Festivals · 2027
Onam 2027: Sunday, 12 September 2027
Onam in 2027 falls on Sunday, 12 September 2027. Computed for Delhi (IST) from the drik-ganit panchang, by the rule: classical festival table — tithi prevailing at local noon. Abhijit Muhurat runs 11:53 AM – 12:42 PM IST.
The date
Sunday, 12 September 2027
Abhijit Muhurat (shubh for all works) 11:53 AM – 12:42 PM IST
Rule: Classical festival table — tithi prevailing at local noon
Reference city: Delhi (IST)
Shubh muhurat windows
Onam is joy rather than election — but the Thiruvonam day's Abhijit Muhurat above is the shubh window for prayers and new undertakings.
| Window | Time (IST) | City |
|---|---|---|
| Abhijit Muhurat (shubh for all works) | 11:53 AM – 12:42 PM | Delhi |
The Abhijit Muhurat is the midday window most digests treat as universally auspicious — Wednesdays excepted (what it is and why). Windows are computed for Delhi; your city's exact span shifts with local sunrise — check the city panchang or the Bela app.
What does Onam celebrate?
Onam is Kerala's harvest festival welcoming the annual visit of the righteous King Mahabali. Homes lay pookkalam flower carpets, families feast on the grand Onasadya, and the Aranmula boat races and Pulikali tiger dances fill the season.
The story and significance of Onam
The legend is generous: Mahabali, the daitya king humbled by Vamana, was granted one homecoming a year — and Kerala sets its finest table for him. The listed date is Thiruvonam, the principal day, when the star Shravana (Thiruvonam) rules.
Festivities run ten days from Atham to Thiruvonam, the pookkalam growing a ring each day. The sadya of twenty-odd dishes on banana leaf is the heart of the day.
How the Onam date is fixed
Onam is fixed by a star, not a lunar day: the festival falls on the day ruled by the Thiruvonam (Shravana) nakshatra in the Malayalam month of Chingam — the solar month of Simha, when the sun is in Leo. Kerala keeps the solar Kollavarsham calendar, so the month is set by the sun's position and the day within it by the mansion the moon occupies. This makes Onam behave quite differently from tithi festivals like Diwali or Ganesh Chaturthi: a tithi is a sun–moon angle that can be read at sunset or midnight, while a nakshatra is simply where the moon stands among the stars — and the Kerala convention reads the star that rules at sunrise (udaya nakshatra). When Thiruvonam spans two sunrises, printed calendars can differ by a day depending on which sunrise they weight; the panchang's computed span for Kerala settles it.
How Onam is celebrated
Onam is Kerala's national festival, kept by Malayalis of every faith at home and across the world. The season opens with the Athachamayam procession at Thripunithura and builds through ten days to Thiruvonam's grand sadya — the banana-leaf feast of two dozen-odd vegetarian dishes, from avial and olan to payasam. Through those days the pookkalam, the floral carpet at the threshold, grows a fresh ring of flowers each morning. On the water, Vallamkali — the snake-boat races of Aranmula and the Nehru Trophy at Punnamada — set a hundred rowers to one drumbeat; in Thrissur, Pulikali dancers painted as tigers take the streets on the fourth Onam day. Beneath it all is Mahabali's story: the generous asura king whom Vamana, Vishnu's dwarf avatar, sent to the netherworld with a single boon — to visit his people once a year. Onam is that visit: every home dressed as if the king may call, families in Onakkodi (new clothes), children on the oonjal swing, and the days after the feast carrying the celebration gently down.
