Agni Nakṣatram is the stretch of peak summer heat while the Sun passes from Bharaṇī pāda 3 to Rohiṇī pāda 1, known in Tamil homes as kattiri veyil. South Indian pañcāṅgas usually mark it with two separate days, one for its beginning and one for its end. Only in the rare case where both boundaries fall on the same civil day is it shown as a single day that stands for the whole season. It is a marker of the solar season rather than a festival, and most almanacs give this one-day form no separate festival name. How the day is fixed: The day is one on which the Sun's sidereal longitude lies between Bharaṇī pāda 3 and Rohiṇī pāda 1, while on both the previous and the next day it lies outside that span. Keep in mind: In ordinary years the season begins when the Sun enters Bharaṇī pāda 3 and ends when it leaves Rohiṇī pāda 1, with several weeks in between. If your local pañcāṅga shows separate begin and end dates, follow those instead. This year: The 2026 date shown here is worked out from sunrise at the place you chose, so in another city the same day can fall a day earlier or later. Care in the heat: Households avoid the midday sun, drink buttermilk and tender coconut water, and set out water for birds at the doorstep. Optional worship: There is no single all-India vrata for the day. Some offer a simple pūjā to Agni or to Murugan, and no special auspicious muhūrta is attached to it. Worth remembering: This single day is not a separate tradition. It stands in for the usual Agni Nakṣatram begins and Agni Nakṣatram ends days, which are the normal way the season is marked. How the heat season is kept is a matter of local custom. Tamil homes speak of kattiri veyil and Telugu and Kannada homes of the kartari, and each region has its own ways of getting through these weeks. Beyond the pañcāṅga, the elders of one's own house remain the surest guide.
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