Navaratri and Vidyarambham നവരാത്രി – വിദ്യാരംഭം

Calculated for Thiruvananthapuram with sidereal (Lahiri) positions. Temple and devaswom announcements take precedence.

Pooja Vaypu

On the evening of Durgashtami, books, instruments and tools are placed before Saraswati for worship. This is pooja vaypu, and no reading or writing is done until they are taken back. On Mahanavami, tools, vehicles and machines are worshipped in Ayudha Pooja. The books are returned on Vijayadashami morning (pooja eduppu), and study resumes.

Vidyarambham

On Vijayadashami, children aged about two to five are initiated into learning. A teacher, priest or elder holds the child's finger and writes "Hari Sree Ganapathaye Namah" in a plate of raw rice. The letters are then traced with a gold ring on the child's tongue. Popular venues include:

• Thunchan Parambu in Tirur, the birthplace of Ezhuthachan
• Dakshina Mookambika temple at Panachikkadu near Kottayam
• Thiruvullakkavu Sree Dharma Sastha temple near Thrissur

Across the border, the Kollur Mookambika temple is another major venue.

How the dates are fixed

Mahanavami and Vijayadashami are lunar days (the ninth and tenth tithi of the bright half of Ashwin). In Kerala the holiday is kept on the day each tithi prevails at sunrise. In 2026, the calculation below matches the government notification.

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