A tithi is a lunar day, and the observances that matter most in Hindu practice fall on particular ones. Ekadashi, Pradosham, Sankashti, Amavasya, Pournami and Ashtami all recur every lunar month, and the dates shift each time. Here they are for the months ahead, with what each is for.
A tithi is not a day, which is why dates move. It is the time the Moon takes to gain twelve degrees on the Sun — between about nineteen and twenty-six hours — so it rarely aligns with sunrise, and an observance is kept on the day the tithi is running at the relevant hour. How the dates are fixed →
Coimbatore · two calculated civil months
The eleventh tithi. The date shown follows the Smarta convention: Ekadashi is present at local sunrise.
Ekadashi convention shown: Smarta — the Ekadashi tithi present at local sunrise. Vaishnava dates can deliberately differ by one day.
Every calculated observance in the two-month window is shown below—not only the first five—with its governing reference moment and practical observance guidance.
| Date | Observance | Rule and timing | What the date is for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sunday 3 January 2027 | EkadashiKrishna Ekadashi | tithi until 4:09 PMtested at sunrise | The eleventh tithi. The date shown follows the Smarta convention: Ekadashi is present at local sunrise. |
| Tuesday 5 January 2027 | PradoshamKrishna Trayodashi | sunset 6:09 PMtested at sunset | Trayodashi at local sunset. Shiva worship and abhishekam are performed during the evening pradosha period. |
| Thursday 7 January 2027 | AmavasyaKrishna Amavasya | new moon 1:55 AM (next day)tested at sunrise | The new moon, traditionally kept for tarpanam and shraddha for the departed. |
| Tuesday 12 January 2027 | Vinayaka ChaturthiShukla Chaturthi | tithi until 11:30 AMtested at sunrise | Worship of Ganapathi. The Bhadrapada observance is the great annual festival. |
| Thursday 14 January 2027 | ShashtiShukla Shashthi | tithi until 1:59 PMtested at sunrise | Kept especially in Tamil Nadu; Skanda Shashti in Aippasi is the major annual observance. |
| Saturday 16 January 2027 | AshtamiShukla Ashtami | tithi until 1:44 PMtested at sunrise | The waxing eighth is observed for Durga worship. |
| Tuesday 19 January 2027 | EkadashiShukla Ekadashi | tithi until 7:50 AMtested at sunrise | The eleventh tithi. The date shown follows the Smarta convention: Ekadashi is present at local sunrise. |
| Wednesday 20 January 2027 | PradoshamShukla Trayodashi | sunset 6:17 PMtested at sunset | Trayodashi at local sunset. Shiva worship and abhishekam are performed during the evening pradosha period. |
| Friday 22 January 2027 | PournamiShukla Pournami | full moon 5:47 PMtested at sunrise | The full moon. Satyanarayana Puja is performed, and it is among the most auspicious days of the month for worship. |
| Monday 25 January 2027 | SankashtiKrishna Chaturthi | moonrise 9:18 PMtested at moonrise | The waning fourth at local moonrise. The fast is broken at moonrise, not at sunset. |
| Wednesday 27 January 2027 | ShashtiKrishna Shashthi | tithi until 3:54 AM (next day)tested at sunrise | Kept especially in Tamil Nadu; Skanda Shashti in Aippasi is the major annual observance. |
| Friday 29 January 2027 | AshtamiKrishna Ashtami | tithi until 4:59 AM (next day)tested at sunrise | Krishna Ashtami is the traditional monthly day for Kala Bhairava rites. |
| Tuesday 2 February 2027 | EkadashiKrishna Ekadashi | tithi until 11:11 AMtested at sunrise | The eleventh tithi. The date shown follows the Smarta convention: Ekadashi is present at local sunrise. |
| Wednesday 3 February 2027 | PradoshamKrishna Trayodashi | sunset 6:23 PMtested at sunset | Trayodashi at local sunset. Shiva worship and abhishekam are performed during the evening pradosha period. |
| Saturday 6 February 2027 | AmavasyaKrishna Amavasya | new moon 9:26 PMtested at sunrise | The new moon, traditionally kept for tarpanam and shraddha for the departed. |
| Wednesday 10 February 2027 | Vinayaka ChaturthiShukla Chaturthi | tithi until 3:05 AM (next day)tested at sunrise | Worship of Ganapathi. The Bhadrapada observance is the great annual festival. |
| Friday 12 February 2027 | ShashtiShukla Shashthi | tithi until 3:00 AM (next day)tested at sunrise | Kept especially in Tamil Nadu; Skanda Shashti in Aippasi is the major annual observance. |
| Sunday 14 February 2027 | AshtamiShukla Ashtami | tithi until 12:42 AM (next day)tested at sunrise | The waxing eighth is observed for Durga worship. |
| Wednesday 17 February 2027 | EkadashiShukla Ekadashi | tithi until 5:32 PMtested at sunrise | The eleventh tithi. The date shown follows the Smarta convention: Ekadashi is present at local sunrise. |
| Thursday 18 February 2027 | PradoshamShukla Trayodashi | sunset 6:27 PMtested at sunset | Trayodashi at local sunset. Shiva worship and abhishekam are performed during the evening pradosha period. |
| Friday 26 February 2027 | ShashtiKrishna Shashthi | tithi until 8:44 PMtested at sunrise | Kept especially in Tamil Nadu; Skanda Shashti in Aippasi is the major annual observance. |
| Sunday 28 February 2027 | AshtamiKrishna Ashtami | tithi until 11:47 PMtested at sunrise | Krishna Ashtami is the traditional monthly day for Kala Bhairava rites. |
Each recurs every lunar month — most twice, since the waxing and waning halves both carry the same tithi numbers.
