Within the Sri Vaishnava tradition, the great festivals revolve around Vishnu and his consort Sri (Lakshmi), as well as the poet-saints (Alvars) and the lineage of acharyas who transmitted Ramanuja’s vision of devotion. Among these, Vaikuntha Ekadashi holds a pre-eminent place: it is revered as the day when the gates of Vaikuntha, Vishnu’s abode, are said to open, and devotees seek his grace through special observances and temple rituals. Other major observances celebrate the avatara forms of Vishnu, such as Krishna Janmashtami (Sri Jayanti), marking the birth of Krishna, and Rama Navami, honoring the birth of Rama. Festivals like Narasimha Jayanti and Vamana Jayanti similarly focus on the saving acts of Vishnu in his Narasimha and Vamana incarnations, emphasizing divine protection and compassion.

Alongside these pan-Vaishnava celebrations, Sri Vaishnavism gives distinctive prominence to temple-centered utsavams. Brahmotsavam, for instance, is a grand annual festival in major Vishnu temples, especially the Divya Desams, in which the processional deities are taken out on various vahanas amid Vedic chanting and recitation of the Tamil hymns. Adhyayana Utsavam, particularly associated with the month of Margazhi, is dedicated to the systematic chanting of the Nalayira Divya Prabandham, and thus honors the Alvars as the voice of the “Tamil Veda.” Such festivals do not merely mark dates on a calendar; they ritualize the Sri Vaishnava understanding that scripture, temple, and community are inseparably woven together in the life of devotion.

Equally central are the tirunakshatras, the birth anniversaries of the Alvars and acharyas, which are treated as sacred opportunities to remember and re-enact their lives of surrender. Nammalvar’s tirunakshatram, the celebrations for Periyalvar and Andal, and the jayantis of great teachers such as Ramanuja, Yamunacharya, Vedanta Desika, and Manavala Mamunigal are observed with special recitations, processions, and expositions of their teachings. In these commemorations, the community contemplates how the grace of Narayana is mediated through Sri, the Alvars, and the acharyas, and how their example illumines the path of prapatti (total surrender) and bhakti. Regular observance of Ekadashi fasts and related Dwadashi worship further punctuates the devotional year, continually drawing the mind back to Vishnu as the supreme refuge.