Pavai Nonbu 2025-2026 | Margazhi Nombu, Margali Nombu

Goddess Andal

Pavai Nombu (Margazhi Nombu) is a month-long vrata observed during the Tamil month of Margazhi or Margali masam. In 2025- 2026, Pavai Nombu starts on 16 December 2025 and ends on 14 January 2026 (30 days).

Mainly the Nombu is for kanyas or virgin girls who want to get good husbands and pleasant married life. It is believed that Andal was performed the Nombu to get the Lord Vishnu as her husband.

Some devotees believe that Gopis, the cowherd girls, were influenced by Pavai Nombu and started to perform Katyayani vrata.

Pavai Nombu is observed as Dhanurmasa Vratham in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Thiruppavai is the sacred text recited during Dhanurmasa vratham. Dhanurmasam is one of the most auspicious months for Vaishnava sect of Hindus.

Origins and legendary background

• The observance is closely associated with Āṇḍāl of Srivilliputtūr, who is said to have performed Pāvai Nombu and composed the 30 hymns of Tiruppāvai as a bridal vrata to attain Śrī Mahāviṣṇu as her husband.​

• Some sources trace the “original” Pāvai Nombu to around 160 BCE, describing it as an ancient fertility and rain‑seeking ritual where maidens played in riverbanks (pāni nīrāḍal), whose sounds and movement were believed to aid the coming monsoon.​

Time, participants, and intent

• The vrata is observed throughout Mārgaḻi, roughly from mid‑December to mid‑January, considered highly auspicious for devotion and austerity.​

• Traditionally it is taken up by kanni pengal (unmarried girls), but in contemporary practice many women and even men participate for overall welfare, spiritual awakening, and family prosperity.​

• Key sankalpas include: obtaining a righteous husband, welfare of the land and cattle, good rains and prosperity, and purification of mind through early‑morning sādhana.​

Main practices during Pāvai Nombu

• Waking in brahma muhūrta (around 4–5 a.m.), bathing, wearing clean/simple clothes, and going in groups to nearby temples or water bodies.​

• Reciting or singing Tiruppāvai (for Viṣṇu) and Tiruvempāvai (for Śiva), often as goshti gānam in streets and temples, accompanied by kolams drawn freshly at the doorstep.​

• Following simple austerities such as avoiding ghee and milk, reducing adornment/beauty routines, limiting food (sometimes to one simple meal), and engaging more in nāma‑saṅkīrtana and charitable acts.​

Andal, Tiruppāvai, and inner meaning

• Tiruppāvai’s 30 pāsurams are treated as the textual and devotional “manual” of the vrata, guiding the sādhaka from collective awakening, to approaching Bhagavān’s abode, to finally seeking His grace and boons.​

• Commentarial traditions interpret the vrata not only as a marriage‑seeking fast, but as a symbolic surrender of the jīva to the Lord, emphasizing righteousness, self‑restraint, devotion, and compassion.​

Shaiva parallel: Tiruvempāvai

• In the Śaiva fold, similar early‑morning observances in Mārgaḻi involve singing Maṇikkavācakar’s Tiruvempāvai in Śiva temples, often referred to under the same broad umbrella of Pāvai Nombu.​

• Here the focus is on awakening to the experience of Śiva within, using the cold, quiet dawn of Mārgaḻi as a support for tapas, bhakti, and inner transformation.