2026 augurs well for calendar manufacturers in Sivakasi

2026 being the election year for the State Assembly in Tamil Nadu, calendar manufacturers in Sivakasi have significantly benefited with politicians placing increased orders for production of daily calendars.

Although the New Year is here, calendar production is likely to go on till Pongal, when party functionaries distribute calendars with photographs or paintings of their party leaders to all households in their area.

“Our industry has already completed production of close to 4.20 crore calendars. Still some 5% of the work is under way as we have last-minute orders from political parties and politicians,” said K. Jeyasankar, president, Tamil Nadu Calendar Manufacturers Association.

The Tamil calendars are also sent to other cities in India and abroad that have a significant Tamil presence. “Our calendars are exported to Singapore and Malaysia in large numbers,” Mr. Jeyasankar added.

Though the manufacturers make monthly and table-top calendars, the most popular type is the daily variety. “All three types of calendars come in different sizes and colours. However, people prefer daily calendars as it they are good material for business promotion with advertisement of their shop, brand or company,” he further said.

Daily calendars, which constitute around 70% of the total production, is preferred for their pictures of various Hindu gods. “People religiously adorn the pictures of gods and goddesses with flowers every day,” he said.

Also, the daily sheets contain panchagam with details of auspicious time, thithi and important festival days.

The industry has made such calendars more attractive with new techniques such as embossment and glittering and rainbow colour effects.

Since calendar is mostly a gift item distributed as a promotional tool, its production is always against orders placed by customers. Hence, the industry could easily exhaust their goods easily. With increasing input cost towards electricity charges and wages, the cost of calendars have increased by 7% this year.

While a majority of the calendar manufacturers are in Sivakasi, the presence of the industry is also seen in Madurai, Coimbatore and Salem.