Tamil New Year referred to as Puthandu or Varsha Pirappu, the Tamil New Year falls almost on the same day every year in the Gregorian calendar. Read on to know more about the Tamil New Year 2024 date and its significance.
Tamil New Year, also known as “Puthandu” or “Puthuvarusham,” is celebrated by the Tamil-speaking population around the world. The Tamil New Year typically falls on April 14th each year, according to the Tamil calendar. However, it’s worth noting that the Tamil calendar follows the solar cycle, so the exact date may vary slightly each year depending on astronomical calculations.
Related: Sinhala New Year 2024 Wishes
Tamil New Year Key Highlights
On Tamil New Year, people engage in various traditional rituals and customs. These may include visiting temples, offering prayers, wearing new clothes, exchanging gifts, and enjoying festive meals with family and friends. Additionally, special events, cultural programs, and community gatherings are organized to celebrate the occasion.
- Tamilians around the world celebrate their New Year on the first day of the Chithirai month
- This day concurs with the transit of the Sun to the Mesha Rashi (Aries)
- Referred to as Puthandu or Varsha Pirappu, the Tamil New Year falls almost on the same day every year in the Gregorian calendar
Tamilians worldwide celebrate their New Year on the first day of the Chithirai month, and it concurs with the Sun’s transit to the Mesha Rashi (Aries). Referred to as Puthandu or Varsha Pirappu, the Tamil New Year falls almost on the same day every year in the Gregorian calendar. Read on to know the Tamil New Year 2024 date and learn about its significance.
Tamil New Year 2024 date
Like last year, Tamilians across the globe shall celebrate Puthuvarasham on April 14.
Check also: Sinhala New Year 2024 Quotes
Significance of Puthandu or Tamil New Year
People worldwide look forward to New Year day with the hope of beginning life anew and with great anticipation. Puthandu is the day that marks a new beginning. It is that day for celebrations, feasts and get-togethers.
Interestingly, on the same day, natives of Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Odisha, Assam, Bihar and Bengal also celebrate their New Year.
How is Puthandu or Varsha Pirappu celebrated?
On the eve of Varsha Pirappu/Puthandu, Tamilians furnish a tray with the following:
- Fruits and vegetables
- Neem flowers and leaves
- New clothes
- Gold or silver jewellery and currency notes/coins
This tray is then placed in the house’s temple room in front of a mirror.
The following day, soon after waking up, people see the reflection of the tray’s content (which symbolises abundance) in the mirror.
Sinhala Tamil New Year 2024 Images
Subsequently, after taking a bath and wearing new clothes, the family gears up for prayers, followed by a feast that mainly includes the pacchadi (raita) made of grated raw mango, jaggery, salt, red chillies, neem leaves, a pinch of turmeric and oil. It is one of the most important preparations because it reflects myriad emotions people experience in their day-to-day lives. The raw mango symbolises sourness, while the neem represents bitterness, jaggery signifies sweetness, while chillies mean pungency.
This recipe suggests that life is a mixed bag of emotions and experiences. Therefore, it encourages and inspires people to enjoy life irrespective of what it has in store for them.
The feast also includes recipes such as vadai, samabhar, sadam (rice), payasam, appalam (papad), vegetable curry, fresh mango pickle, curd etc.
