RigVeda Upakarma / Yajurveda Upakarma / Avani Avittham / Shravana Upakarma / Samaveda Upakarma 2008

Yajurveda Upakarma 2008:

The Indian day is from sunrise to sunrise. The tithi visible at the time of sunrise is the usually tithi for the festival. But There are rules when to observe a certain festival. In case of Upakarma the rule is checked for any contamination during upakarma ahoratra -- that is from one midnight to another midnight. If there is an eclipse and/or samkranti (Ravi samkramana) on the sharvani poornima (appearing after the previous midnight and before coming midnight) then Upakarma cannot be performed on the day of shravani poornima(Dharmasindhu, Nirnay sindhu) thithi visible at the sunrise. This is because it contaminates the entire poornima by that timeframe (midnight to midnight). Normally the Simha samkramana contaminates sixteen ghatikas (16*48 minutes= 12 hours and 48 minutes) before the samkramana time (Dharmasindhu, muhurtha chintamani). That time is known as a punyah kala and it needs to be avoided in shubha karma. But, tn the case of upakarma according to the Dharmasindhu and the Nirnaysindhu it contimates the entire timeframe of midnight to midnight, and hence upakarma cannot be performed on such day when this happens. There is a samkranti (Ravi samkramana) and eclispe on the day of yajur upakarma in 2008. Hence the yajur upakrama cannot be performed on that day (When poornima appears on the sunrise). Yajur upakarma's main kala is shravani poornima -- Poornima in the month of shravan. When poornima and samkranti (Ravi samkramana) or eclipse combine together that day shouldn't be taken for upakarma. If you follow yajurveda then please look for your sutra in the following table. You'll know your sutra from your abhivadaye. Most common sutras in Shree Krishna Yajurveda are: Apastama, Bodhayana. North indians follow Shukla Yajurveda (Their shakhas are kanva, madhyandina, and katyayana). People refer to the later day shastras and interpretations when eclispe or samkranti happens on the upakarma day. However, grihya sutras clearly say what to do. They say the upakarma cannot be performed during eclipse, and/or samkranti apeears in the upakarma ahoratra period. Additionaly they say that the first upakarma cannot be performed when there is a guru-sukra (jupiter, venus) are closer to sun (asta, moodyami, helical settings). They don't mention about grahana or samkranti in the first upakarma exception. However, certain people refer to later day shastras and make it exception.

Contention as per Drika Siddhanta: This year sharvani poornima falls on August 16th 2008 and the Lunar eclipse is from 18:22 to 23:58 as per GMT timings. In india (Aug 16) 23:52 to 5:28 AM (Aug 17). USA PDT 11:22 to 16:58. Now Simha ravi samkramana occurs at GMT 11:49 AM, India 17:19, USA PDT 4:49 AM, USA EDT 7:49 AM. Now all these time falls between the window of the timeframe that is midnight before August 16 (After the midnight of August 15th) and the midnight of August 16th (before August 17th). Now as per dharmashastra for all other festivals sunrise to sunrise is counted as a day. Only for upakarma's nirnay midnight to midnight is taken. Hence, both ravi samkramana and eclipse occurs during this timeframe upakarma cannot be performed on August 16th. However, for vakya sidhdhanta their samkramana occurs at 51:39 (ghati/nazhi : pala/vinadi). They take from Tanjor's sunrise timings. This converts to 20 hours and 39 minutes after their sunrise. Let's see August 16th sunrise is at 6:00 AM then their samkramana occurs after midnight of 16th and hence they argue it's okay to perform upakarma on August 16th. As far as eclipse is concerned their argument is it's not visible and if it's visible it's in the evening and hence, it's not applicable. This goes against dharmashastra. The vakyam's planetory position can't be observed in the sky using telescope. The planetory positions using drika siddhanta can be observed in the sky using telescope. Drika siddhanta is more accurate. Even our sages have said use precise calculations. Vakyam was written many centuries back. Planetory positions and movements keeps changing. Moon needs corrections after every 75 years. Moon as per brown's table takes pages of corrections, how can you define moon's speed in one sentense? Vakyam panchang makers silently copies eclipse information from western ephemeries. Now you decide when you want to perform upakarma? We have given following table for upakarma dates.

