Pumsavana — Prenatal Rite
Pumsavana is a prenatal samskara performed in the third or fourth month of pregnancy, with prayers and a sankalpa invoking health and strength for the mother and the well-being of the developing child.
Ceremonies
Every rite Sri Kumar Gurukkal performs.
72 ceremonies in 8 families. Search by the name you know — English, Tamil, Telugu or Sanskrit, however it is spelled — or read straight down. Each entry says what the rite is for and roughly how long it runs; the exact timing is a muhūrtham question for Gurukkal.
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Choose what is happening in your family and the ceremonies for it appear with what each one is, how long it usually runs and the next step. Nothing is asked about you and nothing is saved.
Birth & Childhood
Seemantham / Baby Shower
Also called Valaikappu · Godh Bharai
A blessing in the 5th–8th month of pregnancy (Valaikappu/Seemantham) for the wellbeing of mother and child, with bangles, blessings and prayers.
Jatakarma — Birth Rite
Jatakarma is the birth ceremony welcoming a newborn, with prayers for the child's long life, health and intelligence, marking its formal entry into the family and tradition.
Namakaranam — Naming
Also called Barasala · Namkaran
The naming ceremony, traditionally on the 11th day, in which the child is formally given its name with prayers for a long and blessed life.
Thottil / Cradle Ceremony
The cradle (Thottil) ceremony celebrates placing the baby in the cradle for the first time, often alongside the naming, as family and elders bless the child for a joyful, protected life.
Nishkramana — First Outing
Nishkramana marks the baby's first ceremonial outing from the home, typically in the third or fourth month, with prayers to Surya (the Sun) and the family deity for the child's protection and health.
Annaprashanam — First Rice
Also called Mukhe Bhaat · Choroonu
The child's first feeding of solid food (rice), offered with prayers for health and nourishment.
Chowlam / Mundan — First Tonsure
Chowlam / Mundan — the first tonsure, offering the child's hair with prayers for health and long life.
Karnavedham — Ear-Piercing
The ear-piercing samskara, performed with prayers for the child's wellbeing.
Ayushya Homam — Birthday / Longevity
A homam invoking longevity, health and protection — often on a child's first birthday or for wellbeing at any age.
Education & Coming-of-Age
Aksharabhyasam / Vidyarambham
Also called Start of learning
Vidyarambham — the child's initiation into learning, writing the first letters with blessings of Saraswati and Ganesha.
Vedarambham — Start of Veda Study
Vedarambham marks the ceremonial beginning of a student's Vedic study, invoking Saraswati and the Guru's blessings for learning, memory and discipline. It often follows the Upanayanam.
Upanayanam — Sacred Thread
Also called Poonal · Munji · Janeu
The sacred-thread ceremony (Poonal/Munji/Janeu) initiating a boy into Vedic study, with the Gayatri upadesham and wearing of the yajnopavita.
Brahmopadesam / Gayatri Upadesam
Brahmopadesam is the sacred imparting of the Gayatri Mantra from father or guru to the initiate — the heart of the Upanayanam — beginning a life of daily Sandhyavandanam and Vedic discipline.
Samavartanam — Graduation
Samavartanam (Snatakam) marks the completion of brahmacharya (studentship) and readiness to enter householder life. It is traditionally performed shortly before marriage.
Ritu Kala / Half-Saree Function
Also called Langa Voni · Manjal Neerattu
Ritu Kala Samskaram (the Half-Saree or Langa Voni function) is a coming-of-age celebration for a young girl, with prayers for health and prosperity and blessings from elders as she steps into womanhood.
Marriage
Nischayathartham — Engagement
Also called Nischitartham · Sagai
Nischayathartham is the formal engagement, where both families confirm the alliance and fix the wedding muhurtham, exchanging betel, fruits and gifts before the family deity.
Sumangali Prarthana / Gauri Pooja
Sumangali Prarthana honors the married women (sumangalis) of the family lineage, invoking their blessings for marital happiness and prosperity — often observed before a wedding or auspicious event.
Ankurarpanam & Nandi — Pre-Wedding
Ankurarpanam (seed-sprouting) and the Nandi rite are auspicious pre-wedding ceremonies invoking the family deities' and elders' blessings so the wedding proceeds without obstacles. Nine grains are sown as a symbol of growth and prosperity.
Vivaham — Wedding
Also called Kalyanam · Pelli · Maduve · Vivah
The sacred Hindu wedding (Vivaha Samskara) unites two souls before Agni (the sacred fire) through Kanyadaanam, Paanigrahanam, the Saptapadi (seven steps), and Mangalya Dharanam.
