Panchang in Libode, Eastern Cape, South Africa Fri 24 Jan 2025

The Moon gains on the Sun about 12° a day. Each 12° of lead is one tithi: 288°–300° is the 25th, Krishna Dashami. A day takes the tithi in force at its sunrise, 05:22 here. Navami ended at 14:08 Thu, before it. Dashami ends at 15:55, when the lead reaches 300°. The lead passed 180° at the full moon of 14 Jan, so the Moon is waning: Krishna paksha.

The night of Thu 23 Jan ran from sunset 19:09 Thu to sunrise 05:22, 10 h 13 m. Cut into 15 muhurtas of 40 m, its 14th is Brahma Muhurta, the one before the last.

Daylight here, 05:22 to 19:09, splits into 8 choghadiyas of 1 h 43 m. Their names follow a fixed order that starts from the weekday, and each name is counted good, neutral or bad.

The night here, 19:09 to 05:23 Sat, splits into 8 choghadiyas of 1 h 16 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′. Anuradha spans 213°20′–226°40′; the Moon entered its pada 1 at 213°20′. It leaves at 03:37 Sat, for Jyeshtha.

Add the Sun's and the Moon's places among the stars: 280.2° + 215.2° = 495.4°, one full turn and 135.4°. 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 01:38 Sat, then Dhruva.

A karana is half a tithi: 6° of the Moon's lead, so the first half of Dashami is Vanija and the second Vishti. Vanija ended at 03:06, when the lead reached 294°; Vishti runs until 15:55.

A Hindu day runs from one sunrise to the next, not midnight to midnight. This one runs 05:22 to 05:23 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: Dhanu gives Pausha. The Sun enters Makara on 14 Jan, inside the month. The next new moon, 29 Jan, finds it in Makara and begins Magha.

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 29 Jan, with the Sun in Makara, begins Magha. Until then this Krishna paksha reads Magha here, and Pausha in the amanta count.

A samvat year begins with Chaitra, the month whose new moon finds the Sun in Meena: 8 Apr 2024, 20:20 Mon. Since then the Sun has moved 285° round the stars. Vikram Samvat numbers that year 2081; Shaka Samvat numbers it 1946.