Note: Certain mutts interpret that this samkranti and grahana rule applies to first upakarma only. while other majority of mutts have decided that it's applied to all upakarmas. However Dharmasindu and Nirnaysindhu and many other shastras donot mention that this rule is applicable to first time upakarma only. They do mention that upakarama cannot be done when grahana, and samkranti appears on shravani (The time frame explained above from midnight to midnight). Most of us believe that first or subsequent upakarma cannot be done during eclipse or samkranti.

Taitariya shakha(Hiranyakeshi): Shravani Poornima if not available hasta nakshatra in shravana.

Bodhyana sutra: Shravani Poornima if not available Aashadha month's poornima.

Aapasthamba sutra: Shravani Poornima if not available Bhadrapada month's poornima. Different sutras in yaajush shakha have specified differnt kalas when the upakarma can't be performed during the mail kala.

Madhyandina, kanva, kaatyayana shakha: Shravani Poornima if not available panchami, or hastha nakshatra yukta panchami in the month of shravan. If these are still not available they can perform on bhadrapada poornima.

Rigveda Upakarma 2008: Rigveda Upakarma's main kala is Srvana masa and srvana nakshatra. When combined with eclipse or samkranti that day cannot be taken. When it happens take Hasta nakshatra or panchami. The samkranti contaminates shravana nakshatra in Europe, Gulf, India, China, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia and other eastern countries. Where as it remains untouched in USA/Canada as per dharmasindhu.

Samaveda Upakarma 2008: Samaveda upakarma date is not combined with samkranti or eclipse and hence Bhadrapada, Hasta nakshatra can be taken.

Question comes when these dates falls in 2008?

Please click on http://www.mypanchang.com/ and click on 2008's panchangam.
Please scroll down to find your city and click on city name. Click on the August on the top bar when panchangam comes. This is shravana month. For Bhadrapada month lick on september. For ashadha masa please click on July. Please try to apply the rules explained above.

Please refer to the following table of upakarma dates in year 2008. (PST, MST, CST, and EST are USA/ Canada's Time Zones). Due to samkranti and eclispe on shravani poornima Upakarma cannot be performed on shravani poornima.

Year 2008	India	USA PST	USA MST	USA CST	USA EST
Rigveda	Aug 6	Aug 15	Aug 15	Aug 15	Aug 15
Taitariya (Hiranyakeshi)	Aug 6	Aug 5	Aug 5	Aug 5	Aug 5
Bodhayana	July 18	July 17	July 17	July 17	July 17
Aapasthamba	Sep 15	Sep 14	Sep 14	Sep 14	Sep 14
Shukla Yajurveda	Aug 6	Aug 5	Aug 5	Aug 5	Aug 5
Samaveda	Sept 2	Sept 1	Sept 2	Sept 2	Sept 2

Year 2008	Europe South Africa	Arabian Gulf Mauritius	Australia Singapore Malaysia
Rigveda	Aug 6	Aug 6	Aug 6
Taitariya (Hiranyakeshi)	Aug 6	Aug 6	Aug 6
Bodhayana	July 18	July 18	July 18
Aapasthamba	Sep 15	Sep 15	Sep 15
Shukla Yajurveda	Aug 6	Aug 6	Aug 6
Samaveda	Sept 2	Sept 2	Sept 2

To find out today's star or looking for a panchangam? visit http://www.mypanchang.com/ and click on panchanga and select the city you want.

Article: Pandit Mahesh Shastri, Dr. Ramachandra Joisa

Ugadi 2008 and Auspicious muhurtha days

According to dharmasindu and other muhurtha shastras treatises there are four days very good in a year that doesn't require any muhurtha:

1. Chaitra Ugadi / Gudi Padawa / Chaitri Shukla Padyami
2. Akshaya Tritiya
3. Vijaya Dasami
4. Kartika Shukla Padyami / Bali Pratipada.

However, entire chaitra months are treated as a zero month according to some rishies. A zero month means no muhurthas available. But Chaitra shukla paksha padyami / ugadi is exception if and only if not under influence of eclipse. If it's a not under eclipse you can find sthira lagna on Ugadi to perform any auspicious ocassion. Vrishabha, Simha, Vrischika and Kumbha lagna are sthira lagna. However somethimes Kanya, Tula and mina lagna are taken as well.

