Vishu: What, Why, When, How

What it is

Vishu is the traditional new year of Kerala, kept on the first day of the Malayalam month of Medam, when the Sun enters the sign of Mesha (Aries). It begins the solar year; the years of the Malayalam (Kollam) era are counted from the month of Chingam, the month of Onam. It is a festival of light and of good beginnings.

Its heart is the Vishukkani, "the first sight of Vishu". On the night before, the eldest woman of the house fills a bell-metal vessel with good things: rice, a golden cucumber, fruit, a coconut, gold, coins, a metal mirror, a holy book and the bright yellow konna flowers. She sets it before an image of Krishna with a lit brass lamp. At dawn each person is led to it with eyes closed, so that the first thing they see in the new year is the Kani.

Then elders give the children a small gift of money, the Vishukkaineettam. Families go to the temple, light firecrackers, and share a festive meal. Tamil families keep their own new year, Puthandu, on the same Sun's entry into Mesha, and in most years on the same day.

Why it is kept

The Sun's new year. The name Vishu comes from the Sanskrit vishuva, the day when day and night are equal. Long ago the Sun's entry into Mesha came at the spring equinox. The Indian solar year still begins there, though over the centuries the equinox has moved a few weeks earlier. V. Nagam Aiya's Travancore State Manual (1906) calls Vishu "the astronomical new year's day" of Kerala.

The first sight. Kerala families hold that the new year should begin with a sight of everything good: light, grain, fruit, gold, learning and the Lord. The same manual describes the Kani of its day almost as families still make it: a round bell-metal vessel with an old palm-leaf book, a gold ornament, a fresh washed cloth, konna flowers, a measure of rice and a metal mirror, with two lamps burning on either side. Before dawn someone wakes the household and leads each person to it with eyes covered, and they open their eyes only in front of it. After the Kani, the head of the family gives money gifts to the younger members and the household staff.

Krishna at the centre. Today the Kani is set before an image of Krishna, and the Guruvayur temple, Kerala's great Krishna temple, opens before dawn so that devotees can see its own Vishukkani. Many families see the new year as a fresh start under Krishna's care. That is the tradition's own telling, kept here as tradition.

The texts behind the story

• The Travancore State Manual, by V. Nagam Aiya, vol. II (Trivandrum: Travancore Government Press, 1906) ("Vishu", pp. 366–367, leaves n411–n412 (the first day of Medam, "the astronomical new year's day"; the Kani and how the household is led to it; money presents at daybreak); "Chittra Vishu", p. 311, leaf n350 (the Tamil new year and the Kani in Malabar and Travancore))
• Krishna at the centre of the Kani, and the Vishukkani at Guruvayur: present-day Kerala practice. Summarised in our own words.

When it is kept

Vishu is the first day of the Malayalam month of Medam, the day the Sun enters Mesha (Aries) by the Malayali rule: if the Sun enters Mesha before three-fifths of the daytime has passed at your location, Vishu is that day; if later, it is the next day. The engine works this out for your city from the exact moment the Sun enters Mesha.

The date, from the calendar engine

• Vishu 2027: Vishu falls on Wednesday, April 14, 2027 in Washington DC (Malayali rule, computed for this city). In New Delhi it falls on Thursday, April 15, 2027.

The date depends on your city. Every city we cover is on the year page.

Traditions and regional customs

• Malayali: first day of Medam, Mesha Sankranti before three-fifths of the daytime (engine id vishu)
• Tamil: Puthandu, first day of Chithirai, by the Tamil sunset rule (engine id puthandu)
• Odia: Pana Sankranti on the same Sun's entry into Mesha (engine id pana-sankranti)

Why the day can differ

Vishu and the Tamil new year, Puthandu, both mark the Sun's entry into Mesha, but each uses its own rule for the first day of the month. In most years they fall on the same day; when the Sun enters Mesha late in the day, Vishu can come a day after Puthandu.

Because the rule uses the time of day at your location, a city abroad can keep Vishu a day before or after Kerala. The app shows your city's day, and the day in India when they differ. Malayali associations abroad often hold the Vishu programme and meal on the weekend nearest the day, while families make the Kani at home on the day itself.

How to keep it at home

1. On the evening before Vishu, clean the room where the family prays. In a bell-metal vessel (uruli) or any clean round vessel, place raw rice, a golden cucumber or another yellow fruit or vegetable, mangoes or other fruit, a coconut cut in half, some gold and coins, a folded new cloth, a small mirror, a holy book such as the Bhagavad Gita or the Ramayana, and konna flowers or any yellow flowers you can find.
2. Set the vessel in front of an image of Krishna, with a brass lamp (nilavilakku) beside it. Keep the lamp ready to light, so that the first person up can light it before waking the others.
3. At dawn, the eldest person lights the lamp and then wakes the others one by one. Lead each person to the Kani with their eyes closed or gently covered. When they are in front of it, they open their eyes, look at the Kani and the Lord, and bow.
4. After the Kani, elders give the Vishukkaineettam, a small gift of coins or money, to the children and the younger members of the family. Many families then say a prayer to Vishnu, such as "Om Namo Narayanaya" or the Vishnu Sahasranama, and go to the temple.
5. Later in the day, cook and share the Vishu meal. Families abroad who cannot see the Kani at dawn on a working day can make it the evening before and see it first thing in the morning, before leaving home.

Fasting

Vishu is a feast, not a fast. The custom is to begin the year with a good sight, a gift and a shared meal.

Food

The Vishu sadya is a vegetarian feast on a banana leaf. Many homes add dishes that hold all the tastes of the year, sweet, sour and bitter together: mango pulissery (ripe mango in a yogurt sauce), veppampoo rasam made with neem flowers, and payasam. Some families in central and southern Kerala make Vishu kanji, rice cooked with coconut milk, and in the north Vishu katta, a rice and coconut cake.

For children

In Kerala, the new year begins with a surprise. The night before Vishu, grandmother fills a shiny bowl with rice, fruit, a golden cucumber, coins and bright yellow flowers, and puts it in front of a picture of baby Krishna with a lamp. Early in the morning she wakes everyone and covers their eyes. "Now open!" The very first thing they see in the new year is the glowing lamp, the flowers and Krishna smiling. Then grandparents give the children a few coins to keep.

Something to do together

Make a small Kani together on a plate: a little rice, one yellow fruit, a coin, a flower and a small mirror. Put it near your prayer place before bed, and in the morning take turns leading each other to it with eyes closed.

Sources

• Panchang engine rule vishu (packages/panchang/data/festivals.json), with the sources it lists, and the engine's pre-1931 record for the rule, nagam-aiya-1906-vishu (packages/panchang/src/festivals/extras.ts).
• N. Dershowitz and E. M. Reingold, "Indian Calendrical Calculations" (§4, the Malayali rule for the start of a solar month).
• The Travancore State Manual, by V. Nagam Aiya, vol. II (Trivandrum: Travancore Government Press, 1906) (pp. 311 and 366–367, leaves n350 and n411–n412)

Related guides

• Ugadi (Yugadi)
• Gudi Padwa
• Onam (Thiruvonam)