Kaisika Dvadasi (Chandramana) 2036

Kaisika Dvadasi (कैशिक द्वादशी) is observed on Kartika Shukla Dvadashi, the day after Prabodhini Ekadashi. It takes its name from Kaisika, the raga sung by Nampaduvan, a devotee of humble birth who sang every night before Lord Vishnu at Thirukkurungudi.

The Kaisika Mahatmyam, told by Lord Varaha to Bhudevi in the Varaha Purana, recounts how Nampaduvan, stopped on his way to the temple by a Brahmarakshasa, kept his word to return and be eaten after singing, and freed the Brahmarakshasa with the merit of his song. On this day the Mahatmyam is recited in Sri Vaishnava temples, and at Thirukkurungudi it is enacted as the Kaisika Natakam.

In the temples: devotees keep vigil through the Ekadashi night with music and nama-sankirtana, as Nampaduvan did. At dawn on the Dvadashi the Kaisika Puranam is read before the Lord in Sri Vaishnava temples. At Srirangam Lord Namperumal is adorned that night with 365 vastrams, one for each day of the year, and the Kaisika Puranam is read in his presence; at Thirukkurungudi the story is enacted through the night as the Kaisika Natakam. The day closes with the Dvadashi parana.

Kaisika Dvadasi celebrates devotion through music, and the truth of one's word, as dearer to the Lord than birth or learning.