When can you actually register a property in Salem?
Sub-registrar and bank closures for the rest of 2026, taken from the government order itself. Plus the Tamil month guidance families use, and the Salem festivals that close the old city.
The bank is open. The registration office is not.
Two different rules govern the two offices you need on the same day, and they do not match.
Sub-registrar office
Closed every Saturday and every Sunday, plus the notified holidays.
Government Order (Ms.) No.708, clause (ii)(b)
Banks
Closed Sundays and only the 2nd and 4th Saturdays.
Reserve Bank of India, in force since 1 September 2015
So on the 1st, 3rd and 5th Saturday of any month, your bank will answer the phone and the registration office will be locked. If you have been told to "come Saturday and finish everything", that is the day it falls apart.
Month by month, what is closed
Every date below is from G.O.(Ms.) No.708, dated 11 November 2025, signed by the Chief Secretary. The weekends are simply the calendar.
August 2026
- 15 Aug Independence Day Saturday
- 26 Aug Milad-un-Nabi (Prophet's Birthday) Wednesday
Bank open, registration shut: 1 Aug, 29 Aug
September 2026
- 4 Sep Krishna Jayanthi Friday
- 14 Sep Vinayakar Chathurthi Monday
Bank open, registration shut: 5 Sep, 19 Sep
Longest closure: 3 days in a row, 4 Sep to 6 Sep
October 2026
- 2 Oct Gandhi Jayanthi Friday
- 19 Oct Ayutha Pooja Monday
- 20 Oct Vijaya Dasami Tuesday
Bank open, registration shut: 3 Oct, 17 Oct, 31 Oct
Longest closure: 4 days in a row, 17 Oct to 20 Oct
November 2026
- 8 Nov Deepavali Sunday
Bank open, registration shut: 7 Nov, 21 Nov
December 2026
- 25 Dec Christmas Friday
Bank open, registration shut: 5 Dec, 19 Dec
Longest closure: 3 days in a row, 25 Dec to 27 Dec
The two blocks to plan around
17 to 20 October 2026. Saturday, Sunday, Ayutha Pooja and Vijaya Dasami fall back to back, so the registration office is shut four days straight. Your bank works on Saturday the 17th, which catches people out. This is the longest closure of the second half of the year.
25 to 27 December 2026. Christmas falls on a Friday, so both the registration office and the banks are shut for three days together.
November is the clean month. Deepavali falls on Sunday 8 November 2026 and the order grants no substitute weekday, so November 2026 carries no weekday closure at all. If you have a choice, that is the month to complete a registration in.
Tamil Nadu public holidays still ahead in 2026
| Date | Day | Holiday |
|---|---|---|
| 15 August 2026 | Saturday | Independence Day |
| 26 August 2026 | Wednesday | Milad-un-Nabi (Prophet's Birthday) date can shift with the moon sighting |
| 4 September 2026 | Friday | Krishna Jayanthi |
| 14 September 2026 | Monday | Vinayakar Chathurthi |
| 2 October 2026 | Friday | Gandhi Jayanthi |
| 19 October 2026 | Monday | Ayutha Pooja |
| 20 October 2026 | Tuesday | Vijaya Dasami |
| 8 November 2026 | Sunday | Deepavali |
| 25 December 2026 | Friday | Christmas |
Source: G.O.(Ms.) No.708, Public (Miscellaneous) Department, Government of Tamil Nadu, dated 11 November 2025, signed by N. Muruganandam, Chief Secretary to Government, issued under the Explanation to section 25 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881. The 2027 order is expected around November 2026, for the 2027 list.
The local holiday nobody else's list has
The state order covers Tamil Nadu. On top of it, each District Collector declares a local holiday for the district, and every district gets a different date. Salem's is tied to the Aadi festival at the Kottai Mariamman temple. This is why a holiday list for Chennai or Coimbatore will not tell a Salem family when the offices here are shut.
| Year | Local holiday | Day | Compensating working day |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 9 August 2023 | Wednesday | 2 September 2023 |
| 2024 | 7 August 2024 | Wednesday | not recorded |
| 2025 | 6 August 2025 | Wednesday | 23 August 2025 |
We are not printing a 2026 date yet
When this page was written, the Salem local holiday for 2026 had not been officially declared. There are calendar websites showing one. We checked the one making the loudest claim: it credits the declaration to a Collector who left office on 4 April 2026, and the date it gives is the 2025 date. It is last year's news reprinted.
The declaration normally comes one to three weeks ahead, from the Collector's office, and is carried by the Tamil papers. We will add it here once it is real. If your plans depend on it, call us and we will tell you what we know that day.
