Vaikasi Visakam 2024: Festival that Celebrates the Birth of Almighty Lord Murugan

When is Vaikasi Visakam 2024: Lord Murugan, also known as Lord Karthikeya, is a major deity of Tamil Hindus and is worshiped in the southern states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Many festivals dedicated to Lord Murugan is celebrated in the state of Tamil Nadu including Vaikasi Visakam, Soorasamharam, Panguni Uthiram, etc. Vaikasi Visakam is the birth anniversary of Lord Murugan and is celebrated with high enthusiasm by his devotees. Murugan was born from the six sparks that flashed from the third eye of Lord Shiva and therefore he is also known as Skanda. Details about Vaikasi Visakam 2024 like date and time, history, significance, celebration, etc can be found in this article.

Vaikasi Visakam 2024 Date

Vaikasi Visakam Overview

It is believed that Lord Murugan was incarnated from Lord Shiva on Purnima of Vaikasi month when the Visakam nakshatra coincides with the full moon. The date Vaikasi Visakam is calculated according to the Tamil calendar and falls in the month of May or June in the Gregorian calendar. In the year 2024, Vaikasi Visakam will be observed on Thursday, May 23rd. The Visakam nakshatra will begin at 07:47 AM on May 22 2024 and end at 09:15 AM on May 23, 2024.

About Lord Murugan

a significant deity in Hinduism, Lord Murugan is the younger son of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati and the brother of Lord Ganesha. He is also known as Lord Senthil, Kumaran, Subramanyam, Shanmugan, Karthikeya, Guhan Saravanapavan, Arumugan and many other names. For the Tamil people, Murugan is a primary deity and there are a number of festivals celebrated by them that are dedicated to him. Lord Murugan has six faces (thus the name Arumugam, meaning six faced) which enables him to see in all directions, East, West, North, South, Heaven and Patala, all at once.

The six heads of Murugan represent his six attributes that are- Jnana (wisdom), Vairagya (detachment), Bala (strength), Keerti (fame), Shree (wealth) and Aishwarya (divine powers). It is believed that Murugan was created from Lord Shiva’s power to save the world from the powerful demon Soorapadam.

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Birth of Lord Murugan

Vaikasi Visakam is a festival that celebrates the birth of Lord Murugan who was created from the energy of Shiva to kill the demon Soorapadam. The story of his birth goes as follows.

Once upon a time, there was a demon named Soorapadam, who along with his brothers ruled the earth causing pain to innocent people. When he defeated the Devas and derived them from their homes in heaven, the devas approached Shiva for help. Lord Shiva meditated and six sparks of fire released from his third eye. These six sparks were carried to the river Ganga by Agni and Vayu to the Saravana pond. The sparks transformed into six babies on six lotuses that bloomed from the pond. The babies were nursed by the six nakshatras or six Krithikas, known as Siva, Sambhuti, Priti, Sannati, Anasuya and Ksama. The babies merged into one to form the six-headed Lord Karthikeya, meaning the son of krithikas.

Significance of Vaikasi Visakam Festival

Lord Murugan is the god of courage, wealth and wisdom and it is believed that worshiping him eliminates all the evil forces from one’s life that appears in the form of sorrow, negativity, grief and others. The festival of Vaikasi Visakam signifies that Lord Murugan will destroy the dark forces present in a person’s life in the same way he destroyed the demon Soorapadam.

How to celebrate Vaikasi Visakam?

On the day of Vaikasi Visakam, special prayers are done in homes and temples to please Lord Murugan and seek his blessings. Many devotees take out a procession carrying milk pots called as Pal kudam to temples of Lord Murugan and perform milk abhishek to the deity. Kavadis are also carried by devotees on their shoulder bearing the offerings they want to make to Lord Murugan. In many temples, the 10 day Brahmotsavam festival is celebrated on the occasion of Vaikasi Visakam.

There are six temples of Lord Murugan present in Tamil Nadu that are called as Aru Padaiveedu or six abodes. Vaikasi Visakam is celebrated in these abodes in a grand manner. The following are the six temples (abodes) of Lord Karthikeya:

1. Palani Murugan Temple
2. Swamimalai Murugan Temple
3. Thiruchendur Murugan Temple
4. Thirupparamkunram Murugan Temple
5. Thiruthani Murugan Temple
6. Pazhamudircholai Murugan Temple

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