Onam 2027 day by day
| Day | Date | Observance |
|---|---|---|
| Atham | 3 September 2027 | The pookkalam begins — a single ring of yellow flowers; Athachamayam at Thripunithura opens the season. |
| Chithira | 4 September 2027 | A second ring of flowers joins the carpet; homes are cleaned for the season. |
| Chodi | 5 September 2027 | The pookkalam gains its third layer; Onakkodi shopping — new clothes and gifts — begins. |
| Vishakam | 6 September 2027 | Markets fill; households begin laying in provisions for the sadya. |
| Anizham | 7 September 2027 | Vallamkali rehearsals — the snake-boat crews take to the water. |
| Thriketa | 8 September 2027 | Schools and workplaces wind down; families start travelling home. |
| Moolam | 9 September 2027 | Smaller sadyas begin; temples open their Onam celebrations. |
| Pooradam | 10 September 2027 | Onathappan clay cones take the pookkalam's centre; the carpet reaches full size. |
| Uthradom | 11 September 2027 | First Onam — Mahabali is said to arrive; the great final shopping day (Uthradappachil). |
| Thiruvonam | 12 September 2027 | The main day — the grand Onasadya, new clothes, and the king's visit to every home. |
Onam dates by year
| Year | Date | Day | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 26 August 2026 | Wednesday | Onam 2026 → |
| 2027 | 12 September 2027 | Sunday | This page |
Frequently asked questions
When is Onam in 2027?
Onam in 2027 falls on Sunday, 12 September 2027. The date is computed for Delhi from the rule: classical festival table — tithi prevailing at local noon.
What does Onam celebrate?
Onam is Kerala's harvest festival welcoming the annual visit of the righteous King Mahabali. Homes lay pookkalam flower carpets, families feast on the grand Onasadya, and the Aranmula boat races and Pulikali tiger dances fill the season.
What is the shubh muhurat on Onam 2027?
The computed windows for 12 September 2027 (Delhi): Abhijit Muhurat — 11:53 AM to 12:42 PM IST. Onam is joy rather than election — but the Thiruvonam day's Abhijit Muhurat above is the shubh window for prayers and new undertakings.
Does the Onam date change from city to city?
Yes, it can. Onam is fixed by a tithi prevailing at a specific moment — sunrise, noon, sunset or midnight — and that moment is local. Moving west or east across longitudes can push the prevailing tithi across a civil-date boundary, so Mumbai, Kolkata or New York can observe a day apart from Delhi. Smarta and Vaishnava traditions also differ on some fasting days. The date above follows the popular North-Indian convention for Delhi; the Bela app recomputes for your exact location.
When is Onam in 2026?
Onam in 2026 falls on Wednesday, 26 August 2026. Full windows and notes are on the Onam 2026 page, linked below.
Why do some calendars show Onam 2027 on 13 September?
Because Onam is fixed by the Thiruvonam nakshatra, and a nakshatra rarely fits one civil day. When the star spans two sunrises, calendars that weight one sunrise place Thiruvonam a day apart from those that weight the other — or that judge by which day the star covers more of the daylight hours. Bela's engine computes the star's actual span for Kerala and places Thiruvonam of Chingam on Sunday, 12 September 2027, by the same udaya reckoning that gives Wednesday, 26 August for 2026. The difference between published dates is convention, not computation.
Is Onam decided by a tithi like most festivals?
No — Onam is nakshatra-based. Most Hindu festival dates follow a tithi, the lunar day defined by the angle between sun and moon; Onam instead follows the moon's mansion. Whichever day Thiruvonam (Shravana) rules in the Malayalam month of Chingam is the festival, whatever the tithi that morning happens to be. That is why the Onam date wanders freely across the lunar calendar while always staying inside one solar month, August–September.
What are First Onam and Second Onam?
Uthradom, the day before Thiruvonam, is called First Onam — the day Mahabali is said to arrive in Kerala, and the season's great shopping day, Uthradappachil. Thiruvonam itself is Second Onam, the principal day of the sadya. The two days after are Third and Fourth Onam, when the feast's leftovers are savoured, farewells are made to the king, and the Pulikali tigers dance through Thrissur.
Related
Every festival, computed the same honest way.
Exact dates, muhurat windows and the classical rule behind each one — for your own city, not just Delhi.
