Panchang in Diffa, Niger Fri 8 Oct 2010

Ghatasthapana is done in pratahkala, the first fifth of the day. Pratipada runs from 19:44 on Thu 7 Oct to 16:23 on Fri 8 Oct, so only Friday’s pratahkala (05:59–08:22) falls within it.

Sharad Navratri: every date in Diffa

The Moon gains on the Sun about 12° a day. Each 12° of lead is one tithi: 0°–12° is the 1st, Shukla Pratipada. A day takes the tithi in force at its sunrise, 05:59 here. Amavasya ended at 19:44 Thu, before it. Pratipada ends at 16:23, when the lead reaches 12°. The lead passed 0° at the new moon of 7 Oct, so the Moon is waxing: Shukla paksha.

The night of Thu 7 Oct ran from sunset 17:55 Thu to sunrise 05:59, 12 h 4 m. Cut into 15 muhurtas of 48 m, its 14th is Brahma Muhurta, the one before the last.

Daylight here, 05:59 to 17:54, splits into 8 choghadiyas of 1 h 29 m. Their names follow a fixed order that starts from the weekday, and each name is counted good, neutral or bad.

The night here, 17:54 to 05:59 Sat, splits into 8 choghadiyas of 1 h 30 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 2 at 176°40′. It leaves at 21:58, for Swati.

Add the Sun's and the Moon's places among the stars: 170.8° + 176.8° = 347.6°. The sum, cut into 27 parts of 13°20′, gives the yoga: 346°40′–360°00′ is the 27th, Vaidhriti. It ends at 00:49 Sat, then Vishkambha.

A karana is half a tithi: 6° of the Moon's lead, so the first half of Pratipada is Kinstughna and the second Bava. Kinstughna runs until 06:01, when the lead reaches 6°; Bava until 16:23.

A Hindu day runs from one sunrise to the next, not midnight to midnight. This one runs 05:59 to 05:59 Sat, so the hours after midnight still belong to Shukrawara.

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: Kanya gives Ashwina. The Sun enters Tula on 17 Oct, inside the month. The next new moon, 6 Nov, finds it in Tula and begins Kartika.

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 7 Oct, with the Sun in Kanya, began Ashwina. This Shukla paksha reads Ashwina in both counts.

A samvat year begins with Chaitra, the month whose new moon finds the Sun in Meena: 15 Mar 2010, 22:01 Mon. Since then the Sun has moved 199.6° round the stars. Vikram Samvat numbers that year 2067; Shaka Samvat numbers it 1932.