Kalyana Muhurtham — Date-fixing
Choosing the Kalyana Muhurtham is the selection of an auspicious wedding date and time based on the couple's birth stars (nakshatras) and the Panchangam. The Gurukkal identifies favorable dates once the birth details are shared.
Home, Land, Vehicle & Business
Bhoomi Pooja — Ground-breaking
The ground-breaking ceremony seeking the blessings of Bhumi Devi and Vastu Purusha before construction begins.
Shilanyasa — Foundation Stone
Shilanyasa (Shanku Sthapana) is the foundation-stone ceremony for a new building, invoking Vastu Purusha, Ganesha and the Navagraha for a stable, prosperous and obstacle-free construction.
Griha Pravesham — Housewarming
Also called Gruhapravesam · Palkappu
The housewarming that sanctifies a new home with Ganapathi pooja, Punyahavachanam, Vastu shanti and often a Satyanarayana pooja, inviting prosperity and protection.
Vastu Shanti / Vastu Pooja
Vastu shanti pooja, traditionally performed with prayers to harmonise a home or property with the natural order and to ease vastu doshas.
Vahana Pooja — Vehicle Blessing
A blessing for a new vehicle for safe and auspicious journeys.
Office / Shop Opening Pooja
An office or shop opening pooja invokes Ganesha and Lakshmi for a prosperous, obstacle-free start to the business, blessing the premises, the ledger and the livelihood of all who work there.
Business & Lakshmi-Kubera Pooja
The Lakshmi-Kubera pooja invokes the Goddess of wealth and the Lord of treasures with prayers for prosperity and for the livelihood of the family or business. It is popular for new ventures and on Deepavali.
Longevity & Milestone Shanti
Ugraratha Shanti — 59th
Also called Ugra Ratha Shanti, Ugraratha Shanthi, Ugra Ratha Shanthi, Ugradha Shanti, Ugraratha
Ugraratha Shanti is the Shanti Karya kept at the 59th birthday — on completing fifty-nine years and entering the sixtieth. Traditionally it is observed with a homam and prayers for wellbeing in the years ahead, and in many families the couple renews its marriage vows. It is distinct from Shashtyabdapoorti, which this site lists separately at the completion of sixty years; some traditions keep one, some both.
Shashtyabdapoorti — 60th
Also called Shashtiabdapoorthi, Shashtiapthapoorthi, Sashtiabdapoorthi, Shashtipoorthi, Shashti Poorti, Sixtieth wedding, Ṣaṣṭyabdapūrti
Shashtyabdapoorti is kept on completing sixty years, when the birth year and birth star return together for the first time. Families traditionally observe it with a homam and a re-affirmation of the couple's marriage. Practice varies on whether it is kept alongside Ugraratha Shanti at 59 or instead of it.
Bhimaratha Shanti — 70th
Also called Bheema Ratha Shanti, Bhima Ratha Shanti, Bheem Rath Shanti, Bhimaratha Shanthi
Bhimaratha Shanti is kept at the 70th birthday, with a homam and prayers offered by the family for the elder's wellbeing. Some practitioners describe it as falling during the seventieth year — that is, on completing sixty-nine — in the same way Ugraratha relates to the sixtieth.
Vijayaratha Shanti — 75th
Also called Vijaya Ratha Shanthi, Vijayaratha Shanthi, Vijay Rath Shanti, Vijaya Ratha Shanti
Vijayaratha Shanti is kept at the 75th birthday, with a homam and prayers offered by the family for the elder's wellbeing in the years ahead. Sources differ on the reckoning — some place a Vijayaratha-type Shanti at seventy-seven instead — so the convention this site publishes is the one Gurukkal follows, and the day itself is set from the Janma Nakshatra.
Sathabhishekam / Sahasra Chandra Darshanam — 80th
Also called Sadabhishekam, Sadabhishekham, Shatabhishekam, Sahasra Chandra Darshanam, Sahasra Purna Chandrodayam, Satabhishekam, Sathabishekam
Sathabhishekam is kept at the 80th birthday, with abhishekam, a homam and the family's blessings. It is closely associated with Sahasra Chandra Darshanam — the sight of a thousand full moons — but the two are not the same reckoning: a thousand lunar months is about eighty years and ten months, and where a family wishes to keep the exact Sahasra Chandra date, Gurukkal calculates it separately.
