Festival
Karthigai Deepam 2026
Also known as Karthigai Vilakkidu · Festival of Lights of the Tamil month Karthigai
Karthigai Deepam 2026 at a glance
Karthigai Deepam 2026 is on Tuesday 24 November. Lamps are lit at dusk and kept burning through the night, filling homes, streets and temples with an unbroken sea of light.
When it falls
Shukla Purnima (full moon) in the Tamil solar month of Karthigai, when the moon is in the Krittika nakshatra
- 2026 · Tuesday, 24 November 2026
- 2027 · Sunday, 12 December 2027
Significance
Karthigai Deepam is one of the oldest festival observances in Tamil culture, older, some scholars say, than any text that records it. Its name joins Karthigai, the Tamil month that corresponds to Scorpio season, and Deepam, the Tamil and Sanskrit word for a lamp or flame. On this night, every home, every street, and every temple threshold is edged with lamps.
The stories behind the festival are several, and the tradition holds them all at once. The most widely told is the story of Shiva and the column of fire. The story goes that Brahma the creator and Vishnu the preserver once disputed who was greater. Shiva appeared between them as a pillar of light with no beginning and no end — jyotirlinga, the lingam (sacred form) of pure radiance. Neither could find its limits. Shiva declared that the one who finds the end of this light will know the truth. Neither did. The flame is understood as Shiva himself, beyond all measure.
At Thiruvannamalai in Tamil Nadu, this story takes its grandest form: a bonfire — the Mahadeepam — is lit on the peak of Arunachala hill and burns through the night, visible for miles around. The hill itself is held to be Shiva as the fire element.
A second strand of the story connects the festival to the Krittika stars — the Pleiades — said to be the six mothers who nursed Murugan (also called Kartikeya or Skanda), the son of Shiva and Parvati. Their presence in the sky on this night ties the lamps to care, to nurture, and to divine protection.
How it’s observed
As dusk falls on Karthigai Deepam, families light rows of small clay or brass lamps — agal vilakku (wick lamps filled with sesame oil or ghee) — along every windowsill, doorstep, wall and courtyard edge. The goal is an unbroken line of flame. Homes are cleaned beforehand and kolam (rice-flour patterns) drawn at the entrance.
A traditional food of the day is pori urundai, balls of puffed rice sweetened with jaggery, offered to the gods and shared among the family. Appam and sweet payasam (rice pudding) are also common in many households.
In diaspora homes — whether in the UK, North America, the Gulf or Singapore — the spirit of the festival travels well. Families light rows of diyas or electric lamps along the flat, arrange them in patterns, and make the traditional sweets together. Some communities gather at local Tamil temples for a deepam ritual where a central lamp is ceremonially lit and circulated. The key act is simple and portable: a line of flames, kept burning.
The timing, explained
Karthigai Deepam is reckoned by a combination of the solar month and the lunar position — a meeting point that makes it unusual in the Tamil calendar.
The sun must be in Vrishchika (Scorpio), which corresponds to the Tamil month of Karthigai. Within that month, the festival falls on the tithi (lunar day) of Shukla Purnima — the full moon of the bright fortnight — provided the moon is occupying the nakshatra (lunar mansion) of Krittika, the Pleiades.
When the full moon and the Krittika nakshatra coincide in this solar month, the day is the true Karthigai Deepam. This usually falls in November or early December. In the Amanta reckoning this almanac uses, the month is named by its new-moon ending; the festival sits near the full moon of that cycle.
Questions people ask
What is Karthigai Deepam and how is it different from Diwali?
Both are lamp festivals, but they are distinct. Karthigai Deepam is a Tamil tradition, falling a few weeks after Diwali, on the full moon in the solar month of Karthigai when the Krittika stars are present. Its central story is Shiva as an infinite pillar of light, rather than Rama's return or Lakshmi's welcome.
When does Karthigai Deepam usually fall?
Usually in late November or early December, depending on when the full moon of the Tamil month Karthigai aligns with the Krittika nakshatra. Because it depends on both the solar month and the lunar position, the exact date shifts a little each year.
What is the significance of the Arunachala bonfire?
At Thiruvannamalai in Tamil Nadu, a large flame called the Mahadeepam is lit on the peak of Arunachala hill on this night. The hill is considered a form of Shiva as the fire element, and the beacon flame re-enacts the story of Shiva appearing as a boundless pillar of light.
How do I observe Karthigai Deepam at home outside India?
Light rows of small oil lamps or diyas along your doorstep, windowsills and inside the home at dusk, aiming for an unbroken line of flame. Make pori urundai (puffed rice and jaggery balls) or any sweet to share. The practice needs no special equipment — light and intention are enough.
What oil is traditionally used for the lamps?
Sesame oil is traditional in Tamil practice for Karthigai lamps; ghee (clarified butter) is also used, especially for temple or puja lamps. Any clean-burning oil will serve if these are not available.
Keep reading