins when the sun moves into Mesham (மேஷம்), the first sign of the zodiac, also known as Aries.

Each Tamil year also has its own name, taken from a cycle of sixty names that repeats. The name of the new year, along with the important days to come, is found in the panchangam (பஞ்சாங்கம்), the traditional almanac.

You may also hear some people call Thai 1, the day of Pongal, the Tamil New Year. This view is held by some Tamil scholars and groups. Most families and temples, however, welcome the new year on Chithirai 1.

Why it is celebrated

New beginnings matter in every culture. Puthandu is a chance to start the year with a clean home, a calm mind and good intentions. Chithirai comes at the start of the Tamil summer, when mango trees are heavy with young fruit and neem trees are in flower, and both of these find their way into the festival food.

Many families believe that the way you begin the year sets the tone for the rest of it. So the day is kept happy and peaceful, and filled with good things: prayer, time with family, kind words and generous sharing.

How families celebrate

• Cleaning and decorating — the house is cleaned the day before. On the morning itself, a fresh kolam is drawn at the entrance and a garland of mango leaves, mavilai thoranam (மாவிலைத் தோரணம்), is hung over the door.
• An auspicious first sight — in some families, a tray of fruits, flowers, a mirror, jewellery and coins is arranged the night before, so that it is the first thing everyone sees on waking up. It is a wish for a year of plenty.
• Bath, new clothes and prayer — after an early bath, everyone wears new or freshly washed clothes, and a lamp is lit in the pooja room.
• Temple visit — many families visit the temple, where special pujas are held. In many temples and homes, the panchangam for the new year is read aloud, so people can hear what the year ahead is said to hold.
• Blessings from elders — children and younger adults bow to their elders to receive blessings. In some families, elders give children a small gift of money to begin the year well.
• A festive meal — lunch is a grand vegetarian meal, a virundhu (விருந்து), often served on a banana leaf and shared with relatives and neighbours.

Traditional food

The star of the Puthandu meal is maanga pachadi (மாங்காய்ப் பச்சடி). Raw mango is cooked with jaggery, a little chilli and salt, and finished with neem flowers, veppampoo (வேப்பம்பூ). Traditionally, it is said to bring together the arusuvai (அறுசுவை), the six tastes of Tamil cooking:

• sweet — inippu (இனிப்பு)
• sour — pulippu (புளிப்பு)
• salty — uvarppu (உவர்ப்பு)
• bitter — kasappu (கசப்பு)
• spicy — kaarppu (கார்ப்பு)
• astringent — thuvarppu (துவர்ப்பு)

Parents often explain the dish to children as a small life lesson: a year brings happy days, hard days and surprising days, and we learn to accept them all with a steady heart. You can make it at home with our maanga pachadi recipe.

Other favourites on the table include veppampoo rasam (வேப்பம்பூ ரசம்), a light rasam made with neem flowers, crisp vadai, payasam, and a spread of vegetable dishes.

Kolam and decorations

Kolam (கோலம்) are drawn with extra care on Puthandu. Many families make a larger design than usual at the entrance, sometimes coloured in and finished with flowers or small lamps. Inside, the brass kuthuvilakku (குத்துவிளக்கு) is polished and lit, and fresh flowers are placed before the family's pictures of the gods. Together with the mango-leaf garland at the door, these simple touches make the home feel ready for a fresh start.

Around Tamil Nadu and the world

Chithirai is a festive month in Tamil Nadu. In Madurai, it brings the famous Chithirai Thiruvizha (சித்திரைத் திருவிழா), which celebrates the divine wedding of Goddess Meenakshi and Lord Sundareswarar, a form of Shiva, and the grand procession of Kallazhagar (கள்ளழகர்), a form of Vishnu, into the Vaigai (வைகை) river.

In Sri Lanka, the same day is celebrated as the Sinhala and Tamil New Year, a national holiday. Across India, many communities welcome their new year at around the same time, following the sun: Vishu in Kerala, Vaisakhi in Punjab, Bohag Bihu in Assam and Pohela Boishakh in Bengal. Ugadi, the Telugu and Kannada new year, follows the moon instead and usually comes a little earlier in spring.

Tamil temples and community groups around the world, from Singapore and Malaysia to the UK, Canada and Australia, hold special pujas and cultural programmes. Families abroad often draw a small kolam, cook maanga pachadi and call grandparents back home, keeping the day special even when it falls on a school or work day.

Wishes to share

The warmest greeting is "Iniya Tamil puthandu nalvazhthukal!" (இனிய தமிழ்ப் புத்தாண்டு நல்வாழ்த்துகள்!), meaning "Happy Tamil New Year!" Browse our Tamil New Year wishes for more ideas, or make a personalised greeting with the wishes generator.