Kanakabhishekam — 90th
Also called Kanaka Abhishekam, Kanakabishegam, Kanagabhishekam, Swarna Kanakabhishekam
Kanakabhishekam is kept at the 90th birthday. The elder is honoured with abhishekam, a homam and the gathering of the family, and it is among the most joyful occasions a household marks. It is distinct from Poornaabhishekam, which this site keeps at the hundredth.
Poornaabhishekam — 100th
Also called Poornabhishekam, Purnabhishekam, Pūrṇābhiṣekam, Poorna Abhishekam, Centenary abhishekam
Poornaabhishekam is kept at the 100th birthday — a centenary observed with abhishekam, a homam and the blessings of the whole family. Naming varies across traditions for the centenary rite, and this site uses the form Gurukkal uses. Arrangements for a ceremony of this kind are usually discussed well in advance.
Wedding-Anniversary Shanti / Re-Wedding
A wedding-anniversary Shanti (often a Kalyanam re-affirmation) renews the couple's vows with prayers for continued health, harmony and longevity — cherished for landmark anniversaries.
Homams (Havans)
Ganapathi / Maha Ganapathi Homam
A fire ritual traditionally performed to seek Lord Ganapati's blessings for an auspicious beginning and the easing of obstacles.
Rudra Homam / Rudrabhishekam
Rudra Homam / Rudrabhishekam — powerful worship of Lord Shiva through Sri Rudram and sacred abhishekam, for health, peace and removal of afflictions.
Maha Mrityunjaya Homam
The Maha Mrityunjaya Homam invoking Lord Shiva for health, healing, longevity and protection from adversity.
Sudarshana Homam
Sudarshana Homam invoking the Sudarshana Chakra of Lord Vishnu for protection and removal of negative influences.
Navagraha Homam
Also called With the fire sequence
Worship of the nine grahas — Sūrya, Chandra, Maṅgala, Budha, Guru, Śukra, Śani, Rāhu and Ketu — in the homam form, which includes a consecrated fire sequence with graha-specific āhutis.
Chandi / Durga Homam
Chandi Homam — worship of the Divine Mother through the Devi Mahatmyam, for protection, victory and prosperity.
Santana Gopala Homam — Progeny
Santana Gopala Homam is dedicated to Lord Krishna/Vishnu (linked to the Purusha Sukta), performed by couples praying for progeny, a safe pregnancy and a healthy, virtuous child. Couples often ask for it while they are hoping for a child.
Swayamvara Parvathi Homam — Marriage
Swayamvara Parvathi Homam is traditionally performed to invoke Goddess Parvati's grace in matters of marriage — to pray for a suitable life partner and harmony in married life. The mantra is traditionally linked to Parvati's own prayers for Lord Shiva.
Dhanvantari Homam — Health
Dhanvantari Homam invokes Lord Dhanvantari, the divine physician and lord of Ayurveda, with prayers for good health and for a loved one's recovery — offered alongside medical care, never in place of it. Medicinal herbs are offered into the sacred fire.
Lakshmi-Kubera Homam — Wealth
Lakshmi-Kubera Homam/pooja invoking wealth, abundance and prosperity for home and business.
Saraswati Homam — Learning
Saraswati Homam invokes the Goddess of knowledge, music and speech for success in education, examinations, the arts and wisdom. It is favored for students and before beginning study.
Gayatri Homam
Gayatri Homam invokes Gayatri Devi and the power of the Gayatri Mantra for purity, wisdom, protection and spiritual growth — a purifying homam beneficial for the whole family.
Pratyangira Homam
Pratyangira Homam is traditionally performed to invoke the protective grace of Goddess Pratyangira Devi — a raksha (protection) homam through which families pray for protection and relief from fear and negative influences.
Vastu Homam
Vastu Homam is traditionally performed to propitiate Vastu Purusha and the directional deities — seeking harmony and wellbeing for a home and the easing of Vastu doshas. It is often combined with Griha Pravesham.
Poojas, Vratams & Festivals
Satyanarayana Pooja / Vratam
The beloved Satyanarayana pooja and katha, performed for gratitude, prosperity and family wellbeing on full-moon days and special occasions.
Vinayaka / Ganesha Pooja
Ganesha pooja for an auspicious start and removal of obstacles, especially on Vinayaka Chaturthi.
Navagraha Pooja — Nine Grahas
Also called Without a fire sequence
Worship of the nine grahas — Sūrya, Chandra, Maṅgala, Budha, Guru, Śukra, Śani, Rāhu and Ketu — in the pooja form, without a required fire sequence.
Lalitha Sahasranama / Kumkumarchana
Lalitha Sahasranama archana worships Goddess Lalitha Tripurasundari with her thousand names, offering kumkum (Kumkumarchana) for prosperity, protection, marital harmony and Devi's grace. It is especially auspicious on Fridays and during Navaratri.
