Panchang in Sofia, Sofia-Capital, Bulgaria Wed 2 Mar 2011

Shiva’s worship centres on nishitha, the midnight muhurta. Chaturdashi runs from 18:16 on Wed 2 Mar to 20:25 on Thu 3 Mar, so only Wednesday night’s nishitha (00:13 Thu–01:03 Thu) falls within it.

Maha Shivratri: every date in Sofia

Shiva’s worship centres on nishitha, the midnight muhurta. Chaturdashi runs from 18:16 on Wed 2 Mar to 20:25 on Thu 3 Mar, so only Wednesday night’s nishitha (00:13 Thu–01:03 Thu) falls within it. No text giving Masik Shivratri’s time was found; nishitha is Tithika’s convention.

Masik Shivratri: every date in Sofia

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, 07:01 here. Dwadashi ended at 16:22 Tue, before it. Trayodashi ends at 18:16, when the lead reaches 336°. The lead passed 180° at the full moon of 18 Feb, so the Moon is waning: Krishna paksha.

The night of Tue 1 Mar ran from sunset 18:15 Tue to sunrise 07:01, 12 h 46 m. Cut into 15 muhurtas of 51 m, its 14th is Brahma Muhurta, the one before the last.

Daylight here, 07:01 to 18:16, splits into 8 choghadiyas of 1 h 24 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 07:00 Thu, splits into 8 choghadiyas of 1 h 35 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′. Shravana spans 280°00′–293°20′; the Moon entered its pada 3 at 286°40′. It leaves at 17:31, for Dhanishtha.

Add the Sun's and the Moon's places among the stars: 317.2° + 288° = 605.2°, one full turn and 245.2°. Past the turn, cut into 27 parts of 13°20′, it gives the yoga: 240°00′–253°20′ is the 19th, Parigha. It ends at 21:46, then Shiva.

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 ended at 05:17, when the lead reached 330°; Vanija runs until 18:16.

A Hindu day runs from one sunrise to the next, not midnight to midnight. This one runs 07:01 to 07:00 Thu, so the hours after midnight still belong to Budhawara.

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 13 Feb, inside the month. The next new moon, 4 Mar, 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 4 Mar, with the Sun in Kumbha, begins Phalguna. Until then this Krishna paksha reads Phalguna here, and Magha in the amanta count.

A samvat year begins with Chaitra, the month whose new moon finds the Sun in Meena: 15 Mar 2010, 23:01 Mon. Since then the Sun has moved 346° round the stars. Vikram Samvat numbers that year 2067; Shaka Samvat numbers it 1932.