Panchang in Sevan, Gegharkunik, Armenia Sat 31 Jan 2009

Saraswati Puja is done in purvahna, the first half of the day. Panchami runs from 17:08 on Fri 30 Jan to 17:15 on Sat 31 Jan, so only Saturday’s purvahna (08:10–13:13) falls within it. No text giving Vasant Panchami’s time was found; purvahna is Tithika’s convention.

Vasant Panchami: every date in Sevan

The Moon gains on the Sun about 12° a day. Each 12° of lead is one tithi: 48°–60° is the 5th, Shukla Panchami. A day takes the tithi in force at its sunrise, 08:10 here. Chaturthi ended at 17:08 Fri, before it. Panchami ends at 17:15, when the lead reaches 60°. The lead passed 0° at the new moon of 26 Jan, so the Moon is waxing: Shukla paksha.

The night of Fri 30 Jan ran from sunset 18:15 Fri to sunrise 08:10, 13 h 55 m. Cut into 15 muhurtas of 55 m, its 14th is Brahma Muhurta, the one before the last.

Daylight here, 08:10 to 18:16, splits into 8 choghadiyas of 1 h 15 m. Their names follow a fixed order that starts from the weekday, and each name is counted good, neutral or bad.

The night here, 18:16 to 08:09 Sun, splits into 8 choghadiyas of 1 h 44 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′. Uttara Bhadrapada spans 333°20′–346°40′; the Moon entered its pada 3 at 340°. It leaves at 15:09, for Revati.

Add the Sun's and the Moon's places among the stars: 287.4° + 342.9° = 630.3°, one full turn and 270.3°. Past the turn, cut into 27 parts of 13°20′, it gives the yoga: 266°40′–280°00′ is the 21st, Siddha. It ends at 00:40 Sun, then Sadhya.

A karana is half a tithi: 6° of the Moon's lead, so the first half of Panchami is Bava and the second Balava. Bava ended at 05:15, when the lead reached 54°; Balava runs until 17:15.

A Hindu day runs from one sunrise to the next, not midnight to midnight. This one runs 08:10 to 08:09 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: Makara gives Magha. The Sun enters Kumbha on 12 Feb, inside the month. The next new moon, 25 Feb, finds it in Kumbha and begins Phalguna.

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 26 Jan, with the Sun in Makara, began Magha. This Shukla paksha reads Magha in both counts.

A samvat year begins with Chaitra, the month whose new moon finds the Sun in Meena: 6 Apr 2008, 08:55 Sun. Since then the Sun has moved 294.6° round the stars. Vikram Samvat numbers that year 2065; Shaka Samvat numbers it 1930.