New year's ugadi panchangam are available at http://www.mypanchang.com/ along with lagna table and chogadia (kinda gauri panchang type) for your location. Please click on panchangam link and select your city. Please visit the http://www.mypanchang.com/ to find out Ugadi / Gudi padawa dates in your city.

Panchangam, Jatakam and Muhurtha

People plan wedding, grahapravesham and lots of other occasion. They depend on panchangam so much that the word 'Panchangam' has become synonym for Jatakam. Most of them send me request to make panchangam for the time they were born. We understand that they are looking for jaatakam not panchangam. That also makes them believe that the panchangam is jatakam. People search the net for "Telugu Panchangam for two different star match making". This really doesn't make any sense. The reason is match making isn't just comparing tables for stars and they are compitable or not. Marriage compatibilty is more complex subject. One should contact expert astrologer to find compatibility. Just mere "Guna milan" or "Gunak" isn't enough. The compatibility check is not required in case of love marriage as "Gandharva vivaha".

The reason why love marriage doesn't require horoscope matching is simple. Whoever proposes doesn't ask him or her "Honey! I like you and I love you, but before I propose you my parents wants to have our horoscope checked out first, and if and only if our stars match I'll propose you". Can you ever imagine anyone proposing like that? Does it really makes sense? Imagine happening this, and the result is there will not be any love marriages. That's why gandharva vivaha doesn't require match making.

The marraige compatibility check is beyond mangal (kuja) dosha, nakshatra count (Gunank / Gunamilan) and other things. Please contact an astrologer to find out compatibility. To find out muhurtha for wedding please advise your astrologer to use http://www.mypanchang.com/ and use panchang for your city from our website to find out an auspicious time for your ocassion.

Once again, any muhurtha has to be personalized. There can't be general purpose muhurtha for everyone except Vijaya Dashami, and Akshaya Tritiya. Whenever panchang gives general purpose marriage muhurtha they have a panchang shuddhi for the place they are calculated for. They aren't good for everyone. Tarabala, Rashibala, Suryabala, and Gurubala needs to be checked for both bride and groom to find auspicious muhurtha.

Please visit http://www.mypanchang.com/ and fill out muhurtha request form if you need muhurtha. We'll try to give you as per our bandwidth, otherwise find an astrologer who can prepare a very good muhurtha for you and always ask astrologer to use panchangam for the city you are going to get married or going to have grahapravesham or the ocassion. Please visit http://www.mypanchang.com/ and click on panchanga to find panchangam for your city. If your city is not listed let us know and we'll be glad to add it for you.

Note: If you live in suburban city of a major city then you can safely refer to the panchangam of major city. For example if you live in Redmond, WA or Bellevue,WA or Bothell, WA you can use panchangam made for Seattle, WA.

Hindu Festivals in Mauritius 2008

Someone was kind enough to send me the list of hindu festivals and their celebration dates in Mauritius as announced by the Sanatan Dharma society and Govt. of Mauritius. I do find errors in some festivals's celebration dates.

The list of 2008 festivals in Mauritius with errors in the celebration dates:

7 April Ougadi.
WRONG date …. ridiculous. This date should be April 6th, Chaitra padyami doesn’t prevail at the sunrise of mauritius on 7th (Some parts of india like bombay, and delhi will celebrate on 6th April, Where as Tamilnadu, orrisa, bengal, Bihar will celebrate on 7th Apr).

14 April Ram Navami
Ramanavami should be April 13th for smarthas (Non-vaishnavites). The April 14th for shri vaishanavas.

15 August Krishna Janmashtami
WRONG date …. ridiculous. This should be 23rd August 2008 (This falls on August 24th for India, August 23rd for Mauritius)

4 Sep Ganesh Chathurthi.
WRONG date..... ridiculous. This should be September 3rd in Mauritius (Even India doesn’t celebrate on 4th September)

It will be interesting to know their reasoning about adjusting their festivals. The good sign is they are not following the dates from indian calendar which they shouldn't but some dates just doesn't make any sense. Who determines their festivals? How do they determine? When they can celebrate Mahashivaratri on the right date -- March 5th 2008, why not other fesivals?

