The calendar
Kerala wedding season, month by month
Kerala's wedding season follows the Malayalam calendar: Hindu weddings are held in Chingam, Thulam, Vrischikam, Makaram, Medam, Edavam, Mithunam and the first half of Meenam, while Kanni, Dhanu, Kumbham and Karkidakam are traditionally kept clear. Makaram (mid-January to mid-February) is the busiest month; Vrischikam (mid-November to mid-December) comes next.
Which month are you looking at?Send the month or the muhurtham with your name. A planner replies on WhatsApp within one working day. Venue rates and open dates follow once each venue confirms them in writing.
The Malayalam year at a glance
Hindu
Karkidakam, Kanni, Dhanu, Kumbham and the back half of Meenam are kept clear.
Inside the months that are used, the day and the hour come from the horoscopes. The astrologer gives you a muhurtham, sometimes at 5.40 in the morning, and the whole day is built backwards from it.
Christian
Churches generally do not celebrate weddings during the fifty days of Lent before Easter, or the twenty-five day Nombu before Christmas.
Both seasons move against the Gregorian calendar, so they land differently every year. Your parish sets the date, and popular churches in Kottayam and Thrissur take bookings well over a year ahead.
Muslim
Ramadan and Muharram are usually avoided.
Both follow the lunar calendar and shift about eleven days earlier each year, so a date that works this year may sit inside Ramadan in three years time.
Which months are avoided for weddings in Kerala?
Kerala tradition keeps Kanni, Dhanu, Kumbham and Karkidakam clear of Hindu marriages, along with the second half of Meenam. Karkidakam, roughly mid-July to mid-August, is the strictest of them. Christian and Muslim weddings follow different calendars: churches avoid Lent and the Nombu before Christmas, and Muslim families avoid Ramadan and Muharram.
Every Malayalam month, and whether Kerala marries in it
The months run in calendar order from Chingam, which opens the Malayalam year. Each answer gives the tradition; your astrologer still fixes the day and the hour from the horoscopes.
Is Chingam month good for marriage?
Yes. Chingam, roughly mid-August to mid-September, opens the Malayalam year and is one of the months Kerala marries in. Onam falls in it, so halls and the better cooks book out around the festival. It sits between two months kept clear, Karkidakam before it and Kanni after it, which is why early-season weddings crowd into these weeks.
Is Kanni month good for marriage?
Kanni, roughly mid-September to mid-October, is traditionally kept clear of Hindu weddings in Kerala. Chingam before it and Thulam after it are both used, so a family aiming for this part of the year usually moves the date a few weeks either way. The astrologer has the final word for your horoscopes.
Is Thulam month good for marriage?
Yes. Thulam, roughly mid-October to mid-November, is one of the months Kerala marries in: the rain is easing and dates open up again after Kanni. It runs straight into Vrischikam, one of the two busiest stretches of the year. The astrologer still fixes the day and the hour from the horoscopes.
Is Vrischikam month good for marriage?
Yes. Vrischikam, roughly mid-November to mid-December, is the second-busiest wedding month in Kerala after Makaram. The mornings are dry and cool, which suits an early muhurtham. The halls and cooks families want for the strong dates go about a year ahead, so hold the venue within a fortnight of getting the date.
Is Dhanu month good for marriage?
No, not for a Hindu wedding. Dhanu, roughly mid-December to mid-January, is traditionally kept clear of Hindu marriages in Kerala. Church weddings and nikahs do run in it, each on its own calendar, with the date set by the parish or agreed with the mahal.
Is Makaram month good for marriage?
Yes. Makaram, roughly mid-January to mid-February, is the busiest wedding month of the Kerala year, which makes it the hardest to book and the dearest. The halls and cooks families want are taken around a year ahead. If the astrologer's date lands in Makaram, book the venue first and everything else after it.
Is Kumbham month good for marriage?
No, not for a Hindu wedding. Kumbham, roughly mid-February to mid-March, is traditionally kept clear of Hindu marriages in Kerala. The next stretch open to Hindu weddings is the first half of Meenam. Church weddings and nikahs follow their own calendars.
Is Meenam month good for marriage?
Partly. Meenam, roughly mid-March to mid-April, is used for Hindu weddings in its first half only; Kerala tradition keeps the second half clear. A date late in Meenam is worth checking with the astrologer before a venue is held.
Is Medam month good for marriage?
Yes. Medam, roughly mid-April to mid-May, is one of the months Kerala marries in, and Vishu falls in it. It is hot by midday, so ceremonies move to the early morning or the evening, and the hall where the meal is served needs to stay cool.
Is Edavam month good for marriage?