Vishnu Sahasranama Parayanam
Vishnu Sahasranama Parayanam is the recitation of the thousand names of Lord Vishnu for peace, prosperity, health and spiritual merit — a serene worship suitable for the whole family.
Varalakshmi Vratam
Varalakshmi Vratam — worship of Goddess Lakshmi for prosperity and family wellbeing, observed on the Friday before the full moon of Shravana.
Navaratri · Saraswati · Ayudha Pooja
Navaratri worship — Golu/Bommala Koluvu, Saraswati and Ayudha Pooja across the nine nights of the Divine Mother.
Ayyappa Pooja / Mala / Padi Pooja
Ayyappa Pooja, Mala Dharana (wearing the sacred mala to begin the vratam) and Padi Pooja are devotions to Lord Ayyappa, especially during the Sabarimala season, seeking discipline, protection and fulfillment of vows.
Skanda Sashti / Kanda Sashti
Skanda Sashti worships Lord Murugan (Skanda), celebrating his victory over evil, with prayers for courage, health and removal of obstacles. It is observed with special fervor on the Sashti tithi in the Tamil tradition.
Maha Rudram / Rudrabhishekam
Rudram / Maha Rudram is the powerful chanting of the Sri Rudram with abhishekam to Lord Shiva for health, peace, prosperity and spiritual upliftment. The scope — Rudram, Ekadasa Rudram or Maha Rudram — can be scaled to the occasion.
Ganesha Chaturthi
Ganesha Chaturthi celebrates the birth of Lord Ganesha with the installation and worship of the Ganesha idol, seeking the remover of obstacles' blessings for the family — one of the most joyous Hindu festivals.
Deepavali Lakshmi Pooja
Deepavali Lakshmi Pooja worships Goddess Lakshmi (and Kubera) on the festival of lights for wealth, prosperity and auspicious beginnings, welcoming her into the home and business for the year ahead.
Krishna Jayanti · Rama Navami · Karthigai
Festival poojas — such as Krishna Janmashtami, Rama Navami, Hanuman Jayanti and Karthigai Deepam — are performed on their special days with worship, offerings and recitation appropriate to the deity, inviting blessings for the family.
New Year — Ugadi · Puthandu · Vishu
New Year poojas — Ugadi (Telugu/Kannada), Puthandu (Tamil), Vishu (Malayalam) and Gudi Padwa — welcome the new year with the Panchanga Sravanam (almanac reading), prayers and auspicious sights (kani) for a prosperous year ahead.
Astrology, Muhurtham & Remedies
Jataka — Horoscope & Reading
Jataka — preparation and reading of the horoscope (birth chart) with guidance for auspicious timing and remedies.
Marriage Compatibility
Also called Porutham · Star Matching
Marriage compatibility (Jataka Porutham / star matching) — reviewing horoscopes to assess harmony, according to your family and regional tradition.
Muhurtham — Auspicious Dates
Muhurtham selection identifies the most auspicious date and time for any important event — weddings, Griha Pravesham, business openings, travel and more — based on the Panchangam and the individuals' birth stars.
Janma Nakshatra Shanti
Janma Nakshatra Shanti is a homam/pooja traditionally performed on one's birth star — to pray for wellbeing and the easing of doshas associated with the birth nakshatra.
Navagraha Shanti / Graha Pariharam
Navagraha Shanti is traditionally performed to propitiate the nine planets. Families often ask for it during a period such as Sade Sati or a difficult dasha, praying for balance in health, work and relationships; whether it suits your situation is for Gurukkal to advise.
Naga Dosha / Kala Sarpa Pariharam
Naga Dosha and Kala Sarpa Dosha Pariharam are traditional poojas/homams offered with prayers for relief from afflictions linked to the serpent planets (Rahu–Ketu) and Naga doshas — often sought for delays in marriage or progeny and for persistent obstacles.
Vastu Consultation
A Vastu consultation reviews a home, plot or business against Vastu Shastra principles — direction, layout and energy flow — with practical guidance and, where needed, remedies (Vastu Shanti/Homam) to harmonize the space.
Parihara (Remedy) Poojas
Also called Dosha Nivarana
Parihara (remedy) poojas such as Naga Dosha or Kuja/Mangal Dosha nivaranam, performed to relieve specific afflictions.
No ceremony matches that word. Try the English name, or tell Gurukkal what the occasion is — the list here is what he is asked for most, not a limit.