To find out your son's star or looking for a panchangam? visit http://www.mypanchang.com/ and click on panchanga and select the city you want.

How to determine shraddha tithi or amavasya tarpanam tithi.

Shraddha is performed when tithi prevails during aprahana kala of the day. The Aprahana kala is the 4/5th part of the day. The Shraddha is performed during the Aprahana kala of the day, after completing the madhyahna sandhya.

1. To calculate aprahana kala subtract sunrise from sunset (dinmana:=sunset-sunrise).
2. The result is called dinmana.
3. Divide it into five equal parts, to do this divide dinamana with 5. This gives us the duration for each kala. Now aprahana kala is the 4th kala of the day. It starts right after 3rd madhyana kala.
4. Multiply kala duration obtained in step #3 with 3 to give us aprahana kala starting offset from sunrise.
5. Add sunrise to aparahna kala starting offset. This is the begining time for aprahana kala.
6. Add the duration of kala (Step #3) to the aprahana kala start time calculated above (Step #5). This is when aprahana kala ends.
7. Now check the tithi if it prevails during the aprahana kala that is from the start of aparahana kala obtained from step 5 to time obtained in step 6. To find tithi ending times and local sunrise and sunset please visit http://www.mypanchang.com/ and click on panchanga, scroll down to your city and click on panchanga. There are two columns, one for Amavasyanta panchanga and another for poornimant. Please click panchangam under appropriate calendar you follow.
8. If your tithi prevails during this period, It is your tithi. Repeat the same for the next day to check if tithi prevails during next day, If your tithi or amavasya prevails during both days then take one in which prevails more.

Now this entire calculation should be done on local sunrise and local sunset -- Where the shraddha or tarpanam is going to be performed. If you are in america and the priest from India gives you the date based on their sunrise sunset and their tithi timings it's invalid. You might be performing it on a wrong day. To find tithi end times and local sunrise and local sunset in your city -- location please visit http://www.mypanchang.com/ and click on panchanga, scroll down to your city and click on panchanga. There are two columns, one for Amavasyanta panchanga and another for poornimant. Please click panchangam under appropriate calendar you follow. If you are from gujarat, maharastra or south india please use amavasyant panchangam otherwise if you are from north india select poornimanth panchangam.

When was karwa chauth in USA in year 2007?

(From email archives -- I have replied to various people on separate thread elsewhere)

There is a misconception that Indian tithis are connected to English dates as given in Indian panchanga. The Indian panchangam is computed keeping IST in mind. The tithis ends at the same instance all over the world. For example Tithi chaturthi ends on 20:01 on October 29th in India, subtracting time difference of 12 hours 30 minutes (Pacific Daylight Saving time) from IST time gives it 7:31 AM on October 29th 2007th morning for cities observing Pacific Standard Time (California, Washington, Oregon, British Columbia for example).

Now when to observe festivals is different ball game, as every festival has different set of rules. These rules are well written ages ago by our sages in various dharma shastras like DharmaSindhu, Nirnay Sindhu, Tithi Nirnay, and many others.

The rule for Karwa Chauth is, “Karwa Chauth to be observed at moonrise (chandrodaya vyapini) and poorvaviddha, best if its tritiya viddha. If visible during both days take the first one, if not visible on both days then take the second one”.

Caluclation Example and Explanation:
Now in India, chaturthi end timings are 20:01. Now, moonrise in New Delhi is at 20:31 (The average moonrise in India is around 20:31) on October 29th. It is not even visible on moonrise time on October 29th, but according to the rule, Karwa Chauth in India is on October 29th (as the second rule applies if not visible on both days take the second day). Moonrise time on October 28th is at 20:10. Tritiya ends on October 28th at 23:05 in India. Hence on 28th at the moonrise time Chaturthi is not visible.

Now, moonrise is different for all cities in the world, Tithi ending times are also different in different parts of the world, as we explained earlier. Now if you subtract Pacific Daylight Saving time difference from India’s Tritiya end time, that is 23:05 -12:30 gives 10:35 AM, Tritiya ending time for USA/Canada’s Pacific Time zone. it is very clear that during the moonrise time in Seattle Chaturthi thithi is visible on October 28th, hence karwa chauth in Seattle is on October 28th, not October 29th.

