unwanted vertical and inter-word space - tabularx

Question

I am trying to create a calendar with tabularx package. I managed to get the tables right but there seems to be a lot of space between the words and between the lines. It reminds me of MS Word document in justified alignment, wherein unnecessary spaces between words appear out of nowhere.

Question:

1. How can I reduce the line spacing and get rid of the spaces between words? [That will give me some space to include two more rows for two more weeks.]
2. Is there anything that I am doing wrong? [Of course, I am not sure if this the right method to create a calendar.]

I have quite some text to include within each "box", as it can be seen from the MWE and the screen shot of the PDF output. [I don't know why a line appears on top of "JANUARY".]

\documentclass[12pt]{article}
\usepackage{tabularx}
\usepackage[xetex,a4paper,landscape,margin=1cm]{geometry}
\usepackage[final]{microtype}
\usepackage{fancyhdr}
\pagestyle{fancy}
\fancyhf{}

\usepackage{anyfontsize}
\usepackage{polyglossia}
\setmainfont{Linux Libertine O}

\newcolumntype{C}{>{ \Large \arraybackslash}X}
\newcommand{\ti}{\fontsize{14}{11}\selectfont }
\newcommand{\wday}{\bfseries \fontsize{15}{11}\selectfont}
\newcommand{\dat}{\bfseries \fontsize{15}{11}\selectfont}


\begin{document}
\begin{center}
            \Huge \textbf{JANUARY}
    \end{center}
\begin{tabularx}{28cm}{@{\rule[-2ex]{0pt}{5ex}}|*{7}{C|}}
    \hline
    {\wday MON} & {\wday TUE} & {\wday WED} & {\wday THU} & {\wday FRI} & {\wday SAT} & {\wday SUN}   \\ \hline 
    {\dat 2} \textbf{Putradā Ekādaśī}   & 
    {\dat 3} {\ti [06:59 - 10:44]; \textbf{App.}  Śrī Jagadīśa  Paṇḍita} & 
    {\dat 4} {\ti } & 
    {\dat 5} {\ti } & 
    {\dat 6} {\ti Śrī Kṛṣṇa Puṣya Abhiśeka}     &
    {\dat 7} {\ti \textbf{Māga māsa begins}}& 
    {\dat 8} {\ti }  \\ 
    &  &  &  &  &  &  \\  &  &  &  &  &  & \\ \hline
    {\dat 9} {\ti }& 
    {\dat 10} {\ti } & 
    {\dat 11} {\ti } & 
    {\dat 12}   {\ti [footnote]\footnote{\textbf{Disapp.:} Śrī Rāmacandra Kavirāja; \textbf{App.:} Śrīla Gopāla Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmī}} & 
    {\dat 13} {\ti \textbf{Disapp.:} Śrī Jayadeva Gosvāmī}  &  
    {\dat 14} {\ti \textbf{Disapp.:} Śrī Locana Dāsa Ṭhākūra, Makara Śaṅkrāntī} & 
    {\dat 15} {\ti }\\ 
    &  &  &  &  &  &  \\  &  &  &  &  &  & \\ \hline
    {\dat 16}  & 
    {\dat 17}  & 
    {\dat 18} \textbf{Ṣaṭ-tila Ekādaśī} & 
    {\dat 19} {\ti [07:03 - 10:49]} & 
    {\dat 20} & 
    {\dat 21} & 
    {\dat 22} \\ 
    &  &  &  &  &  &  \\  &  &  &  &  &  & \\ \hline
\end{tabularx}
\end{document}

Answer 1

As @DavidCarlisle has already noted in a couple of comments, you need to added \raggedright in the column definition. Proper usage of \fontsize requires the second argument to at least as large as, and generally about 20% larger than, the first argument.

\documentclass[12pt]{article}
\usepackage{tabularx}
\usepackage[a4paper,landscape,margin=1cm]{geometry}
\usepackage{microtype}
\usepackage{fancyhdr}

\pagestyle{fancy}
\fancyhf{}

\usepackage{polyglossia}
\setmainfont{Linux Libertine O}

\newcolumntype{L}{>{\Large\raggedright\arraybackslash}X}
\newcommand{\ti}{\fontsize{14}{17}\selectfont }
\newcommand{\wday}{\bfseries \fontsize{15}{18}\selectfont}
\newcommand{\dat}{\bfseries  \fontsize{15}{18}\selectfont}

\begin{document}
\begin{center}
\Huge \textbf{JANUARY}
\end{center}

\noindent
\begin{tabularx}{\textwidth}{@{\rule[-2ex]{0pt}{5ex}} |*{7}{L|}}
    \hline
    \wday MON & \wday TUE & \wday WED & \wday THU & 
    \wday FRI & \wday SAT & \wday SUN   \\ \hline 
    {\dat  2} \textbf{Putradā Ekādaśī}   & 
    {\dat  3} \ti [06:59--10:44]; \textbf{App.}  Śrī Jagadīśa  Paṇḍita & 
    {\dat  4} {\ti } & 
    {\dat  5} {\ti } & 
    {\dat  6} \ti Śrī Kṛṣṇa Puṣya Abhiśeka     &
    {\dat  7} \ti \textbf{Māga māsa begins}& 
    {\dat  8} {\ti } \\ 
    &  &  &  &  &  & \\  
    &  &  &  &  &  & \\ \hline
    {\dat  9} {\ti } & 
    {\dat 10} {\ti } & 
    {\dat 11} {\ti } & 
    {\dat 12} {\ti [footnote]\footnote{%
    \textbf{Disapp.:} Śrī Rāmacandra Kavirāja; 
    \textbf{App.:} Śrīla Gopāla Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmī}} & 
    {\dat 13} \ti \textbf{Disapp.:} Śrī Jayadeva Gosvāmī  &  
    {\dat 14} \ti \textbf{Disapp.:} Śrī Locana Dāsa Ṭhākūra, Makara Śaṅkrāntī & 
    {\dat 15} {\ti } \\ 
    &  &  &  &  &  & \\  
    &  &  &  &  &  & \\ \hline
    {\dat 16} & 
    {\dat 17} & 
    {\dat 18} \textbf{Ṣaṭ-tila Ekādaśī} & 
    {\dat 19} \ti [07:03--10:49] & 
    {\dat 20} & 
    {\dat 21} & 
    {\dat 22} \\ 
    &  &  &  &  &  & \\  
    &  &  &  &  &  & \\ \hline
\end{tabularx}
\end{document}