As Margazhi approaches, thousands of Tamil households search for the Tamil Calendar December 2026 (தமிழ் நாட்காட்டி 2026 டிசம்பர்) to check muhurtham dates, plan fasts and temple visits, and keep track of the month’s festivals. Popular printed calendars like the GRT and Nitra editions have followed this same format for years — a daily panchangam with tithi, nakshatram, and rahu kalam alongside a month-by-month festival list — and this guide brings the same information online in a format you can check at a glance. Below is a complete, date-checked list of Tamil Calendar December 2026 festivals and muhurtham days, along with an explanation of why Margazhi month behaves differently from the rest of the year, and how to save the HD calendar image and PDF for your home or shop.
What Is the Tamil Calendar?
The Tamil Calendar, or Tamil Panchangam, is a lunisolar calendar used across Tamil Nadu and the wider Tamil-speaking world to track tithi (lunar day), nakshatram (star), and the twelve Tamil months, which run roughly a month behind their Gregorian counterparts. Unlike calendars that rely purely on the lunar tithi, several major Tamil festivals — Karthigai Deepam and Arudra Darshan among them — are fixed by nakshatram, the Moon’s position against a specific star, which is why their Gregorian dates can shift more noticeably from year to year. Families use the calendar to plan poojas, Ekadashi and Pradosham fasts, and Shashti Vratham days, while it remains the single most-consulted reference for wedding and Griha Pravesam muhurtham dates. Publishers like GRT and Nitra have built entire annual calendars around this format because households genuinely rely on it every single day of the year.
Why Margazhi Month (December 2026) Matters
December 2026 covers the tail of Karthikai month and the first half of Margazhi — the ninth Tamil month and, for many households, the most devotional month of the year. Margazhi 2026 begins on December 16 and continues into mid-January 2027. Tradition holds that this is the “dawn period of the Devas,” and it’s marked by pre-sunrise temple visits, daily recitation of Andal’s Thiruppavai, and Margazhi Ragas sung in Carnatic concerts across Chennai. It’s also the month that hosts Vaikunta Ekadashi and Arudra Darshan, two of the most significant dates on the entire Tamil religious calendar, both falling within this single December. Because auspicious muhurtham activity is generally paused through Margazhi, this is also the month households use to plan ahead for the wedding season that resumes once it ends.
Downloading the Tamil Calendar December 2026 PDF & HD Image
If you’d like to keep this festival list handy through the month, you can save the Tamil Calendar December 2026 PDF or the high-resolution image version linked on this page. The PDF is formatted for printing, so you can pin it up at home, in a shop, or at your workplace, while the HD image version is convenient for sharing on WhatsApp or saving straight to your phone’s gallery. Both versions carry the same verified date list shown in the table above, laid out in the familiar daily-panchangam style that most Tamil households already recognise from calendars like GRT and Nitra. Once downloaded, it’s worth marking your own important dates — birthdays, anniversaries, or shop opening muhurtham — directly next to the printed festival list.
Tamil Calendar December 2026 — Festival & Muhurtham List
Below is the complete, verified overview of December 2026 dates, checked against the Chennai Tamil Panchangam so you can plan the month with confidence. Nakshatram and tithi timings shift through the day and can vary slightly by city, so treat the dates below as the standard day of observance and confirm exact muhurtham timing with your local panchangam before finalising an important event.
| Date | Day | Festival / Muhurtam / Event |
|---|---|---|
| Dec 1, 2026 | Tuesday | Kalabhairav Jayanti |
| Dec 4, 2026 | Friday | Ekadashi (Utpanna Ekadashi) |
| Dec 6, 2026 | Sunday | Pradosham |
| Dec 7, 2026 | Monday | Masa Shivaratri |
| Dec 8, 2026 | Tuesday | Amavasai (New Moon – Tarpanam Day) |
| Dec 15, 2026 | Tuesday | Subrahmanya Sashti / Shashti Vratham |
| Dec 16, 2026 | Wednesday | Margazhi Month Begins & Dhanu Sankranti |
| Dec 20, 2026 | Sunday | Vaikunta Ekadashi (Perumal Temple Special Day) |
| Dec 21, 2026 | Monday | Pradosham (Soma Pradosham) |
| Dec 24, 2026 | Thursday | Pournami & Arudra Darshan / Thiruvathirai |
| Dec 25, 2026 | Friday | Christmas |
| Dec 26, 2026 | Saturday | Sankatahara Chaturthi |
Kalabhairav Jayanti & Ekadashi – December 1 & 4, 2026
The month opens with Kalabhairav Jayanti, dedicated to the fierce protective form of Lord Shiva, followed a few days later by Ekadashi (Utpanna Ekadashi in the wider Hindu calendar). Both are observed with fasting and temple visits, and many devotees treat this stretch as the lead-in to the busier Margazhi fasts ahead.
Pradosham & Masa Shivaratri – December 6–7, 2026
This pair of dates is reserved for Lord Shiva devotees. Pradosham falls on the Trayodashi tithi, with the twilight hour considered the most powerful time for worship, followed the next day by the monthly Shivaratri observance.
Amavasai – December 8, 2026
Amavasai, the new-moon day, is the customary date for Tarpanam — offerings made to ancestors — along with charitable giving. Many families use this quieter date to prepare for Margazhi, which begins just over a week later.