The Tamil months, and what families do in them
Buying, registering, house-warming and starting construction are not governed by the same calendar. Treating them as one list is where most of the confusion comes from.
| Tamil month | 2026 to 2027 | For a house-warming |
|---|---|---|
| Chithirai சித்திரை | 14 Apr to 14 May 2026 | Favoured Tamil New Year falls on the first day. |
| Vaikasi வைகாசி | 15 May to 14 Jun 2026 | Favoured Salem's temple chariot season. |
| Aani ஆனி | 15 Jun to 16 Jul 2026 | Favoured Favoured in the Tamil lists, though some English property sites wrongly call it unsuitable. |
| Aadi ஆடி | 17 Jul to 17 Aug 2026 | Avoided Reserved for worship. No wedding or house-warming dates are published in it. Construction may still be started. |
| Aavani ஆவணி | 18 Aug to 17 Sep 2026 | Favoured The Tamil almanacs publish dates here. Pan-Indian sites publish none, which is the biggest disagreement of the year. |
| Purattasi புரட்டாசி | 18 Sep to 17 Oct 2026 | Avoided Mahalaya Paksha, Vishnu vratham and Navaratri all fall in it. Widely, though not uniformly, observed. |
| Aippasi ஐப்பசி | 18 Oct to 16 Nov 2026 | Favoured Deepavali falls in it. Favoured in the Tamil lists. |
| Karthigai கார்த்திகை | 17 Nov to 15 Dec 2026 | Favoured Karthigai Deepam falls on 24 November 2026. |
| Margazhi மார்கழி | 16 Dec 2026 to 13 Jan 2027 | Avoided Reserved for worship. Pan-Indian sites do publish dates here, which Tamil families would not use. |
| Thai தை | 14 Jan to 12 Feb 2027 | Favoured Pongal falls on the first day. Strongly favoured. |
| Maasi மாசி | 13 Feb to 14 Mar 2027 | Varies Some communities avoid it for weddings. That caution does not carry over to house-warming. |
| Panguni பங்குனி | 15 Mar to 13 Apr 2027 | Favoured One source discourages the closing fortnight, as the Tamil year ends then. |
Month boundaries follow Thirukanitha reckoning and can move by a day between almanacs. The sun enters Kanni on 17 September 2026, and almanacs differ on whether Purattasi begins that day or the next sunrise.
Why the internet will contradict your family almanac
Search for "griha pravesh muhurat 2026" in English and you will be told there is not a single auspicious day in August, September or October 2026. The Tamil almanacs publish six in that period. The same English sites publish dates in Margazhi, which a Tamil family would not use at all.
Aavani
18 Aug to 17 Sep 2026
Tamil almanac: dates published
Pan-Indian sites: no dates at all
Margazhi
16 Dec 2026 to 13 Jan 2027
Tamil almanac: no dates, month kept for worship
Pan-Indian sites: four dates published
The two systems apply different rules, and neither is wrong on its own terms. If your household follows a Tamil almanac, use that one. The point is simply to know which you are reading.
Four decisions, four different rules
House-warming
Follows the subha muhurtham list. Not held in Aadi, Purattasi or Margazhi.
Starting construction
Follows vaasthu naal, a separate list of about eight days a year with windows of roughly 36 minutes. There is an Aadi date and no Purattasi date, so "avoid Aadi" does not apply here.
Registration
Not the muhurtham list. Wednesday and Friday are generally preferred, avoiding Rahu Kaalam and Gulikai, and avoiding your own Chandrashtamam.
Paying an advance
Weekday-level guidance only. Tuesday is held suitable. No month is barred.
Subha muhurtham days left in 2026
As published by the Tamil almanac tradition. Two independent Tamil sources carry an identical list.
- 23 AugSun
- 30 AugSun
- 31 AugMon
- 7 SepMon
- 13 SepSun
- 17 SepThu
- 25 OctSun
- 30 OctFri
- 1 NovSun
- 11 NovWed
- 13 NovFri
- 15 NovSun
- 16 NovMon
- 20 NovFri
- 29 NovSun
- 4 DecFri
- 6 DecSun
- 10 DecThu
- 13 DecSun
- 14 DecMon
These are general auspicious days, published mainly with weddings in mind. Neither source labels them house-warming specific. Confirm your date with your own almanac, astrologer or temple.
Vaasthu naal 2026
For bhoomi puja and starting construction. Three Tamil sources agree to the minute.
- 26 January 2026
- 6 March 2026
- 23 April 2026
- 4 June 2026
- 27 July 2026
- 23 August 2026
- 28 October 2026
- 24 November 2026
Only the last three fall in the remainder of 2026.