If you have a child birth at home, will you make his / her janampatri -- horoscope based on american time converted to indian standard time and then make horoscope or you will provide longitude latitude of the birth place? if you make your or your loved one's birth chart horoscope as per scientific methods then why not follow festivals as per that rule. Remember those days of past when only few handful astrologers knew how to make kundli -- janampatri of people born outside india, now with advancements of computer its easy to get janampatri of people born outside of india through software. Unfortunately, it took awhile to educate people about folllowing correct janmapatri.

The confusion about the whole thing is we always assume the day is 24 hours long, and it changes at midnight. Hindi calendar is Lunisolar calendar. Hindu day may not be 24 hours long. It can be 19 to 26 hours long, and starts from one sunrise to another sunrise with length of the day from sunrise to sunset and night from sunset to next day's sunrise.

Most festivals are observed based on given tithi visible at the sunrise (New year, navaratri for example), some are observed if given tithi visible during midday, some are observed if tithi visible during midnight (Shivaratri for example). In such case observance starts from the morning -- sunrise even though different tithi prevails during sunrise. According to vaishnavite tradition and smartha tradition ekadashi observance rules are be different, hence even in india sometimes vaishnava ekadasi will appear on a different day then smartha ekadashi.
Now, about the karwa chauth rule laid down by dharma shastra, they say forth tithi, not the forth day after fullmoon. Hence, You can't literally take the 4th day!. Tithi can be treated as a day but the length of the day varies like i mentioned before. Indian day (Tithi) could range from 19 hours to 26 hours. Sometimes in indian panchangam you will notice words like kshya tithi, means tithi is less than 60 gatikas -- 24 hours, and vriddhi tithi means the day / tithi is more than 60 ghatikas -- 24 hours.

English date is based on earth's rotation, where as indian date is difference between sun and moon the distance between sun and the moon. Calendar makers use dharma shastra granths (books) like Tithi Nirnay, Kaal nirnay, Dharma Sindhu, Nirnay Sindhu, Parva Nirnay, etc.. to apply rules to panchang data available to them.

Bassed on that let me give you another real example of karwa chauth celebrated in past in India. As per the indian panchang, Karwa chauth in year 2005 was after third night after full moon, that is October 20th 2005 (Purnima was on October 17th 2005), the reason is simple at the moonrise in india chaurthi was visible, so even india they do not follow the literal rule forth night after the full moon. It is forth tithi visible after full moon during moonrise time. Anyways, you will never observe fast overnight! Because the festival rule says you need to break the fast at the moonrise after doing chandra darshan. so you will be fasting from the morning even if tritiya prevails during the morning of the karwa chauth. People in india On October 20th 2005 started fasting in morning althought tritiya was prevailing during the morning and broken their fast at night after moonrise as chaturthi tithi was visible during moonrise. This forth day in india and third day in usa is mainly due to time difference, different sunrise sunset timings, different moonrise timings, etc.....

Maharishi Vashistha, Tithi Chinamani and various other treatise say the following:
tebhyaH syaad grahanaadi driksamamiyam prokta maya saa tithigraahya mangal dharma nirnayvidhaaveSha yato driksama

Which means in whichever paksha (desha), and kaala you see the drika ganita, tithi and festival nirnay should be done accordingly.The spirituality about vrata comes from believing of it. If we follow vratam then why not do it on the right day? The problem is which is the right day? When we follow eclipse, let's see Total lunar eclipse which is visible to the most part of the world at the same time, we always subtract or add the time difference from GMT timings to observe eclipse right? Because it is visible, same way tithi and nakshtra timings although not visible but still needs to be applied appropriate time difference and apply shastra sidhdhanta to determine when to do fast. I can assure you it will be never in the night. :)

To find out your son's star or looking for a panchangam? visit http://www.mypanchang.com and click on panchanga and select the city you want.

When is Shri Ram Navami

Lord Ramachandra was born on Chaitra Shukla Navami, madhyanaha time, Purnavasu nakshatra and mesha surya and karka lagna.

