Latitude, longitude and time zone 13.08, 80.27
Asia/Kolkata · UTC+5:30
The date of a festival depends on the place.
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A tithi that ends at dusk in Chennai can still be running at dusk a thousand kilometres west, which moves the day. Sunrise and sunset here are computed for the place above.
When it falls next
North India calendar, computed for Chennai
- Thursday, 7 January 2027
- Friday, 25 February 2028
- Tuesday, 13 February 2029
Where Amavasya · New moon falls on the solar year, and how far the date moves between occurrences.
- 2027: 7 Jan
- 2028: 25 Feb, 49 days later
- 2029: 13 Feb, 12 days earlier
The dates, year by year
North India calendar, computed for Chennai
What the day is
The new moon: in the purnimanta reckoning it falls in the middle of the month rather than at its end. It is a day for a bath in a river, for daan of sesame, grain and cloth, and for tarpan for the ancestors. Somavati Amavasya, one that falls on a Monday, is kept with the peepal tree circumambulated a hundred and eight times.
- Deity
- Pitrus, Shani, Yama
- Kind
- Observance Days marked, watched or begun, without a fast or a feast of their own.
Significance
The north does not end its month on the new moon, so Amavasya comes in the middle of the purnimanta month, but its weight is the same: it is the day of the pitrus, and water, sesame and food given on it are held to reach them. The peepal is the tree of the day because Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva are said to dwell in its root, trunk and crown and the ancestors in its shade, so water poured at its root and a lamp lit under it at dusk serve the gods and the dead together. The weekday shapes the rest: a Saturday new moon is Shani Amavasya, kept at the Shani temples with mustard oil and black sesame, and a Tuesday one is Bhaumvati Amavasya, kept by many for relief from debt. Families told of a pitru dosha or a kaal sarp dosha in a horoscope are sent to do its puja on an Amavasya, at Trimbakeshwar, Ujjain or Gaya.
How it is kept
The puja as a household does it, in order. Tick each step as it is done.
Amavasya · New moon: how it is kept
Keep ready
- Gangajal
- black sesame
- kusha grass
- raw milk and a little sugar
- raw cotton thread
- a copper lota
- mustard oil and clay diyas
- urad dal, grain and a blanket or cloth for daan
- rotis and jaggery for the cow
- flour and sugar for the ants
The steps
0 of 8 done
What is cooked
Many homes cook kheer and puri with a pumpkin or potato sabzi for the pitrus, set the first portions aside for the cow, the dog and the crow, and eat after. On Shani Amavasya the black grains come into the kitchen as a khichdi of black urad and rice, or as til laddoos given away with the daan. Those who keep a fast take only fruit or milk until the tarpan is done.
The hour
Clock times for Thursday, 7 January 2027 at Chennai
The Amavasya tithi at sunrise; the bath is at dawn and the tarpan in the afternoon.
The main rite. The Amavasya tithi at sunrise. The bath and the daan are at dawn, the tarpan in the afternoon, and the lamp under the peepal after sunset.
| Instant | Time | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Sunrise | 06:33 | the udaya tithi, the tithi running as the sun comes up |
| Aparahna | 13:23 | the afternoon, three fifths of the daylight after sunrise |
Sunrise 06:33, sunset 17:57, UTC+5.5. These are the instants the rule is read at, not the temple's own puja times, which every temple prints for itself.
The day itself
| What | When | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Tithi | Krishna Amavasai from previous day 23:15 until next day 01:54 | then Shukla Prathamai until 2 days later, 04:34 |
| Nakshatra | Purva Ashadha until next day 09:13 | then Uttara Ashadha until 2 days later, 12:16 |
| Rahu kaal | 13:40 to 15:06 (1 h 25 min) | the eighth of the daylight left alone for a beginning |
| Yamaganda | 06:33 to 07:59 (1 h 25 min) | the eighth ruled by Yama, also avoided |
| Gulika | 09:24 to 10:50 (1 h 25 min) | the eighth of Saturn’s son; what is done in it is said to repeat |
| Abhijit | 11:52 to 12:38 (0 h 46 min) | the midday muhurta, good for most things |
| Moonrise | 06:05 | moonset 17:34 |
For Thursday, 7 January 2027 at Chennai. A time marked "previous day" or "next day" is on the clock of that day.
The fast
Many keep a fast until the bath and the daan are done. No auspicious work is begun on the day.
What is avoided
No new work, purchase, journey or ceremony is begun, and hair and nails are not cut. Meat, liquor, onion and garlic are kept out of the house, and many avoid lonely places and cremation grounds after dark on the new moon, an old caution rather than a rule.
The name
The same day, in every language that has a word for it
Where the regions differ
The named ones carry the weight: Mauni Amavasya in Magha, Sarva Pitru Amavasya in Ashwina, and the Diwali Amavasya in Kartika. The southern equivalent is Amavasai, kept with monthly tarpanam.
In other regions
- North India (the dates above)
- The Hindi belt keeps Amavasya at the river: Haridwar, Prayagraj and Kurukshetra draw bathers on every new moon, Somvati above all. Shani Amavasya fills the Shani Dham at Kokilavan near Mathura and the Shani temples of every town, and the one in the middle of Shravan is Hariyali Amavasya, when saplings are planted.
The dates above are the North India reckoning, because that is the calendar this key belongs to. Switch the tradition on the calendar page to see how another one dates the same day.
Where this day is kept
Nearest first from Chennai, with what is recorded about each.
- Srikalahasti Temple 97 kmTirupati district, Andhra Pradesh
The gazetteer line for this temple names the day. Rahu kalam and Amavasya are its hours
- Madurai, Tamil Nadu
The gazetteer line for this temple names the day. Saturdays and Amavasya are its days.
- Kollumangudi, Mayiladuthurai, Tamil Nadu
This day is kept for Pitrus, and the gazetteer keeps this temple for Pitru and ancestors. Visited where a family quarrel or a father’s displeasure is read into the chart, and on amavasai for the ancestors.
- Tamil Nadu
This day is kept for Pitrus, and the gazetteer keeps this temple for Pitru and ancestors. Tula snanam through Aippasi, when lakhs bathe at the ghats, and amavasai tarpanam are what most come for.
- Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu
This day is kept for Pitrus, and the gazetteer keeps this temple for Pitru and ancestors. Amavasai tarpanam and Maha Sivaratri are its days
- Nagapattinam, Tamil Nadu
This day is kept for Pitrus, and the gazetteer keeps this temple for Pitru and ancestors. Amavasai and Aadi Amavasai tarpanam on the nearby shore are what most come for.
35 more temples in this gazetteer are recorded for the day. Find temples near you.
Your family's own temple comes first, and its calendar is the one that decides.
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A temple is listed here only where the gazetteer's own line names this day, or where this day's own entry names the town, or where the day belongs to the ancestors or the nagas and the temple is recorded for that rite. Where neither table says anything, nothing is listed as kept for the day; where fewer than three are, the nearest temples of the day's own gods are added under a heading of their own.
Mantras
The prayers said with the day. Each opens with its words and meaning.
- Pitru tarpanam sankalpam
- Navagraha stotram: Sani
- Devatabhyah Pitribhyashcha (to the ancestors)
A name without a link is a long reading, read in full from the family’s own copy or at the place of worship; the library prints the shorter prayers.
Every date here is computed from the Sun and Moon for the place entered, by the rule printed beside it.
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A printed panchangam can differ by a day where an almanac reads a tithi at a different instant, and a family's own custom always comes first. Where the practice genuinely varies, the text says so rather than choosing for you.