Panchang in Diffa, Niger Sat 14 Nov 2009

Shiva’s Pradosh puja is done in pradosha, the 3 muhurtas after sunset. Trayodashi runs from 21:46 on Fri 13 Nov to 20:50 on Sat 14 Nov, so only Saturday’s pradosha (17:39–20:09) falls within it. No text giving Pradosh Vrat’s time was found; pradosha is Tithika’s convention.

Pradosh Vrat: every date in Diffa

Shiva’s worship centres on nishitha, the midnight muhurta. Chaturdashi runs from 20:50 on Sat 14 Nov to 20:18 on Sun 15 Nov, so only Saturday night’s nishitha (23:29–00:19 Sun) falls within it. No text giving Masik Shivratri’s time was found; nishitha is Tithika’s convention.

Masik Shivratri: every date in Diffa

The Moon gains on the Sun about 12° a day. Each 12° of lead is one tithi: 324°–336° is the 28th, Krishna Trayodashi. A day takes the tithi in force at its sunrise, 06:08 here. Dwadashi ended at 21:46 Fri, before it. Trayodashi ends at 20:50, when the lead reaches 336°. The lead passed 180° at the full moon of 2 Nov, so the Moon is waning: Krishna paksha.

The night of Fri 13 Nov ran from sunset 17:39 Fri to sunrise 06:08, 12 h 29 m. Cut into 15 muhurtas of 49 m, its 14th is Brahma Muhurta, the one before the last.

Daylight here, 06:08 to 17:39, 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 night here, 17:39 to 06:08 Sun, 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 fixed stars divide the Moon's path into 27 nakshatras of 13°20′, each in 4 padas of 3°20′. Chitra spans 173°20′–186°40′; the Moon entered its pada 1 at 173°20′. It leaves at 00:35 Sun, for Swati.

Add the Sun's and the Moon's places among the stars: 208° + 176.3° = 384.3°, one full turn and 24.3°. Past the turn, cut into 27 parts of 13°20′, it gives the yoga: 13°20′–26°40′ is the 2nd, Priti. It ends at 10:03, then Ayushmana.

A karana is half a tithi: 6° of the Moon's lead, so the first half of Trayodashi is Garaja and the second Vanija. Garaja runs until 09:16, when the lead reaches 330°; Vanija until 20:50.

A Hindu day runs from one sunrise to the next, not midnight to midnight. This one runs 06:08 to 06:08 Sun, so the hours after midnight still belong to Shaniwara.

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: Tula gives Kartika. The Sun enters Vrishchika on 16 Nov, inside the month. The next new moon, 16 Nov, finds it in Vrishchika and begins Margashirsha.

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 16 Nov, with the Sun in Vrishchika, begins Margashirsha. Until then this Krishna paksha reads Margashirsha here, and Kartika in the amanta count.

A samvat year begins with Chaitra, the month whose new moon finds the Sun in Meena: 26 Mar 2009, 17:05 Thu. Since then the Sun has moved 225.9° round the stars. Vikram Samvat numbers that year 2066; Shaka Samvat numbers it 1931.