Yes. Edavam, roughly mid-May to mid-June, is one of the months Kerala marries in. It starts in the heat and ends in the first rain of the southwest monsoon, so a venue where the whole wedding can move under cover is the safer booking.
Is Mithunam month good for marriage?
Yes. Mithunam, roughly mid-June to mid-July, is the quietest month Kerala marries in. It falls in the monsoon proper, but tradition does not keep it clear, and venues price it below the winter months. Plan it covered-first: the ceremony and the meal under a roof, with any lawn as the extra.
Is Karkidakam good for marriage?
No, not for a Hindu wedding in Kerala. Karkidakam, roughly mid-July to mid-August, is the Ramayana month, and Kerala tradition keeps it clear of marriages. Church weddings and nikahs follow their own calendars and are not bound by it. If a date in this stretch is being suggested, check it with your family astrologer.
The same calendar, by English month
A Malayalam month starts around the middle of an English one, so each English month holds the end of one Malayalam month and the start of the next. November, for example, is Thulam until about the middle of the month and Vrischikam after it, and Kerala marries in both.
| English month | First half | Second half |
|---|---|---|
| January | Dhanu, kept clear | Makaram, held, the busiest month |
| February | Makaram, held, the busiest month | Kumbham, kept clear |
| March | Kumbham, kept clear | Meenam, first half used |
| April | Meenam's second half, kept clear | Medam, held |
| May | Medam, held | Edavam, held |
| June | Edavam, held | Mithunam, held |
| July | Mithunam, held | Karkidakam, kept clear |
| August | Karkidakam, kept clear | Chingam, held |
| September | Chingam, held | Kanni, kept clear |
| October | Kanni, kept clear | Thulam, held |
| November | Thulam, held | Vrischikam, held, the second-busiest |
| December | Vrischikam, held, the second-busiest | Dhanu, kept clear |
Which Malayalam month is best for marriage?
No single month is best for everyone, because the astrologer picks the day and hour from the horoscopes. By tradition the months used are Chingam, Thulam, Vrischikam, Makaram, Medam, Edavam and Mithunam, plus the first half of Meenam. Makaram and Vrischikam are the most sought after, which makes them the hardest to book and the dearest. Mithunam, in the monsoon, is the quietest month that is not avoided, and venues price it that way.
Kerala wedding dates for 2026 and 2027
When are the wedding dates in Kerala for 2026 and 2027?
Kerala does not work from one published list of wedding dates for 2026 and 2027. A family astrologer computes each muhurtham from the couple's birth stars, the parish sets a church date, and the family agrees a nikah date with the mahal. All three choose inside one pattern: Hindu weddings in Chingam, Thulam, Vrischikam, Makaram, Medam, Edavam and Mithunam and the first half of Meenam; church weddings outside Lent and the Nombu before Christmas; nikahs outside Ramadan and Muharram, which move about eleven days earlier each year.
This page gives the month pattern and stops there. A muhurtham is worked out for one couple, so a list of dates would be wrong for nearly everyone who read it, and the Malayalam month boundaries move by a day or so from one year to the next. Read across 2026 and 2027, the months open to Hindu weddings fall into five stretches:
- Chingam: mid-August to mid-September
- Thulam and Vrischikam: mid-October to mid-December
- Makaram: mid-January to mid-February
- The first half of Meenam, from mid-March
- Medam, Edavam and Mithunam: mid-April to mid-July
What the date clusters do to venue booking
The three calendars push most of the state's weddings into the same winter run, Vrischikam through Makaram, and the venues feel it first. The strong auditoriums around Kochi and Thrissur sell their morning slots for that run the better part of a year ahead, and in peak weeks a hall holding two weddings in one day is normal. So the order that works is short: take the date from the astrologer, the parish or the mahal, then book the venue inside the same fortnight. Done the other way round, the family ends up asking the astrologer to bless whatever date the hall had free.
Church weddings bunch up as well. With Lent and the Nombu before Christmas kept clear, they fall in the weeks after Easter and in the weeks between Christmas and Lent, and the Saturday slots at popular parishes go first. Nikah dates need one more check, because Ramadan and Muharram arrive about eleven days earlier every year: a nikah planned for 2027 starts from where those months will have moved by then.
A two-wedding day squeezes the decorators too, since they build in whatever gap the earlier wedding leaves; Kerala wedding decor covers how that build is planned. If nobody in the family can spend that fortnight calling halls, shortlisting and holding one against the date is the first job wedding planners in Kerala are hired for.
The Hindu calendar sets the hour, not just the day
The astrologer works from the horoscopes and gives you a muhurtham. It is a moment, not a morning, and it can land at twenty to six. Everything else on the day is then scheduled backwards from it, which is how families end up in hair and makeup at three in the morning and why a venue that will not open its kitchen before seven is no use to you. Planning a Nair wedding walks through one of those mornings, built backwards from the hour.
