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.

Days of the 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 DayEnglish Day
1.Nyaayitru-kizhamaiSunday
2.Thingat-kizhamaiMonday
3.Sevvaai-kizhamaiTuesday
4.Budhan-kizhamaiWednesday
5.Vyaazha-kizhamaiThursday
6.Velli-kizhamaiFriday
7.Sani-kizhamaiSaturday

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. TamilEnglish2000200120022003200420052006
1.ChiththiraiApril1414141515
2.VaikasiMay1414141515
3.AaniJune1514151515
4.AadiJuly1616161716
5.AavaniAugust1617171817
6.PurattasiSeptember1617171817
7.AippasiOctober1717171817
8.KarthikaiNovember1616161716
9.MarkazhiDecember1515161616
10.ThaiJanuary1414141515
11.MaasiFebruary 1414141515
12.PanguniMarch1414141515

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.TamilYear
1Prabhava1987--1988
2Vibhava1988--1989
3Sukla1989--1990
4Pramodhudha1990--1991
5Prajorpati1991--1992
6Angirasa1992--1993
7Srimukha1993--1994
8Bhava1994--1995
9Yuva1995--1996
10Dhatu1996--1997
11Isvara1997--1998
12Vehudhanya1998--1999
13Pramathi1999--2000
14Vikrama2000--2001
15Vishu2001--2002
16Chitrabanu2002--2003
17Subanu2003--2004
18Tarana2004--2005
19Parthiba2005--2006
20Viya2006--2007
21Sarvajit2007--2008
22Sarvadhari2008--2009
23Virodhi2009--2010
24Viruti2010--2011
25Kara2011--2012
26Nandana2012--2013
27Vijaya2013--2014
28Jaya2014--2015
29Manmatha2015--2016
30Dhunmuki2016--2017
No.TamilYear
31Hevilambi2017--2018
32Vilambi2018--2019
33Vikari2019--2020
34Sarvari2020--2021
35Plava2021--2022
36Subakrit2022--2023
37Sobakrit2023--2024
38Krodhi2024--2025
39Visuvasuva2025--2026
40Parabhava2026--2027
41Plavanga2027--2028
42Kilaka2028--2029
43Saumya2029--2030
44Sadharana2030--2031
45Virodhikritu2031--2032
46Paridhabi2032--2033
47Pramadhisa2033--2034
48Ananda2034--2035
49Rakshasa2035--2036
50Nala2036--2037
51Pingala2037--2038
52Kalayukti2038--2039
53Siddharthi2039--2040
54Raudri2040--2041
55Dunmati2041--2042
56Dundubhi2042--2043
57Rudhrodhgari2043--2044
58Raktakshi2044--2045
59Krodhana2045--2046
60Akshaya2046--2047