Tamilians consider Thaipusam important and celebrate the festival with great fervor. In this case, it is Solar Month that is looked up for identifying the day of Thai Poosam which falls on Makara in Solar month. The mythological story of this festival is that Murugan was bestowed a spear called a Vel by none other than Goddess Parvati for eliminating Soorapadam, a demon with evil intentions and vices. Besides Tamil Nadu, the festival is celebrated in other parts of the world where the Tamil community is in large numbers such as Mauritius, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Malaysia.
The Thaipusam festival is celebrated during the full moon of the Tamil month of Thai (January/February). The word Thaipusam is a combination of the name of the month, Thai, and the name of a star, Pusam. The festival commemorates the occasion when Parvati Devi gave Murugan a “spear” of Vel so that he could defeat the evil demon Soorapadman.
Thaipusam is associated with Kavadi. It’s about Muruga testing the resolve of Idumban. Idumban is a student of Sage Agasthya.
Another myth revolves around Sri Muruga listening to the conversation between Shiva and Parvati. Shiva was rendering an important mantra to Parvati Devi and Sri Muruga overheard it while hiding. Parvati discovered that Karthkeya was listening and cursed him.
Sri Muruga recognized his mistake and started penance. Parvati was happy and appeared before him with God Shiva. Thaipusam is believed to be the day when Parvati appeared before Subramanya Swamy.
Thaipusam Sunday 5th February 2023
Thaipusam Shubh Muhurtham:
Poosam Nakshathram Starts = 9:16 AM on 4-February-2023
Poosam Nakshathram Ends = 12:12 PM on 5-February-2023
