Kanchi Panchangam
காஞ்சி பஞ்சாங்கம்
Kanchi Panchangam, published by the Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham at Kanchipuram, is a widely-followed Smarta Advaita panchangam particularly authoritative for Tamil Smarta Brahmin households. The Peetham was made famous by the modern Acharyas Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswati (Paramacharya of Kanchi) and Sri Jayendra Saraswati.
Key Facts
| Region | Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu (national reference) |
| Language | Tamil, Sanskrit (also Telugu, Kannada, English editions) |
| Publisher | Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham |
| Founder | Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham — claims founding by Adi Shankaracharya |
| Founded | Claimed 8th century |
| Calculation | Drik Ganita with Lahiri Ayanamsa; aligned with Smarta tradition |
| Website | www.kamakoti.org |
| Where to Get | Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham branches across India, kamakoti.org, Tamil bookstores |
Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham
The Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham at Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu is associated with the Smarta Advaita tradition. It was made globally famous in the 20th century by Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswati Mahaswamiji (1894-1994) — known as the Paramacharya of Kanchi — and his successor Sri Jayendra Saraswati.
Standard Smarta Tradition Contents
- Smarta tithi rules for Ekadashi, Chaturthi, Pradosham
- Annual Mahaperiyava Jayanti, Aradhana dates
- Kanchi seva schedule
- Standard panchanga: tithi, nakshatra, yoga, karana
- Tamil festival calendar
- Marriage and gruhapravesam muhurtams
Where to Obtain
Available from Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham branches across India, the main Peetham at Kanchipuram, and kamakoti.org.
How Kanchi Panchangam arrives at a date
Kanchi Panchangam is calculated using Drik Ganita with Lahiri Ayanamsa; aligned with Smarta tradition. Drik Ganita means the positions of the sun and moon are computed for the moment being asked about, rather than read from the pre-computed mean-motion tables of the older Vakya method, and the Lahiri ayanamsa is the offset between the tropical and sidereal zodiacs that India adopted as its national standard.
That is the same basis the panchangam on this site is computed on, so the tithi, nakshatra, yoga and karana published here are arrived at the same way. What this site does not do is reproduce Kanchi Panchangam: the figures here are computed for the date and place asked for, and no attempt is made to reconcile them with a printed edition.
Questions about Kanchi Panchangam
Can a festival fall on a different day in Kanchi Panchangam than on this site?
It can. The observance day is set by the tithi running at sunrise, and sunrise moves with longitude, so a tithi that begins in the hours either side of dawn can start before sunrise in Tamil Nadu and after sunrise somewhere else. An edition prepared for one region and a calculation made for another city then differ by a day on that observance while agreeing on everything around it.
Where can readers get Kanchi Panchangam?
Through Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham branches across India, kamakoti.org, Tamil bookstores. The publisher is online at www.kamakoti.org. A panchangam is an annual publication: a copy covers one samvatsara and is replaced each year rather than kept as a standing reference.
Does this site publish the dates printed in Kanchi Panchangam?
No. This page is a directory entry for a printed publication. Kanchi Panchangam is published by Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham, prepared in Tamil and Sanskrit for readers in Tamil Nadu. The daily panchangam on this site is computed independently and is not a reproduction of Kanchi Panchangam or of any other printed edition.