When is Onam 2026?
Onam 2026 was on Wednesday, August 26, 2026.
Dates follow the Hindu calendar for New Delhi, India. In North America some festivals are kept one day earlier because of the time difference; check with your temple.
The harvest festival of Kerala. Families make flower carpets (pookalam), hold boat races and share a large feast on a banana leaf (sadya).
How the date is set: The Thiruvonam day in the Malayalam month of Chingam (August or September).
The date in other years
A short history
Onam (IPA: [oːɳɐm]), the national festival of Keralam, is an annual harvest and Hindu cultural festival celebrated mostly by the people of Keralam and is traditionally associated with the legend of the benevolent Asura King Mahabali, who once ruled Keralam, returning each year to visit his people. A major annual event for Malayalis, it is the official festival of the state and includes a spectrum of cultural events. In 1961, during the tenure of Chief Minister Pattom Thanu Pillai, Onam was officially declared the national festival of Keralam. However, in the following year, large-scale celebrations were curtailed due to the Indo-China War.
From Wikipedia’s article Onam, by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Related days
Sources
- Drik Panchang festival calendar (New Delhi) Dates
- Wikipedia: Onam Short history (CC BY-SA 4.0)