Hindu festival · San Francisco Bay Area

Karthigai Deepam

Why it matters

Held when the Kṛttikā (Kārttikai) nakṣatra falls at or near the full moon of the Tamil solar month Kārttikai (Nov–Dec). Homes and temples are lit with rows of lamps, a custom mentioned in Sangam-era poetry such as the Akanāṉūṟu. At Tiruvaṇṇāmalai a great flame, the Mahā Dīpam, is lit on Aruṇācala hill at the close of a ten-day temple festival.

Where it falls

Kārttikai Dīpam is reckoned by nakṣatra in the solar month. It often falls on the same day as lunar Kārttika Pūrṇimā (Dev Dīpāvalī in North India) but sometimes does not. Through the Kṛttikās it is also a Murugan day, alongside its Śaiva meaning.

The story behind it

Two narratives meet in this festival. In the Śiva Purāṇa account tied to Tiruvaṇṇāmalai, Śiva appears as an endless column of fire. Brahmā and Viṣṇu fail to find its top or base, and Śiva then abides as the hill. In Murugan tradition, six infants in the Saravaṇa pool are nursed by the six Kṛttikās, and Pārvatī unites them into six-faced Kārttikeya.

Prayers and worship

At Tiruvaṇṇāmalai, the Bharaṇi Dīpam is lit in the sanctum before dawn and the deities are taken in procession. The hilltop flame is lit at dusk, and many pilgrims walk the girivalam path around the hill. Lamps are then lit in the temple, the town and surrounding villages, and Tamil homes light their own lamps that evening.

How families keep it

Many Tamil families fast during the day and eat only after the evening lamps have been lit. How strictly the fast is kept varies from household to household.

What is typically offered

Houses are cleaned, kōlams drawn at the entrance and clay agal lamps lit. Pori urundai, balls of puffed rice and jaggery, is the best-known naivedyam, with appam and adai also prepared. Some families make a māviḷakku, a lamp shaped from rice flour, jaggery and ghee.

Visiting a temple that day

Temples may light hundreds of lamps. Observe fire-safety instructions and keep pathways clear.

The 2026–27 dates were derived for the Fremont / Bay Area location from standard tithi, nakṣatra and solar-ingress rules. The 2028 date is computed by this site’s own engine from the festival’s standard definition, tested against the 2026–27 dates: the Krittika nakṣatra in the Vṛścika solar month, by the sunset of the day rule, judged at aparāhṇa — the fourth fifth of sunrise to sunset. No 2028 date has been checked against a printed almanac or reviewed by Sri Kumar Gurukkal. They can differ from a calendar computed for another city or another sampradāya. Please confirm any date on which you plan a ceremony with Sri Kumar Gurukkal. How these dates are calculated →