Janai Purnima kahile ho? When is Janai Purnima 2027?

Janai Purnima falls on the full moon of Shrawan, in August. The exact day is confirmed each year from the Nepal government calendar.

The janai is the sacred thread worn across the chest by many Hindu men and boys after a ceremony. On Janai Purnima they replace it with a new one.

Kwati is a Newar soup made from nine kinds of sprouted beans, eaten on Janai Purnima, which the Newar call Kwati Purnima.

Is Janai Purnima the same as Raksha Bandhan?

They fall on the same day. Janai Purnima is the Nepali festival of the sacred thread. Raksha Bandhan is the day sisters tie a rakhi on their brothers' wrists, kept most in the Terai.

Culture · Rishi Tarpani · Raksha Bandhan · Kwati Purnima

What is Janai Purnima?

जनै पूर्णिमा

Janai Purnima is the full moon of Shrawan: the sacred thread is renewed, a protective thread is tied on the wrist, and Newar families eat kwati.

What Janai Purnima is

Janai Purnima falls on the full moon of Shrawan, in August. It is also called Rishi Tarpani, after the offerings made to the ancient sages, and it is kept mainly by Hindus. Different communities mark it in different ways, and some of those ways share the same day.

It is a public holiday in Nepal.

The sacred thread

Men and boys who wear the janai, the sacred thread, renew it on this day. They bathe, often at a river or pond, have a haircut, and put on a new thread, a cord of three cotton strands. The three strands are said to stand for body, speech and mind.

Priests also tie a yellow thread on the wrist of anyone who asks for one. It is a raksha, a protection, against fear and illness.

Rakhi, kwati and the pilgrimages

In the Terai the day is Raksha Bandhan. Sisters tie coloured rakhi bands on their brothers' wrists and pray for their long life, and brothers give a gift in return.

Newar families call the day Kwati Purnima and eat kwati, a soup of nine kinds of sprouted beans. Many people also visit Shiva temples such as Pashupatinath in Kathmandu and Kumbheshwar in Lalitpur, and pilgrims go to the lake at Gosainkunda in Rasuwa for a holy dip and a fair.

Janai Purnima away from home

Temples and community groups in the US hold a janai-changing ceremony on or near the day, with a priest, a shared meal and often kwati. If you wear the janai, ask your priest about the day and the mantras, because families follow different practices.

Rakhi is easy to keep from a distance: many sisters post a rakhi to their brothers, and the family joins on a video call.

Common questions

Janai Purnima kahile ho? When is Janai Purnima 2027?: Janai Purnima falls on the full moon of Shrawan, in August. The exact day is confirmed each year from the Nepal government calendar.
What is the janai?: The janai is the sacred thread worn across the chest by many Hindu men and boys after a ceremony. On Janai Purnima they replace it with a new one.
What is kwati?: Kwati is a Newar soup made from nine kinds of sprouted beans, eaten on Janai Purnima, which the Newar call Kwati Purnima.
Is Janai Purnima the same as Raksha Bandhan?: They fall on the same day. Janai Purnima is the Nepali festival of the sacred thread. Raksha Bandhan is the day sisters tie a rakhi on their brothers' wrists, kept most in the Terai.