Vidyarambham 2027

About Vidyarambham

Vidyarambham, also called Ezhuthiniruthu, is the ceremony at which a small child writes their first letters, guided by an elder, on the morning of Vijayadashami. It is kept mainly in Kerala, and in 2027 Kerala's calendars place it on Sunday, 10 October 2027, which can be a day after Dussehra in North Indian calendars. Similar first-letter rites are kept in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

Vidyarambham is Sanskrit for "the beginning of learning". In Malayalam the ceremony is also called ezhuthiniruthu, which means seating a child down to write. On Vijayadashami morning a child of two or three sits in the lap of an elder: a priest, a teacher, a grandparent, sometimes a well-known writer. The elder holds the child's index finger and traces the first letters in a brass plate of raw rice, and writes on the child's tongue with a gold ring. The order varies by family and temple, and the whole thing takes a minute or two.

What the child writes, and why

The usual first words are "Om Hari Sree Ganapathaye Namah". It is a salutation to Hari (Vishnu), to Sree (Lakshmi, or simply what is auspicious) and to Ganapati, who is invoked before any beginning. The phrase is so tied to starting out that "harisree kurikkuka", to write harisree, is everyday Malayalam for making a start on anything.

Families explain the parts of the rite in slightly different ways. Rice is grain, so writing in it ties learning to a life with enough to eat. Some temples and cultural centres use sand instead, which stands for practice and effort. Gold on the tongue asks that the child's speech be blessed by Saraswati, the goddess of learning, and in some places the ring is dipped in honey first.

Many children cry, wriggle or pull their hand away. The elder guides the finger anyway, and nobody counts it as a bad sign.

Where it sits in Navaratri

In Kerala the last three days of Sharad Navratri belong to Saraswati, and Vidyarambham closes a short sequence that every school child in the state knows.

1. Durgashtami evening · Pooja vaypu
   Books, pens, slates and musical instruments are placed before Saraswati at home or in a temple

   Reading and writing stop from this point

2. Mahanavami · Ayudha Puja
   Books and tools rest and are worshipped

   Nobody studies; see Ayudha Puja for how the south keeps this day

3. Vijayadashami morning · Pooja eduppu and Vidyarambham
   The books are taken back after a puja and something is read or written at once

   Small children write their first letters

Older students and adults use the same morning to start something: a first veena or Carnatic lesson, a first Bharatanatyam class, a new course. Art schools and classical music academies hold their own ceremonies, where young singers and dancers seek Saraswati's blessing. The day before is Ayudha Puja.

How the date is set

Vijayadashami is Dashami, the tenth lunar day of the bright half of Ashwin. A lunar day rarely begins at sunrise, and that causes the confusion. When Dashami starts partway through a day, many North Indian calendars mark Dussehra on that day. Kerala's calendars, which reckon time in nazhika of 24 minutes, usually hold Vidyarambham on the next morning, the first one that dawns in Dashami.

So in 2024 much of India kept Dussehra on 12 October, while Kerala's children wrote their first letters on 13 October. The south does not always agree with itself either: that year the Kollur Mookambika temple in Karnataka held Vidyarambha on 12 October. Kerala's government holiday list, its temples and its Malayalam newspapers follow the Kerala date. Check those, not a national calendar, before you book a temple slot or travel.

Big temples begin at 4 am, and some ask families to register in advance. Newspapers such as Malayala Manorama and Kerala Kaumudi run their own ceremonies with invited writers, doctors and public figures, and these also take registrations in the days before.

Where families go

Many families do it at home in front of a lit nilavilakku, with a grandparent as guru. Others travel to a place with meaning for them:

• Panachikkad Dakshina Mookambika, the Saraswati temple near Kottayam, where initiations start at dawn and run into the evening.
• Dakshina Mookambika at North Paravur in Ernakulam district.
• Thiruvullakkavu Sree Dharma Sastha temple near Thrissur, where in 2025 about 60 acharyas initiated children from 4 am to 6 pm.
• Thunchan Parambu in Tirur, Malappuram, the birthplace of Thunchath Ezhuthachan, revered as the father of Malayalam. It is a memorial and cultural centre rather than a temple, which suits families who want the first letter tied to the language itself.
• Kollur Mookambika in Udupi district, Karnataka, which draws families from both states.

Public figures host children too. In 2025 Kerala's education minister, V. Sivankutty, had children at his home write "amma", "sneham", "nanma" and "neethi": mother, love, goodness and justice.

Beyond Kerala, and beyond Hindus

In Kerala the rite crossed religious lines long ago. Reporters describe it as a Hindu custom that has taken on a secular side: Christian and Muslim families bring their children too, and some churches hold their own first-letter ceremonies. If a colleague who isn't Hindu mentions their child's Vidyarambham, nothing about that is unusual in Kerala, and a warm wish is the right response.

Age, gifts and what to write

Kerala reports usually describe the children as two to three years old. Pan-Indian guides and panchangs often say four or five. Families follow their own elders, and a child initiated later has missed nothing.

The guru is traditionally offered dakshina: betel leaves, an areca nut and a coin, sometimes with a new mundu or sari. If you are invited, a gift the child can learn with works best: a slate, crayons or a picture book in Malayalam.

How to wish someone on Vidyarambham

A Vidyarambham wish is for a family on a proud morning: the child who wrote "Hari Sree" in rice, the parents who queued at dawn, the grandparent or teacher who held the small hand. Name the child if you can and ask for the photo. "Vidyarambha ashamsakal" or "Vijayadashami ashamsakal" work well in Malayalam. Keep exam and career talk out of it; the child is two or three. A thank-you card to the guru is also a good idea.

Write a few lines in your own words, pick a design and share it as one link on WhatsApp, Instagram or anywhere else. They open an animated card made just for them, with no app and no sign-up.

Language tip: English, Malayalam + Tamil, Kannada or Telugu.

When is Vidyarambham in each year?

Vidyarambham is set by the Hindu lunisolar calendar, so it falls on a different date each year. In 2027 it falls 11 days earlier than in 2026.

Frequently asked questions