How To Celebrate Tamil New Year At Home

In this post, I have shared details on how to celebrate Tamil New Year at home in Tamil Nadu style. Tamil New Year or Varusha Pirappu/Tamil Puthandu, marks the first day of the Tamil solar calendar and falls in mid-April. Tamil New Year 2025 will be celebrated on April 14, Monday. The festival is deeply significant for Tamilians, as it marks the beginning of all Tamil festivals. It is celebrated in a simple yet meaningful way in many households. Before going into Tamil new year celebration procedure, I wish you all a very happy and prosperous Tamil New Year !!

அனைவருக்கும் இனிய தமிழ் புத்தாண்டு நல் வாழ்த்துக்கள் !!!

Disclaimer: The celebration procedure I have shared here is based on my family practice. It may vary as per your tradition and custom. So beginners, please consult the elders of your family and do the pooja.

How do we celebrate Tamil New year

On Tamil New Year, also known as Tamil Puthandu, families celebrate with a blend of tradition, rituals, and festive foods. The day begins with Kani Paarthal, where a tray of symbolic items like fruits ( Banana, Mango, Jackfruit), jewelry, and a mirror is displayed for good luck and prosperity. After a head bath and wearing new clothes, the house entrance is decorated with Maa kolam (Rangoli) and mango leaves (Maa ilai thoranam). You can visit my in-laws blog for kolam ideas.

The highlight of the celebration is a vegetarian feast, with Mango Pachadi symbolizing the mixture of emotions and dishes like Paruppu, Sambar, Poriyal, Kootu, Payasam, and Vada representing the six tastes – sweet, sour, bitter, salty, spicy, and astringent while honoring the diverse flavors of Tamil cuisine. Additionally, Panakam and Neer Mor are prepared if the Panchangam (Tamil calendar) is kept for pooja. Families visit temples, perform pooja, and exchange blessings, marking a time of togetherness and honoring Tamil traditions.

In most parts of India, one can see neem trees blooming with their flowers and the first batch of mangoes hanging prominently. So this day is celebrated with neem flowers and raw mangoes to symbolize growth and prosperity ( Source: Wikipedia). In the temple city of Madurai, Chithirai Thiruvizha is celebrated in Meenakshi amman Temple in a grand manner. In Kerala, people celebrate this day as Vishu festival.

Ingredients for Tamil new year Pooja & menu

• Lamp / Vilakku
• Flowers
• KumKum and turmeric powder
• Betel leaves & nuts
• Banana leaf
• Coconut
• Match box, incense stick, dhoop, and camphor
• Banana, Mango, Jackfruit & fruits like Apple, Pomegranate, Guava on your wish ( Banana is essential)
• Vegetables like Raw banana, cluster beans, Broad beans, Lady’s finger, Gooseberry etc
• Raw Mango ( Must buy)
• Dried or fresh neem flowers
• Urad dal for making vada
• Rice & dal, jaggery for making Payasam
• Other essentials for cooking like toor dal, tamarind, sambar powder, salt and water

On this day we avoid vegetables like Drumstick, Bottle gourd, brinjal, Keerai/greens, cabbage, Beetroot, Carrot, Beans, Potato, Onion and garlic in our cooking as we offer the lunch menu to God.

Pre-Preparations

On the previous day i.e 13th of April, wash the lamps, clean the house. Decorate, put threads/ wicks in the lamps. Buy all the required fruits, vegetables, groceries, flowers and pooja items for the festival and keep them ready. Some people have the practice of keeping fruits, flowers, rice, pulses, jaggery, a plate full of money and jewellery in front of a mirror in the pooja room. On April 14th morning, people used to see that before starting the day. Its called as Vishu kani celebration in Malayalam and Kani paarthal in Tamil. If you have this practice in your home, please consult the elders of your house and arrange the fruits, groceries, money etc the previous night itself.

For cooking, wash and soak the urad dal for vada and grind the batter using mixie or grinder. Keep the batter in fridge without adding salt. If you want, you can roast the rice & dal and keep it ready for making payasam the next day. Chop all the vegetables and store in a box if needed. These pre preparations can be done to make the lunch thali quickly. You can do the pooja at any auspicious time. Make sure there is no Rahu Kalam and Yama kandam.

