Panchang in Diffa, Niger Mon 14 Apr 2003

The Sun enters Mesha at 07:16, between sunrise (05:57) and sunset (18:22): Mon 14 Apr. No text giving Mesha Sankranti’s time was found; sankranti is Tithika’s convention.

Mesha Sankranti: every date in Diffa

Shiva’s Pradosh puja is done in pradosha, the 3 muhurtas after sunset. Trayodashi runs from 07:01 on Mon 14 Apr to 03:53 on Tue 15 Apr, so only Monday’s pradosha (18:22–20:41) falls within it. No text giving Pradosh Vrat’s time was found; pradosha is Tithika’s convention.

Pradosh Vrat: every date in Diffa

The Moon gains on the Sun about 12° a day. Each 12° of lead is one tithi: 132°–144° is the 12th, Shukla Dwadashi. A day takes the tithi in force at its sunrise, 05:57 here. Ekadashi ended at 09:37 Sun, before it. Dwadashi ends at 07:01, when the lead reaches 144°. The lead passed 0° at the new moon of 1 Apr, so the Moon is waxing: Shukla paksha.

A day takes the tithi in force at its sunrise. Trayodashi began at 07:01 and ended at 03:53 Tue, between the sunrises of 05:57 and 05:57 Tue. Monday reads Dwadashi and Tuesday reads Chaturdashi: Trayodashi is a kshaya tithi here.

The night of Sun 13 Apr ran from sunset 18:22 Sun to sunrise 05:57, 11 h 35 m. Cut into 15 muhurtas of 46 m, its 14th is Brahma Muhurta, the one before the last.

Daylight here, 05:57 to 18:22, splits into 8 choghadiyas of 1 h 33 m. Their names follow a fixed order that starts from the weekday, and each name is counted good, neutral or bad.

The night here, 18:22 to 05:57 Tue, splits into 8 choghadiyas of 1 h 26 m. Their names follow a fixed order that starts from the weekday, and each name is counted good, neutral or bad.

The fixed stars divide the Moon's path into 27 nakshatras of 13°20′, each in 4 padas of 3°20′. Purva Phalguni spans 133°20′–146°40′; the Moon entered its pada 4 at 143°20′. It leaves at 11:24, for Uttara Phalguni.

Add the Sun's and the Moon's places among the stars: 359.9° + 143.4° = 503.3°, one full turn and 143.3°. Past the turn, cut into 27 parts of 13°20′, it gives the yoga: 133°20′–146°40′ is the 11th, Vriddhi. It ends at 11:09, then Dhruva.

A karana is half a tithi: 6° of the Moon's lead, so the first half of Dwadashi is Bava and the second Balava. Bava ended at 20:24 Sun, when the lead reached 138°; Balava runs until 07:01.

A Hindu day runs from one sunrise to the next, not midnight to midnight. This one runs 05:57 to 05:57 Tue, so the hours after midnight still belong to Somawara.

An amanta month runs from new moon to new moon and takes its name from the rashi the Sun is in at the new moon that begins it: Meena gives Chaitra. The Sun enters Mesha on 14 Apr, inside the month. The next new moon, 1 May, finds it in Mesha and begins Vaishakha.

A purnimanta month runs from full moon to full moon, so its waning half comes first. It shares its name with the amanta month that its second half falls in: the new moon of 1 Apr, with the Sun in Meena, began Chaitra. This Shukla paksha reads Chaitra in both counts.

A samvat year begins with Chaitra, the month whose new moon finds the Sun in Meena: 1 Apr 2003, 20:18 Tue. Since then the Sun has moved 12.1° round the stars. Vikram Samvat numbers that year 2060; Shaka Samvat numbers it 1925.