Karthigai Deepam Dates 2017

Karthigai Deepam - the festival of lights that is celebrated throughout Tamil Nadu during the month of Karthigai (November-December).It is one of the oldest festivals celebrated in the State, perhaps even before people began celebrating Deepavali and Navarathri. Karthigai is basically a Tamil festival and is virtually unknown in most other parts of the country.Karthigai is essentially a festival of lamps. 

There is an interesting story explaining the link between Karthigai and lamps.Legend has it that Lord Vishnu and Lord Brahma began to quarrel as to who was the more powerful of the two. While they were fighting, Lord Shiva appeared before them in the form of a huge pillar of fire. Lord Vishnu and Lord Brahma gave up quarrelling and decided to find the top and the bottom of the pillar. Accordingly, Brahma assumed the form of a swan and moved upwards. Vishnu transformed himself into a boar and started digging deep into the earth. But even after searching for several years, neither of the two was able to find the ends the pillar. Finally, they realised that the pillar was none other than Lord Shiva. Soon afterwards, Lord Shiva appeared as a hill (Arunachala Hill) at Tiruvannamalai in Tamil Nadu. Indeed, the very names `Tiruvannamalai' and `Arunachala' translate as `holy fire hill.' The Shivalinga in the temple here is the agni linga. The tiny lamps lit during the Karthigai festival (Karthigai Deepam) are believed to be the miniature replicas of the fire linga. Every year thousands of  devotees from Chennai and elsewhere flock to Tiruvannamalai to see the spectacular Karthigai Deepam there.

2017 Dates :

08	January	(Sunday)	Masik Karthigai
05	February	(Sunday)	Masik Karthigai
04	March	(Saturday)	Masik Karthigai
31	March	(Friday)	Masik Karthigai
27	April	(Thursday)	Masik Karthigai
25	May	(Thursday)	Masik Karthigai
21	June	(Wednesday)	Masik Karthigai
19	July	(Wednesday)	Masik Karthigai
15	August	(Tuesday)	Masik Karthigai
11	September	(Monday)	Masik Karthigai
08	October	(Sunday)	Masik Karthigai
05	November	(Sunday)	Masik Karthigai
02	December	(Saturday)	Karthigai Deepam
30	December	(Saturday)	Masik Karthigai