Masi Magam 2025 Date

About Masi Magam

The day Lord Shiva freed Varuna, god of the seas, from the sin of Brahmahatti — and Varuna's boon made every coastal bath on this day merit-bearing. Falls when Magha nakshatra meets the Tamil month of Masi (Feb–Mar), marked by temples carrying their deities down to the sea for theerthavari, the ritual immersion.

The legend explains the bath. When Varuna withdrew into the ocean under a curse, the rains stopped and the world starved; the devas pleaded with Shiva, who released him on this day. In gratitude, Varuna asked that anyone bathing at sacred tirthas now receive his blessing. At Tirunallur's Saptasagara Tirtha, the seven seas are said to merge into one pool. Temple processions reflect this — at Kumbakonam's Adi Kumbeswarar temple, the deities are taken to the Mahamaham tank; at the nearby Ramaswamy temple, Rama and Sita are carried to the same tank and theertha prasad is shared. The festival is older than it looks: a 1016 CE inscription from Rajendra Chola's reign records Nagapattinam villagers funding its sixth day, and Kulothunga I's Chidambaram pillars name it 'Masi Kadaladal' — the Masi sea-bathing.