Within the months that are used, some dates carry far more weddings than others. If your muhurtham lands on one of them you are competing for the same cooks, the same buses and the same flowers as every other family in the district.
The church diary is the harder booking
Kerala churches generally keep the fifty days of Lent and the twenty-five day Nombu before Christmas clear. Both are tied to Easter and Christmas rather than to fixed dates, so the blocked weeks move every year. Fix the church first. A venue can usually be found around a church date; the reverse is much harder in Kottayam or Thrissur. Planning a Christian wedding in Kerala follows the rest of that morning, from the service to the midday reception.
Ramadan moves under you
Ramadan and Muharram shift about eleven days earlier each Gregorian year. On a long engagement this matters: a month that looks clear when you start planning can sit inside Ramadan by the time you actually marry. Check the year of the wedding, not the year you are in. The mylanchi night and the Malabar caterer are booked around that same date, and the Kerala Muslim wedding guide covers both.
What this does to price
Makaram and Vrischikam are the two crowded stretches, and venues price accordingly. Mithunam sits in the monsoon and is not avoided, which is the one genuine value window in the Kerala year. To see what the difference looks like, read the Kerala venue rate tables. Catering is the largest line a venue will quote, and the month moves that as well; the sadya rate in Kerala sets out what a wedding meal costs a head. The decor line moves with the week too, because flowers are bought at that week's market rate; Kerala wedding decor explains what else changes it.
Once you have the date
A date is only useful against availability, and in the crowded months the good halls and the better cooks are committed roughly a year out. So the order from here is short. Find out what is still open on your date and at your ceremony hour, which is the one question this page cannot answer for you. Send us the date: a planner replies within one working day and asks the venues to confirm in writing what is free. Then read what a Kerala wedding costs for the per-plate ranges in that month, and what a package covers for how the rest of the bill is assembled around them.
If you are deciding whether to run this yourselves, what a full-service wedding planner does sets out the job honestly, including the weddings that do not need one, and the fee page prints the band rather than hiding it behind a contact form.
Questions
When is the wedding season in Kerala?
Kerala's wedding season follows the Malayalam calendar, not the Gregorian one. Hindu weddings are held in Chingam, Thulam, Vrischikam, Makaram, Medam, Edavam and Mithunam, and in the first half of Meenam. Makaram, roughly mid-January to mid-February, is the busiest month, with Vrischikam in November and December close behind. Kanni, Dhanu, Kumbham and Karkidakam are traditionally kept clear. Church weddings and nikahs run on their own calendars, set out further down this page.
What is the busiest wedding month in Kerala?
Makaram, roughly mid-January to mid-February, is the busiest stretch of the year, with Vrischikam in November and December close behind. Venues and the better cooks in both months are booked around a year ahead.
Can you have a wedding in Kerala during the monsoon?
Yes. Mithunam, roughly mid-June to mid-July, is inside the monsoon and is not a traditionally avoided month, so weddings do run. Rates fall, the state is at its greenest, and the practical requirement is a venue where the whole event can move under cover at short notice.
Who decides the wedding date in Kerala?
For a Hindu wedding the family astrologer sets the muhurtham from the couple’s horoscopes, and it can fall before sunrise. For a Christian wedding the parish sets the date, and popular churches book more than a year ahead. For a Muslim wedding the family and mahal agree it around the lunar calendar.
Why is there no list of muhurtham dates on this page?
Because in Kerala a muhurtham is worked out for one couple, from their birth stars, by the family’s own astrologer. A general list would be wrong for most of the people reading it. The month pattern holds for everyone, so that is what this page sets out; the date itself belongs to the authority your family already trusts.
We live abroad. How do we run the date conversation?
The astrologer or parish conversation happens in Kerala, on the family’s side. Your side is the leave calendar: send the family the weeks you can travel before the muhurtham shortlist is worked out, not after. Fitting several countries’ leave around one fixed hour is far easier in that order.
Have a muhurtham already?
Send us the date and the guest count, and a planner will reply on WhatsApp within one working day. What is still open at that hour of the morning, and what the venues quote for that month, follow once they confirm in writing; the crowded stretches, Makaram and Vrischikam, go about a year ahead, so an early date is worth checking early.
What happens after you enquire
- A planner replies on WhatsApp within one working day. Expect questions about the date, the numbers and the community the wedding follows.
- A written scope and a fee band. What we would do for this wedding and what it costs, before you decide anything.
- A video walkthrough if you are abroad. Shortlisted venues walked on camera in your evening, so the single trip to Kerala is spent deciding, not looking.