Rahu Kaalam and Yamagandam
Families avoid these windows even on an otherwise auspicious day. The table below assumes a 6:00 am sunrise. Salem's sunrise runs roughly ten to fifteen minutes later depending on the season, so shift the windows by that much if you are working from a printed table.
| Day | Rahu Kaalam | Yamagandam |
|---|---|---|
| Sunday | 16:30 to 18:00 | 12:00 to 13:30 |
| Monday | 07:30 to 09:00 | 10:30 to 12:00 |
| Tuesday | 15:00 to 16:30 | 09:00 to 10:30 |
| Wednesday | 12:00 to 13:30 | 07:30 to 09:00 |
| Thursday | 13:30 to 15:00 | 06:00 to 07:30 |
| Friday | 10:30 to 12:00 | 15:00 to 16:30 |
| Saturday | 09:00 to 10:30 | 13:30 to 15:00 |
What closes the city, and where
Worth knowing if you are choosing an area, planning a site visit, or booking a lorry for moving day.
Aadi Peruvizha, Kottai Mariamman temple
Aadi, roughly late July to mid AugustFort area, central Salem
Salem's largest festival, running about 22 days. The festival pole was planted on 5 July 2026. Kottai Mariamman is the mother temple to eight Mariamman temples across the city, and its flowers are carried out to the other seven to start their festivals. The main days fall in the week after Aadi 18. The old city core, First and Second Agraharam, Chinna Kadai Veethi and the Fort approach, is heavily affected.
Shevapet Mariamman temple festival
Began Monday 27 July 2026Shevapet, Salem
A week-long Aadi festival. On the vandi vedikkai night, when illuminated tableau carts are drawn through the streets, shops across the Shevapet commercial belt close and crowds come in from Annadhanapatti, Nethimedu and the Fort.
Kottai Perumal temple chariot
31 May 2026Second and First Agraharam, Chinna Kadai Veethi
The Vaikasi Visakam chariot ran from 08:30 to 13:30, with traffic rerouted through the old city. The Sugavaneswarar temple chariot uses the same street loop in the same season.
Yercaud Summer Festival
22 to 28 May 2026Anna Park, Yercaud
The 49th edition, run by the district administration and the tourism department, with a flower show built from about 2,07,000 roses. Salem district's largest annual public event: 1,16,000 visitors came in 2025 and 1,50,000 were expected in 2026, all of them up the ghat road.
Kailasanathar temple chariot, Tharamangalam
Thaipusam, early February 2026Tharamangalam, Omalur taluk
A three-day Thaipusam festival with the chariot on the closing day.
Servarayan cave temple festival
One day in VaikasiShevaroy Hills, Yercaud
A single-day festival with a chariot, drawing over 10,000 people from Yercaud's hamlets and from Salem and Dharmapuri districts onto the hill roads. The 2026 date is not confirmed.
Where a 2026 date is not shown, it is because we could not confirm it from an official source or a Tamil newspaper. Festival dates move every year with the Tamil calendar, and a great many articles about them are undated reprints from previous years.
Where these dates come from
- Government holidays. G.O.(Ms.) No.708, Public (Miscellaneous) Department, Government of Tamil Nadu, dated 11 November 2025. All 24 entries were checked against the actual 2026 calendar.
- Bank Saturdays. Reserve Bank of India, second and fourth Saturday rule, in force from 1 September 2015.
- Registration office closures. Clause (ii)(b) of the same order, which closes all Tamil Nadu government offices on every Saturday and Sunday.
- Salem local holiday precedents. Daily Thanthi coverage for 2023 and the Salem district administration for 2025.
- Tamil months and muhurtham dates. The Tamil almanac tradition as published by Daily Thanthi and Tamil Daily Calendar, cross-read against Thirukanitha month boundaries.
- Festivals. Salem district administration press releases, the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments department, and dated Tamil newspaper reports.
Muhurtham dates are drawn from religious almanacs, not from government records. We publish what those almanacs say and who says it. They do not always agree with each other, and where they differ we have said so rather than picking one quietly. Your family's own almanac and astrologer decide your date, not a website.
Found something out of date? Tell us and we will fix it. This page is only useful if it is right.
Questions we get asked
Is the sub-registrar office in Salem open on Saturdays?
Which Saturdays is my bank open but the registration office closed?
When is the Salem local holiday declared?
Which months do Tamil families avoid for a house-warming?
Why do English websites show different griha pravesh dates from my family almanac?
Is there a good day of the week to register a property?
Which parts of Salem are most affected by festival crowds?
How current is this page?
Still have a question? Call +91 96598-44352
Planning a registration date?
We have been handing over homes in Salem since 1994, and we deal with the sub-registrar offices here every week. Call and ask.