Observance Rule: Chaitra Sukla Navami, prevailing during madhyahana time. If prevails on both days during the madhyahana kala (3/5th) of the dinmana then take the second one. If it doesn't prevails on second day during madhyahana kala but prevails on first day then take the first one otherwise take the second one.
Vaishnava rule variation: If it prevails on first day with ashtami viddha but prevails during madhyahana kala and doesn't prevail on second day during madhyanaha kala but it prevails for three muhurtha after sunrise (144 minutes) take the second day.

Explanation: The Madhyahana is the third / fifth part of the dinamana. The dinamana is the difference between sunset and sunrise on the same day. This is the total length of the day. The navami tithi should be prevailing during the 3rd fifth part of the dinamana based on local sunrise and local sunset.

According to this Smarthas can celebrate Shri Ramanavami (2008) as follows:

• USA, Canada, Europe, Gulf Countries, Africa, Mauritius: April 13th 2008.
• India (Bombay, Delhi, Andhra Pradesh, Tamilnadu, Kerala, Gujarat, Maharastra, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Hariyana, Kashmir, Portions of UP) April 13th 2008
• India (Places east of Jharkhand, portions of Uttar pradesh, Bihar, Bengal, Assam, Orrisa, Tripura) April 14th 2008
• Sri Lanka April 13th 2008
• Bangladesh, China, Singapore, Malaysia, South East Asia, Australia, Fiji, Japan, New Zealand April 14th 2008.

According to Vaishnava siddhanta:

• USA, Canada, Europe April 13th 2008.
• Gulf Countries, Africa, Mauritius, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, China, Singapore, Malaysia, South East Asia, Australia, Fiji, Japan, New Zealand. April 14th 2008.

To find out today's star or looking for a panchangam? visit http://www.mypanchang.com and click on panchanga and select the city you want.

Satyanarayana Vrat Katha

When to perform this vrata?

This vrata can be performed any day, in the evening. The Purnima / Pournami is very auspicious. The question comes when the Purnima prevails for two days:

for example let's take panchang for Seattle, WA (March 20th, 2008)
Source: http://www.mypanchang.com/panchang2008.html

If you open Seattle's panchang for March 20th 2008, you'll notice the entry called "T:Chaturdashi 10:55:09" and Panchang for March 21, 2008 "T:Purnima 11:39:57". Which means Purnima starts on March 20th in Seattle at 10:55:10 AM in the morning and lasts till March 21st 11:39:57 AM. Here purnima prevails during the sunrise of March 21st but not March 20th. Most people will now think Purnima is on March 21st, Let's do Sri Satyanarayan puja that day. "Bolo Sri Satyanarayana dev ki jai".

Now the Satayanarayan puja is observed in evening. The purnima should be prevailing during the apaharna kala. There are five kalas in a day and four praharas. Each kala duration is the 1/5th part of the dinmana (sunset-sunrise). The dinmana is the length of the day and obtained by subtracting the sunset minus sunrise of the day. The Fourth / Fifth (4/5th) portion of the dinmana is called the apaharna kala. The purnima should be prevailing during this time. If purnima prevails on both days take the one which prevails during apaharna kala. If it prevails on both days during apaharna kala, take the first one.

According to that rule, you can do the math yourself, you'll notice that ideal time to peform Sri Satyanarayana swami vratam in Seattle is March 20th 2008, Not march 21st 2008. However if you are in india then March 21st 2008 will be the ideal time to perform Sri satyanarayana vrata puja.

Please click here to download Sri Satyanarayana Puja story in english. Source http://www.seattlepandit.com/

To find out today's star or looking for a panchangam? visit http://www.mypanchang.com and click on panchanga and select the city you want.

When to observe Pradosh vrata?

Panchangam Source: http://www.mypanchang.com/

Pradosha vrata is usaully a fast observed when trayodashi tithi (both shukla and krishna trayodashi) is visible after sunset. This is related to fast not based on doing abhishekam when abhishekam is done in the evening in temples or at home. Temples do abhishekam in evening on pradosha day and common misconception is tithi needs to be visible when abhishekam is done. Well, the reality is it's connected to when to observe fast not when to do abhishekam. Remember after sunset bhojana (eating food), nindra (sleeping), maithuna (having sex), adhyayana (study) is prohibited during pradosha.

