Also known as: Medam Vishu, Malayalam astronomical new year, Bisu (Tulu Nadu) · Observed: Kerala and the Tulu-speaking districts of Karnataka
Significance of Vishu
Vishu is celebrated in Kerala on the first day of the solar month of Medam, when the Sun enters sidereal Mesha. The name comes from the Sanskrit vishuva, meaning equal, recalling a time when this solar transit coincided with the spring equinox and day and night were of equal length. Although the Malayalam calendar year (Kollavarsham) formally begins in the month of Chingam, Vishu is regarded as the astronomical new year, and the first sight and first acts of the day are believed to shape the fortune of the whole year.
In agrarian Kerala the festival also marks the start of the sowing season, when farmers ritually prepare their fields for the coming monsoon crop.
Vishukkani: The First Sight
The heart of Vishu is the Vishukkani, literally the first sight of Vishu. On the night before, the eldest woman of the house arranges an uruli, a wide bell-metal vessel, with raw rice, a split golden cucumber (kanivellari), ripe mangoes, jackfruit, banana, coconut, betel leaves and areca nut, a folded cotton mundu, gold ornaments, coins, a palm-leaf text or book, and the bright yellow flowers of the konna tree (Indian laburnum). A polished brass mirror (Aranmula kannadi) and a lit nilavilakku lamp are placed beside an image of Krishna.
Before dawn, family members are led one by one with eyes closed to the puja room and then open them to see the kani in the lamplight. The golden colours of the cucumber, flowers, gold and lamp flame are meant to fill the mind with prosperity and devotion at the very start of the year. The kani is later taken to show to cattle, trees and those who could not come to the house.
Kaineettam, Sadya and Festivities
After the kani, elders give kaineettam, small gifts of money, to children, younger relatives and household staff, as a blessing that they may never lack. Children set off firecrackers, called Vishu padakkam, from early morning. The famous Sabarimala and Guruvayur temples are crowded with devotees seeking the Vishukkani darshan at the shrine itself.
The midday Vishu sadya includes dishes specific to the season: Vishu katta (rice cooked in coconut milk and set into a cake, served with jaggery), Vishu kanji (rice gruel with coconut milk and spices), thoran, mambazha pulissery (ripe mango in a yoghurt curry) and payasam. Bitter preparations with neem or bitter gourd are often included, as in other spring new year meals.
How the Date Is Determined
Vishu falls on the day of Mesha Sankranti, the Sun's entry into sidereal Aries. Kerala almanacs follow a rule based on the time of transit: if the Sun enters Mesha before a set point in the afternoon, the festival is celebrated that day; if the entry is later, Vishu shifts to the next morning. This is why Vishu sometimes falls a day after Puthandu or Baisakhi even though all three follow the same solar event.
Rituals and customs
- Preparing the Vishukkani in a bell-metal uruli
- Viewing the kani at dawn with eyes closed until reaching the shrine
- Kaineettam gifts of money from elders
- Vishu padakkam firecrackers
- Visiting Guruvayur, Sabarimala or local temples
- Vishu sadya with Vishu katta and mango dishes