Events
Seven gatherings that mark the Karaikudi year — temple festivals, a pilgrimage on foot, a book fair and an open day at the laboratories — listed in the order they come round.
January – February · Thai
Thaipoosam, the main festival for Lord Murugan, falls on the day of the Poosam star in the Tamil month of Thai. The people of Chettinad are staunch devotees of Lord Palani andavar, and set out on foot with their kavadis on their shoulders a couple of weeks beforehand — from Devakottai, Karaikudi and the nearby towns and villages — walking all the way to the Dandayudhapani Swami temple atop Sivagiri.
February
Karaikudi being an education capital, an impressive weeklong Book Exhibition — Puthaga Kankatchi — is conducted at Kamban Manimandapam every February, with wide arrays of books on many topics. Each evening, students from one of the town's schools give a cultural performance. Booksellers and publishers hold further book fairs through the year.
February · Masi
Sivarathiri is observed every month on the day before the moonless day; the one falling in the Tamil month of Masi is kept as Maha Sivarathiri, the grand night in honour of Lord Siva. People stay awake through the night praying, reading and singing his praise, and the fast breaks the next morning after ritual oblation. It is celebrated in grandeur at the Sri Meenakshi Sundareswarar temple in the southwest of Karaikudi.
28 February
The Central Electro Chemical Research Institute at Karaikudi observes Science and Technology Day on 28 February as its Open Day. Visitors walk freely among stalls demonstrating the achievements, technology and future of science, alongside C.E.C.R.I.'s own contribution to it. On some occasions the open day is held in September instead.
February – March · Masi–Panguni
The festive season opens on the last Tuesday of Masi with Poochorithal, the floral festival, followed a week later by Sumangali Poojai, and closes with grandeur in the Tamil month of Panguni. From the first day people take processions from the Muthalamman temple — paalkudam, theechatti, kavadi, alagu, pookuzli and molaippari — performed as nethi kadan, nandri kadan and venduthal.
March
A festival on the world classical language Tamil, held for four days at Kamban Manimandapam every March in honour of the emperor among poets, Kavichakravarthy Kamban. Learned scholars and admirers of Tamil exchange their views, and the literary works of Kamban and other great poets are taken for debate.
April – May · Chithirai–Vaikasi
Sevvai Perum Thiruvizha, the grand Tuesday festival, runs for ten consecutive days from the last Tuesday of Chithirai into the first week of Vaikasi. It opens with kodi yetram, the flag hoisting, takes in the theppa thiruvizha and Poocheridal, and concludes with the grand thear thiruvizha — the temple car drawn around the temple as far as the Kattamman temple at Senjai, to be returned the next day.
Karaikudi and its neighbouring places keep many more festivals through the year. The full accounts of these seven, with their histories and legends, are on the heritage page.