| Observance | Tithi | Deity | How often | What is done |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ekadashi | 11th | Vishnu | Twice a month | Fasting from grains, kept from sunrise to the following morning. The most widely observed of all |
| Pradosham | 13th | Shiva | Twice a month | Evening worship in the hour and a half before and after sunset. Abhishekam at Shiva temples |
| Sankashti Chaturthi | 4th — waning | Ganapathi | Monthly | Fast broken at moonrise, not sunset. For the removal of obstacles |
| Vinayaka Chaturthi | 4th — waxing | Ganapathi | Monthly | Worship of Ganapathi. The Bhadrapada one is the great annual festival |
| Amavasya | 30th — new moon | Ancestors | Monthly | Tarpanam and shraddha for the departed. Also the day for Pratyangira and Kali rites |
| Pournami | 15th — full moon | Varies | Monthly | Satyanarayana Puja. Among the most auspicious days for worship of any kind |
| Ashtami | 8th | Durga, Bhairava | Twice a month | Krishna Ashtami is the traditional day for Kala Bhairava rites |
| Shashti | 6th | Murugan | Twice a month | Kept especially in Tamil Nadu. Skanda Shashti in Aippasi is the major observance |
Sankashti is the one people most often get wrong. Unlike every other fast here, it is broken at moonrise rather than at sunset — and moonrise on a waning fourth is late, often after nine in the evening. It also varies by city more than any other timing on this page, so a date alone is not enough.
Shukla Dwitiya spans two local sunrises (vriddhi tithi).
Dwadashi did not touch local sunrise before this date (kshaya tithi); sunset and moonrise observances were still tested at their own moments.
Chaturthi did not touch local sunrise before this date (kshaya tithi); sunset and moonrise observances were still tested at their own moments.
Krishna Dashami spans two local sunrises (vriddhi tithi).
Pournami did not touch local sunrise before this date (kshaya tithi); sunset and moonrise observances were still tested at their own moments.
It is the time the Moon takes to gain twelve degrees on the Sun. Because both move at varying apparent speeds, a tithi runs anywhere between about nineteen and twenty-six hours — never a neat twenty-four.
Thirty of them make a lunar month, which is why the lunar month drifts against the solar year and why festivals move by about eleven days each year.
The general rule is the tithi running at sunrise names the day. But observances have their own rules: Ekadashi is kept on the day the tithi covers sunrise, while Pradosham depends on the tithi running at sunset, and Sankashti on the tithi at moonrise.
This is why two observances can appear to fall on different days in different calendars — they are following different rules correctly.
The lunar month divides into the waxing fortnight, shukla paksha, ending at the full moon, and the waning fortnight, krishna paksha, ending at the new moon. Tithis one to fifteen run in each.
So most tithis occur twice a month, and the two are read differently — Krishna Ashtami is the Bhairava day, while Shukla Ashtami is not.
A tithi begins and ends at a precise moment worldwide, but which calendar date that falls on depends on where you are. An Ekadashi beginning at 2 AM in India may begin the previous afternoon in North America.
Families abroad usually keep the local date rather than the Indian one. Set your city above and the dates adjust.
