Puthāṇṭu is the Tamil solar new year, the first day of Cittirai, when the Sun enters Meṣa. The home is made new with kolam, mango-leaf garlands, an oil bath and fresh clothes, and the first sight of the year is a tray of fruits, flowers, gold, coins and a mirror. Tamil households believe that a year begun by seeing only what is full and auspicious will stay full, and that the bitter, sweet and sour of the day's pacchaḍi teach one to accept whatever the year brings. How the day is fixed: Puthāṇṭu is the civil day on which the Sun enters Meṣa, reckoned in local time, and that day is counted as the first of Cittirai. No tithi or nakshatra is involved, because the Tamil year follows the solar months. Time for the kaṇi: The kaṇi is seen at dawn, in the Prātaḥ period, before the day's other work begins. Households avoid Rāhu kālam, Yamagaṇḍam and Guḷikai for it, and these periods are read from the local pañcāṅga. Keep in mind: Because the Tamil year is solar, Puthāṇṭu does not coincide with the lunar new years such as Ugādi, Yugādi or Guḍi Pāḍavā. It stays close instead to the other solar new years at Meṣa saṅkrānti, such as Viṣu in Kerala, Pohela Boishakh in Bengal and Pana Saṅkrānti in Odisha. This year: The 2027 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. The kaṇi tray: The night before, a tray is laid with mango, jackfruit and banana, betel, flowers, gold jewellery, coins and a mirror. At dawn the first to rise covers the others' eyes and leads them to it, so that it is the first thing each person sees. Greetings and the festive meal: After the kaṇi comes the oil bath and new clothes, and the family bows to the elders and exchanges Puthāṇṭu greetings. The midday meal always includes māṅgāy pacchaḍi, raw mango cooked with neem flower, jaggery and tamarind. Temples and new ledgers: Temples hold special poojas and the new year's pañcāṅga is read aloud. Many traditional Tamil businesses close the old year's accounts and open a fresh kaṇakku pustakam, much like Hāl Khātā in Bengal and the new ledgers of Bestu Varas in Gujarat. Worth remembering: Puthāṇṭu is the Tamil new year and is kept separately from Viṣu, Bisu, Pohela Boishakh and Pana Saṅkrānti, even when they share the same saṅkrānti. The kaṇi custom it shares with Kerala's Viṣukkaṇi comes from the same belief in an auspicious first sight. What goes on the tray, whether the pañcāṅga is read at home or in the temple, and which dishes join the pacchaḍi differ from family to family and town to town. Some households keep the tray from the night before in the pūjā room, others in the hall where everyone will pass. The surest guide is the way the elders of one's own house have always welcomed the year.
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