Abhishekam and Pradosha:

Pradosha vrat says to perform shivapuja in the afternoon. Now most temples perform shivapuja, and abhishekam on the day of pradosha in the evening. Pradosha day is decided for fasting. Now sunsets in india around 6:00 PM. This is average sunset. Now if you live outside India for example Australia or North America, Sun will rise at 4:00 AM and sun will set at 8:30 PM - 9:00 PM in summer. Most temples will do abhishekam during 7:00 PM. Now at that time trayodashi may not be prevailing. But we don't have sunset either. Actual time for pradosha as per Nirnaysindhu, and Dharmasindhu for the nakta vrata is 3 muhurtha after sunset. We don't have a sunset at 7:00 PM in summer. Hence, Actual pradosham puja can start 48 minutes (one muhurtha) before sunset, but depending on the puja it can start earlier. At that time visibility of trayodashi is not important. What is important is trayodashi must prevail after sunset for 3 muhurtha == 3 * 48 minutes. The detailed calculation is outlined below. This is no different than doing sankshatha chaturdashi abhishekam in the evening when actual chaturthi will appear doing moonrise time and during abhishekam time tritiya is visible.

Pradosha dates appear in panchanga is for fasting not when to do abhishekam. Usually abhishekam can be done 48 minutes before sunset till 144 minutes after sunset.

Just we want to do abhishekam when trayodashi prevails during 6 PM to 7 PM and even sunset has not occured we can't change pradosha date for fasting. (Applicable to countries in northen and southern latitudes where sunrise and sunset do not occur around average 6:00 PM ).

Original Sanskrit Verses from dharmasindhu:





Pradosha is basicaly 6 ghatikas after sunset (According to dharmsindhu). Trayodashi tithi should be prevailing during that time. That is from sunset to sunset+144 minutes ( where each ghatika is 24 minutes, 24 * 6 = 144 minutes). Take the one which prevails during the pradosha kala as explained above, in case if it prevails on both days or not than please use following rules to judge when to observe pradosha vrata (FAST) and do abhishekam:

• If it prevails on both days, take the one where it prevails more.
• If it prevails on both days in equal amount then take the second one.
• If it doesn't prevail on both days but not during pradosha kala on previous or second day then take the one which prevails during the sunrise.

Panchanga give end time of the tithi. So check when dwadashi ends, right after that trayodashi starts till where it says Trayodashi and it's end time. For example:
March 4
Sunrise:06:40
Sunset:17:59
Moonrise:04:59
Magha
Krishna Paksha
T:Dvadashi 15:27:26
N:U.shada 06:49:04
Y:Parigha 29:00:16+
K:Taitila 15:27:26
K:Garaja 27:19:30+
SN: Kumbha
MN: Makara
RK:15:09-16:34
YM:09:29-10:55
GK:12:19-13:45
AJ:12:16-13:05
DM:09:04-09:53,23:28-24:17
V: 10:54- 12:32
AK: 20:40- 22:18
March 5
Sunrise:06:38
Sunset:18:00
Moonrise:05:30
Magha
Krishna Paksha
T:Trayodashi 15:01:06
N:Shravana 07:14:40
Y:Shiva 27:11:22+
K:Vanija 15:01:06
K:Vishti 26:32:41+
SN: Kumbha
MN: Kumbha 19:13
RK:12:19-13:45
YM:08:03-09:29
GK:10:54-12:20
DM:12:14-13:03
V: 11:13- 12:48
AK: 20:43- 22:18

(Panchang data source: www.mypanchang.com)
Here on March 4th Dwadashi completes at "T:Dvadashi 15:27:26" (Look above in March 4th section). Right after that Trayodashi starts which is visible (prevailing) during the sunset of 4th and 144 minutes after sunset. Which is not the case on 5th. Where it prevails only till 15:01:06 PM (Look above in March 5th section) after that chaturdashi starts. Which means Trayodashi tithi prevails during sunrise of March 5th but not during the pradosha kala of March 5th. Hence pradosha kala is on March 4th.
Hope this helps.
To find out today's star or looking for a panchangam? visit http://www.mypanchang.com/ and click on panchanga and select the city you want.
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