Fifteen in each paksha. Several carry names and observances of their own; the rest are used mainly in muhurta.
| Tithi | Name | Group | Noted for |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pratipada | Nanda | Beginnings; the first day of a paksha |
| 2 | Dwitiya | Bhadra | Generally favourable for most undertakings |
| 3 | Tritiya | Jaya | Akshaya Tritiya in Vaikasi is the great one |
| 4 | Chaturthi | Rikta | Ganapathi. Sankashti in the waning half, Vinayaka in the waxing |
| 5 | Panchami | Purna | Saraswathi and the nagas. Vasant Panchami, Naga Panchami |
| 6 | Shashti | Nanda | Murugan. Skanda Shashti |
| 7 | Saptami | Bhadra | Surya. Ratha Saptami |
| 8 | Ashtami | Jaya | Durga and Bhairava. Krishna Ashtami for Kala Bhairava rites |
| 9 | Navami | Rikta | Durga. Rama Navami, Maha Navami |
| 10 | Dashami | Purna | Vijayadashami; favourable for beginnings |
| 11 | Ekadashi | Nanda | Vishnu. Fasting, twice each month |
| 12 | Dwadashi | Bhadra | The Ekadashi fast is broken during it — the parana |
| 13 | Trayodashi | Jaya | Shiva. Pradosham, twice each month |
| 14 | Chaturdashi | Rikta | Shiva. Masik Shivaratri in the waning half |
| 15 | Pournami / Amavasya | Purna | Full moon in shukla, new moon in krishna |
The Rikta tithis — 4th, 9th and 14th — are avoided for beginnings. The name means empty, and classical practice does not start journeys, businesses or auspicious undertakings on them. That they are also the days of Ganapathi, Durga and Shiva observances is not a contradiction: worship is not a beginning, and none of these restrictions apply to ritual.
Two panchangs can give different dates for the same observance, and both be right. Ekadashi is fixed by the tithi at sunrise, Pradosham by the tithi at sunset, Sankashti by the tithi at moonrise. Where a tithi begins or ends near one of those moments, the rule decides the day — and traditions weight the rules slightly differently.
Smarta and Vaishnava Ekadashi dates differ deliberately. Where the eleventh tithi is touched by the tenth at sunrise, Vaishnava practice defers the fast to the following day while Smarta practice does not. This is a settled difference of observance, not an error in either calendar.
Follow your family’s practice rather than a website. Where a date here differs from what your family or temple keeps, theirs is the one to follow — a calendar cannot know which tradition you belong to. If something matters and you are unsure, ask the priest who will perform it.
Tithis are the lunar reckoning. These cover the solar months and the day itself.
Indian timekeeping runs on the Moon and the Sun together. The solar month begins when the Sun enters a new rashi, at Sankranti, and governs the Tamil and Malayalam calendars and the agricultural year. The lunar month is measured in tithis and governs almost every observance — Ekadashi, Pradosham, Amavasya, and the great festivals.
Because a lunar month is about twenty-nine and a half days and a solar year is not divisible by it, the two drift apart and are periodically reconciled by an intercalary month, adhika masa. This is why Diwali and Navratri move by a fortnight or more between years while Pongal barely moves at all: one is lunar, the other solar.
What follows from this practically is that observance dates cannot be memorised. They must be calculated each year, for each location — which is what a panchang has always been for, and what this page does.
Most often the Smarta and Vaishnava difference. Where the eleventh tithi is touched by the tenth at sunrise, Vaishnava practice defers the fast by a day while Smarta practice does not — so the two traditions keep different dates deliberately. Follow your family’s or your temple’s practice; a calendar cannot know which tradition you belong to.
At moonrise, not at sunset — and this is the detail most often missed. Moonrise on a waning fourth is late, commonly after nine in the evening, and it varies by city more than any other timing here. Set your location above so the moonrise time is right for where you are.
Because most follow the lunar calendar. A lunar month is about twenty-nine and a half days, so twelve of them fall short of a solar year by roughly eleven days — which is why Diwali and Navratri shift each year, and why an extra month is inserted periodically to reconcile them. Solar observances such as Pongal barely move at all.
Yes, and both are normal. A tithi that begins and ends between two sunrises is skipped — kshaya tithi — and one that covers two sunrises is repeated, vriddhi tithi. Neither is inauspicious in itself; they are consequences of the tithi being between nineteen and twenty-six hours long while a day is twenty-four.
Most families keep the local date, since the observance rules depend on local sunrise, sunset and moonrise. A tithi begins at one moment worldwide but falls on different calendar dates by timezone. Set your city above and the dates adjust. Where a family keeps the Indian date by preference, that is also a settled practice and not wrong.
The 4th, 9th and 14th. Rikta means empty, and classical practice avoids them for beginnings — starting a journey, a business, or anything auspicious. They are not avoided for worship, which is why Sankashti, Navami and Shivaratri all fall on them. Worship is not a beginning, and none of these restrictions apply to ritual.
Depends what for. Pournami is the most generally auspicious for worship; Dashami and Tritiya are favoured for beginnings; Ekadashi is the most widely kept as a fast. For choosing a date for something specific, the tithi is one factor among several — the Muhurat Finder weighs them together.
Several of these tithis carry rituals traditionally performed at a temple rather than at home — Pradosham abhishekam, Amavasya tarpanam, Krishna Ashtami Bhairava rites. Our priests perform them at our own Yagna Ashram, individually and in your name, on the correct tithi.