Subrahmanya Sashti – December 15, 2026
Also known as Shashti Vratham, this day is dedicated to Lord Muruga and closes out Karthikai month. Devotees observe a day-long fast, and temples dedicated to Muruga see especially large crowds for evening puja.
Margazhi Begins & Dhanu Sankranti – December 16, 2026
Margazhi month opens on the same day the Sun transits into Dhanu (Sagittarius) rashi. From this date, temples across Tamil Nadu open before dawn for special Margazhi poojas, and households begin the month-long recitation of Andal’s Thiruppavai, thirty verses traditionally read one per day until Vaikunta Ekadashi.
Vaikunta Ekadashi – December 20, 2026
This is the most significant date on the Tamil Calendar for December 2026. Also called Mukkoti Ekadashi, it marks the day the Vaikunta Dwaram — the gateway to Lord Vishnu’s abode — is symbolically opened, and it’s the single busiest day of the year at Perumal temples including Srirangam and Tirumala, where the Vaikunta Dwara Darshanam draws enormous crowds.
Pradosham – December 21, 2026
The month’s second Pradosham falls the day after Vaikunta Ekadashi, continuing the run of Shiva-focused observances that mark the early weeks of Margazhi.
Pournami & Arudra Darshan – December 24, 2026
Margazhi’s full moon coincides this year with Arudra Darshan, also known as Thiruvathirai, one of the most important Shaiva festivals of the Tamil year. It celebrates Lord Shiva as Nataraja, the cosmic dancer, and is observed with grand abhishekams at the Chidambaram Nataraja temple as well as at Shiva temples across Tamil Nadu. The traditional offering on this day is Thiruvathirai Kali, a sweet porridge made from rice, jaggery, and coconut.
Christmas – December 25, 2026
While not part of the Tamil Panchangam, Christmas is a widely observed public holiday across Tamil Nadu and is included here since most households use this calendar to track holidays alongside religious dates.
Sankatahara Chaturthi – December 26, 2026
The month closes with Sankatahara Chaturthi, a monthly fast dedicated to Lord Ganesha, observed with an evening puja after moonrise.
Why Margazhi Isn’t Preferred for Marriage Muhurtham
You’ll notice there are no wedding muhurtham dates listed for December after the 16th. This isn’t an oversight — Margazhi is traditionally considered a month for temple worship, bhajans, and spiritual discipline rather than weddings, house-warmings, or other new beginnings. Most Tamil families deliberately avoid scheduling major life events during this period and instead treat it as a time to focus on daily pooja and devotional routines, picking muhurtham planning back up once Margazhi ends in mid-January.
How These Dates Were Verified
Tamil calendar PDFs that circulate online are often copied from one site to another without anyone checking whether the dates still match the actual panchangam for that year, and a few festivals are especially prone to this — Karthigai Deepam in particular is frequently listed in December when it has actually already taken place in November. For this Tamil Calendar December 2026 list, every date was cross-checked against the Chennai Tamil Panchangam rather than carried over from an older template, and any entry that didn’t hold up for December 2026 specifically was left out. If a date here looks different from your family temple’s calendar, it’s worth a quick check locally — small regional and sampradaya variations are normal, especially around Ekadashi and Pradosham.
A Quick Note on Accuracy
Tamil festival dates are set using a mix of tithi (lunar day) and nakshatram (star), both of which begin and end at specific times that shift slightly depending on your city’s sunrise. Because of this, some dates — Pradosham and Ekadashi especially — can occasionally be observed a day apart in different regions. The dates listed above reflect the Chennai-based Tamil Panchangam, which is the most widely followed standard across Tamil Nadu; if you follow a specific temple or family tradition, it’s always worth confirming with your local priest before finalising an important pooja or muhurtham.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why isn’t Karthigai Deepam on this December calendar? Karthigai Deepam 2026 falls on November 24, before this calendar’s window begins. Some older calendar templates still list it in December, which is a common carry-over error — check the Tamil Calendar November 2026 page for the full Karthigai Deepam details instead.
Is Vaikunta Ekadashi the same as Mokshada Ekadashi? Yes. Vaikunta Ekadashi (also called Mukkoti Ekadashi) is the Tamil Nadu name for the same Shukla Paksha Ekadashi of Dhanurmasa that North Indian calendars call Mokshada Ekadashi. Both fall on December 20, 2026.
How many Ekadashi fasts are there in December 2026? There are two: Ekadashi on December 4 (Utpanna Ekadashi) and Vaikunta Ekadashi on December 20.
Why do Pournami and Arudra Darshan fall on the same day this year? Arudra Darshan is observed when the Thiruvathirai (Arudra) nakshatram coincides with Pournami, the full moon. In 2026, that overlap happens on December 24, which is why both are marked on the same date.
Can I follow this calendar for muhurtham outside Tamil Nadu? Yes, with a small adjustment. The tithi and nakshatram dates apply broadly, but Ekadashi and Pradosham timings are calculated for sunrise in your own city, so it’s worth checking your local panchangam for the exact hour if you’re outside Tamil Nadu.
Conclusion
The Tamil Calendar December 2026 opens with a run of fasting days in early Karthikai and then moves into the devotional stretch of Margazhi — Vaikunta Ekadashi, Pradosham, and Arudra Darshan all landing within a single month.