Vishu is the new year of Kerala and of Malayali families around the world. It falls in mid-April, at the beginning of the solar month of Medam, and it is a quiet, family festival that begins before sunrise with a particular sight. The name Vishu comes from a Sanskrit word for equal, because the day was once close to the spring equinox.
The Vishukkani
Vishukkani means the first sight of Vishu. The night before, the eldest woman of the house, or someone in charge, arranges a tray in the prayer room: a bell-metal vessel called an uruli filled with raw rice, a gold-yellow flower called konna (the golden shower or Cassia fistula), a piece of gold or a gold ornament, fresh yellow cucumber, coconut, a jackfruit, mango, a folded new cloth, a mirror (valkannadi), a lit lamp and an image of Krishna.
At dawn, family members are woken with their eyes shut and led to the tray, so that the first thing they see in the new year is the display and the lamp. The idea is that what one sees first sets a hopeful tone for the year. Children are led by hand, and the whole household stands before the tray in silence before the day goes on.
Vishukkaineettam and the day
After the Kani, the elders give small gifts of money to children and younger family members. This is the Vishukkaineettam. The household bathes, wears new clothes, visits a temple (the Guruvayur and Sabarimala shrines are especially crowded), and prepares the sadya, a large vegetarian feast served on banana leaf, with dishes such as sambar, avial, olan, thoran and payasam. Vishu cracker fireworks are a common part of the evening. A sour-bitter mix called Vishu katta and a sweet vishu kanji are also traditional.
The date
Vishu has no tithi; it follows the Sun, like Baisakhi, Pongal and other solar new years. The rule used on this page, which follows the way Drik Panchang lists the festival, is the civil day of the first sunrise after the Sun enters Mesha. If the ingress comes in the morning, the festival is the next day; if it comes in the small hours, before sunrise, it is the same day. The Sankranti moment is shown with each city’s date.
Kerala’s own panchangams follow regional rules about the time of day by which the month begins, and for a few years in a few places they may name a different day. If you take Vishu from your family’s almanac or from your local Kerala temple, follow that.
Why cities differ
The ingress is a single instant, but the first sunrise after it depends on where you are. An ingress at the start of a day in North America and in the middle of that day in Australia can make Vishu a day apart in two cities. The table shows each city with the rule applied. A city that is not listed can be found on the any-city tool.
A note on the year
The Malayalam calendar, the Kollavarsham, formally counts its year from the month of Chingam, about four months after Vishu. Vishu marks the Sun’s entry into the first sign, Mesha, and is kept as a new year by long custom. Onam falls in Chingam; see Onam.
A calm note
If you live far from Kerala, a lamp, a mirror, some fruit and a coin in a small tray is a full Vishukkani, and a call to the elders of the family stands in for the Vishukkaineettam. The festival asks for attention to what one looks at first on a new morning, and is not a prediction. Your family’s custom comes first.