How to prepare Tamil new year lunch menu

On April 14th early morning, we take head bath and draw maa kolam in the entrance and before pooja room. Keep flowers and decorate the pooja room. Start preparing the lunch menu. Please check THIS POST to make this menu under one hour. 

Pressure cook roasted rice+dal mixture for making payasam. In another cooker, keep the rice. After cooking rice+dal for payasam, add the jaggery and let it boil. Add coconut milk and cardamom powder. Add the fragrant spices like Pachai karpooram, Jathikai powder. Roast cashews in ghee and add to payasam. Transfer the payasam to a bowl and wash the cooker. In the same cooker, pressure cook moong dal for making paruppu. Temper mustard seeds, curry leaves and hing. Add to the cooked moong dal. 

Make Mango pachadi. Keep it ready. Make sambar, Poriyal or kootu. We make either poriyal or kootu for the menu. You should make Panakam and neer mor if you keep Panchangam for pooja else its optional. Instead of this full meals menu, you can make 5 rice varieties like Lemon rice, Coconut rice, Sweet pongal, Tamarind rice and curd rice along with vada and payasam. I have made a rice varieties video for quick preparation under 30 minutes.

Lastly you can make Urad dal vada and appalam. Make Mormilagai and pickle if you wish. If you can’t get Raw mango and Neem flowers, no issues. Just make some thayir pachadi with vegetables like carrot or lady’s finger or even with vada and offer to God. Serve them in a banana leaf or Silver plate before doing the pooja.

How to do Tamil new year pooja

After you finish cooking, wash the banana leaf and spread it in front of pooja place. Make sure the time is auspicious without Rahu kalam and Yama gandam. Arrange all the prepared dishes in the banana leaf ( Check out my Full meals lunch menu post to view the order of arranging the dishes ). Light the lamps. Show the incense stick, do the neivedyam. Show the dhoop, deep and finish the pooja showing mangala Harathi.

Tamil New Year Recipes

Full meals menu

• Rice
• Vendakkai sambar
• Paruppu for rice
• Mango pachadi
• Carrot thayir pachadi
• Raw banana poriyal
• Veppam poo rasam
• Arisi Paruppu payasam
• Pepper vada using mixie
• Instant mango pickle
• Panakam & Neer mor
• Appalam

Check out my Full meals lunch menu post to view the order of arranging the dishes.

Variety Rice Menu

Instead of this elaborate lunch menu, you can offer 5 Variety Rice Recipes along with Vada and Payasam.

• LEMON RICE
• TAMARIND RICE/PULI SADAM
• THENGAI SADAM/COCONUT RICE
• CURD RICE/THAYIR SADAM
• PEPPER PULIOGARE/MILAGU PULI SADAM
• SWEET PONGAL/SAKKARAI PONGAL
• MILAGU JEERAGA SADAM/PEPPER CUMIN RICE
• SESAME SEEDS RICE

Please watch the video to make 5 rice varieties easily under 30 minutes.

I have shared the alternate options for lunch menu below. Usually we make Lady’s finger sambar and raw banana poriyal for Tamil new year lunch thali. But we can also offer other sambar recipes, more kuzhambu, poriyal recipes, pachadi and kootu. So I have shared the other options below. Please keep in mind, mango pachadi is a must on this day. Avoid onion, garlic in your cooking.

• Sambar varieties
• Kootu varieties
• Poriyal recipes
• Kesari varieties
• 15 easy sweets
• Sakkarai pongal / Sweet pongal

Simple celebration procedure

• All the above recipes are shared as per our tradition. You can try any based on the availability of ingredients. Its not a hard and fast rule to make full meals and offer GOD. Some people celebrate Tamil new year just by offering a payasam and vada. 
• If you are a bachelor and wish to do the pooja, you can simply soak Poha/Aval in hot milk adding sugar, cardamom powder and offer to God. GOD will accept everything and anything if done whole heartedly.

Once again, I wish you all a very happy and a prosperous Tamil New Year !!

அனைவருக்கும் இனிய தமிழ் புத்தாண்டு நல் வாழ்த்துக்கள் !!!