2022
Thursday, 8 September 2022
In 2022 the nakshatra runs from 4:00 pm on 7 Sep to 1:45 pm on 8 Sep. It covers the whole madhyahna (11:03 am–1:33 pm) on Thursday, 8 September 2022, so that is the day of Onam.
2023
Tuesday, 29 August 2023
In 2023 the nakshatra runs from 2:43 am on 29 Aug to 11:49 pm on 29 Aug. It covers the whole madhyahna (11:05 am–1:38 pm) on Tuesday, 29 August 2023, so that is the day of Onam.
How the date is fixed
Onam is the day of Shravana nakshatra in the solar month of Simha (while the Sun is in sidereal Simha); the lunar month does not enter. The date is the day whose madhyahna, the middle of the day (the third of five equal parts of the daytime) the nakshatra covers completely. If it covers only part of it on two days, the day on which it covers more of that period is taken†. If the nakshatra comes twice in that solar month, the later one is taken†.
† Practice varies between schools; our faculty is reviewing these rules.
About
Onam is fixed by nakshatra and by the Sun, not by tithi: the main day, Thiruvonam, is the day on which the Moon is in Shravana (Thiruvonam) nakshatra during the Malayalam solar month of Chingam, while the Sun is in sidereal Simha, in August or September. The lunar month does not enter, so the day can fall in Shravana or in Bhadrapada. The day on which the nakshatra holds the middle of the day (madhyahna) is taken, and when Thiruvonam comes twice in Chingam the later one is kept; Kerala's own almanacs occasionally print the next day. The ten days from Atham (Hasta) to Thiruvonam are the festival. It recalls the annual return of King Mahabali to his people.
How it is observed
Flower carpets (pookalam) for ten days, the Onam sadya feast on Thiruvonam, boat races and Kathakali.