How a Festival Date Is Decided
Why a festival falls on the day it does: the time of day each rule reads, which tithi owns a day, a neighbouring tithi's touch, lost and doubled tithis, then the rules for Rama Navami, Krishna Jayanti, Deepavali, Navaratri, Upakarma and more. Each with its source and what Nava's calendar does.
Which Time of Day a Festival Checks: Dawn, Sunrise, Afternoon, Evening, Midnight
A festival is kept on the day its tithi or star holds at the festival's own time of day. Here are the times, and which festivals use each.
Vyapti: Which Tithi Owns the Day
A festival's tithi must cover its ritual window, not just touch the day. Both days, one day, or neither: how the books decide, and the 12-nazhigai rule.
Vedha: When a Neighbouring Tithi Touches the Day
Ashtami touched by Saptami, Navami touched by Ashtami, Ekadashi touched by Dasami: what vedha is, how it is measured, and where a book says it does not apply.
Kshaya and Vriddhi Tithis: A Tithi With No Sunrise, or Two
Why a tithi sometimes holds no sunrise and sometimes two, and how a festival on such a tithi finds its day.
Tithi-Led and Star-Led Festivals: Why Krishna Jayanti Weighs Rohini and Rama Navami Does Not Weigh Punarvasu
Some festivals are fixed by the lunar day, some by the Moon's star. The books say which is which, and why a birth star does not always decide a jayanti.
The Tithi at This Exact Moment: When the Instant Counts, Not the Day
A festival takes the tithi at a fixed time of day. Some acts take the tithi at the moment they are done. What the maxim tatkaliki tithih says.
How Sri Rama Navami's Date Is Decided
A tithi festival: Chaitra Shukla Navami, with one test for Ashtami. Why the Punarvasu star is not part of the rule.
Krishna Jayanti and Sri Jayanthi: One Birth, Two Rules
Why Krishna's birthday can fall on two different days: one rule follows the Ashtami tithi, the other the Rohini star.
How Sri Nrsimha Jayanti's Date Is Decided
Vaisakha Shukla Chaturdashi, the book's Trayodashi test, and the 12-nazhigai reading Nava uses for which of two days owns it.
Maha Pradosham, Step by Step: The Book's Five-Step Rule
When Trayodashi is at sunset on two evenings, or on neither: the ordered steps Ahnika Grantham gives, and the Chaturthi and Saptami evenings.
Shravana Dwadashi and the Vishnu-shrinkhala Yoga
When the Dwadashi tithi meets the Shravana star: the evening test, the Trayodashi limit, and the rare day Ekadashi touches both.
Ekadashi, Parana and the Short Dwadashi
Which day is the fast, when it is broken, and what changes when the Dwadashi is very short: the rules Kalaprakasika and Ahnika Grantham give.
How Karthigai Deepam's Date Is Decided: Star Evening or Full Moon
One festival of lamps, two rules: the evening the Krithikai star holds, and the Full Moon of Karthigai. Why the two can fall a day apart.
How Deepavali's Date Is Decided: Naraka Chaturdashi and the Amavasai
In Tamil Nadu Deepavali is the Naraka Chaturdashi dawn bath; in the north it is the Amavasai evening. The rules for each, and the solar month.
Navaratri to Vijayadashami: How the Nine Nights Are Dated
Why Navaratri sometimes starts a day early or late, and how Mahanavami, Ayudha Puja and Vijayadashami follow.
How Upakarma and Gayatri Japam Are Dated
The Full Moon of Shravana, the 12-nazhigai question of which day owns it, and the year the month comes twice.
How Vaikuntha Ekadashi and Irappattu Are Dated
The bright-half Ekadashi of Margazhi, the year with two, and the dawn test that can move the fast to the next day.
Your City’s Panchangam, Every Day
Many printed calendars are computed for one town. Nava Panchangam computes sunrise, sunset and the windows that depend on them, such as Rahu Kalam, for your city, with a choice of Vakya or Drik; a tithi’s ending instant is the same everywhere.
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