Panchang in Diffa, Niger Tue 22 Mar 2016

Holika is burnt in pradosha, the 3 muhurtas after sunset, outside bhadra. Purnima runs from 10:42 on Tue 22 Mar to 13:00 on Wed 23 Mar, so only Tuesday’s pradosha (18:20–20:42) falls within it. Bhadra lasts until 23:50, and the Dharmasindhu keeps the rite out of bhadra: it is done from 23:50.

Holika Dahan muhurat: the time after bhadra, at 23:50.

Holika Dahan: every date in Diffa

The Moon gains on the Sun about 12° a day. Each 12° of lead is one tithi: 156°–168° is the 14th, Shukla Chaturdashi. A day takes the tithi in force at its sunrise, 06:12 here. Trayodashi ended at 08:41 Mon, before it. Chaturdashi ends at 10:42, when the lead reaches 168°. The lead passed 0° at the new moon of 9 Mar, so the Moon is waxing: Shukla paksha.

The night of Mon 21 Mar ran from sunset 18:20 Mon to sunrise 06:12, 11 h 52 m. Cut into 15 muhurtas of 47 m, its 14th is Brahma Muhurta, the one before the last.

Daylight here, 06:12 to 18:20, splits into 8 choghadiyas of 1 h 31 m. Their names follow a fixed order that starts from the weekday, and each name is counted good, neutral or bad.

The night here, 18:20 to 06:11 Wed, splits into 8 choghadiyas of 1 h 28 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 11:48, for Uttara Phalguni.

Add the Sun's and the Moon's places among the stars: 337.9° + 143.9° = 481.8°, one full turn and 121.8°. Past the turn, cut into 27 parts of 13°20′, it gives the yoga: 120°00′–133°20′ is the 10th, Ganda. It ends at 03:34 Wed, then Vriddhi.

A karana is half a tithi: 6° of the Moon's lead, so the first half of Chaturdashi is Garaja and the second Vanija. Garaja ended at 21:39 Mon, when the lead reached 162°; Vanija runs until 10:42.

A Hindu day runs from one sunrise to the next, not midnight to midnight. This one runs 06:12 to 06:11 Wed, so the hours after midnight still belong to Mangalawara.

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: Kumbha gives Phalguna. The Sun enters Meena on 14 Mar, inside the month. The next new moon, 7 Apr, finds it in Meena and begins Chaitra.

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 9 Mar, with the Sun in Kumbha, began Phalguna. This Shukla paksha reads Phalguna in both counts.

A samvat year begins with Chaitra, the month whose new moon finds the Sun in Meena: 20 Mar 2015, 10:36 Fri. Since then the Sun has moved 362.5° round the stars. Vikram Samvat numbers that year 2072; Shaka Samvat numbers it 1937.