Puthandu (Tamil New Year) 2026
Puthandu (Tamil New Year) 2026 is on Tuesday, 14 April 2026.
Puthandu (Tamil New Year) 2026 date in major cities
| City | Date | Puja time |
|---|---|---|
| New Delhi | Tuesday, 14 April 2026 | — |
| Mumbai | Tuesday, 14 April 2026 | — |
| Ahmedabad | Tuesday, 14 April 2026 | — |
| Kolkata | Tuesday, 14 April 2026 | — |
| Chennai | Tuesday, 14 April 2026 | — |
| Bengaluru | Tuesday, 14 April 2026 | — |
| Hyderabad | Tuesday, 14 April 2026 | — |
| Varanasi | Tuesday, 14 April 2026 | — |
About Puthandu (Tamil New Year)
Puthandu, also known as Tamil New Year, is the first day of year on the Tamil calendar that is traditionally celebrated as a festival by Tamils. The festival date is set with the solar cycle of the solar Hindu calendar, as the first day of the month of Chittirai. It falls on or about 14 April every year on the Gregorian calendar.
Origin and significance
The Tamil New Year follows the spring equinox and generally falls on 14 April of the Gregorian year. The day celebrates on the first day of the traditional Tamil calendar and is a public holiday in both Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka. The same date is observed as the traditional new year in Assam, West Bengal, Kerala, Tripura, Bihar, Odisha, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, as well as in Nepal and Bangladesh. Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Sri Lanka also celebrate the same day as their new year, likely an influence of the shared culture between South and Southeast Asia in the 1st millennium CE. There are several references in early Tamil literature to the April new year. Nakkirar, Sangam period author of the Neṭunalvāṭai, wrote that the sun travels from Mesha/Chittirai through 11 successive signs of the zodiac.
Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0), shortened.
Questions people ask
When is Puthandu (Tamil New Year) in 2026?
Puthandu (Tamil New Year) is on Tuesday, 14 April 2026 (New Delhi). In some regions the date can be a day apart; see the table above for your city.
Why is Puthandu (Tamil New Year) celebrated?
Puthandu, also known as Tamil New Year, is the first day of year on the Tamil calendar that is traditionally celebrated as a festival by Tamils. The festival date is set with the solar cycle of the solar Hindu calendar, as the first day of the month of Chittirai.
Other years: Puthandu (Tamil New Year) 2027
Updated: 2026-10-18 · Calculated for the place shown, with Lahiri ayanamsha. How we calculate