Pradosham Vratam The Trayodasi evening, twice a lunar month, when Shiva is held to dance between the horns of Nandi.
The name
The same day, written in each of the six scripts this app keeps
- English
- Pradosham
- தமிழ்
- பிரதோஷம்
- తెలుగు
- ప్రదోషం
- ಕನ್ನಡ
- ಪ್ರದೋಷ
- മലയാളം
- പ്രദോഷം
- मराठी
- प्रदोष
UTC+5:30
The date of a festival depends on the place: 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
Looking for the calendar this day belongs to
This day does not fall again in the next three years at this place. A few days are tied to the solar month rather than to the civil year, so a year can hold two of them or none.
What the day is
The Trayodasi evening, twice a lunar month, when Shiva is held to dance between the horns of Nandi. The abhishekam is done in the two and a half hours around sunset and the Nandi is worshipped first; Saturday's Pradosham, Sani Pradosham, draws the largest crowd, and Monday's is Soma Pradosham. It is kept in memory of the churning of the ocean, when Shiva held the poison in his throat.
- Deity
- Shiva, Nandi, Parvati
- Kind
- Vratam Days kept by a fast or a vow, most of them coming round every lunar month.
The hour
The rule in words
Pradosha kala, from about an hour and a half before sunset to about an hour after: the Trayodasi running at sunset is the day. The abhishekam is at dusk.
The fast
A fast through the day, broken after the evening abhishekam; many take only fruit and water and eat at night. No rice until the puja is over.
Where the regions differ
Kept across the south at every Shiva temple. The north calls it Pradosh vrat and Shani Pradosh, with the same Trayodasi evening and the same fast.
Fixing a day for it
The muhurtham rules that go with this festival
A temple visit, or the first darshan at a new temple. No weekday is ruled out: Tuesday belongs to Murugan and the Amman, Saturday to Perumal and Sani, so the day usually follows the deity rather than the almanac. Ashtami and Chaturdasi are the two tithis held back for darshan, with the standing exceptions of Sivaratri on Krishna Chaturdasi and Kala Bhairava Ashtami, which are kept on those very days. Rahu kaal, Yamaganda and Gulika kaal are not scored here; the panchangam page prints them for the day you pick, and most families simply wait them out.
Every date here is computed from the Sun and Moon for the place entered, by the rule printed beside it. 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.