Panchang in Thazhecode, Kerala Sun 25 Mar 2018

Rama’s birth is celebrated at madhyahna, the middle fifth of the day. Navami runs from 08:02 on Sun 25 Mar to 05:54 on Mon 26 Mar, so only Sunday’s madhyahna (11:19–13:45) falls within it. Every reading takes that day.

Rama Navami: every date in Thazhecode

The Moon gains on the Sun about 12° a day. Each 12° of lead is one tithi: 84°–96° is the 8th, Shukla Ashtami. A day takes the tithi in force at its sunrise, 06:27 here. Saptami ended at 10:06 Sat, before it. Ashtami ends at 08:02, when the lead reaches 96°. The lead passed 0° at the new moon of 17 Mar, so the Moon is waxing: Shukla paksha.

A day takes the tithi in force at its sunrise. Navami began at 08:02 and ended at 05:54 Mon, between the sunrises of 06:27 and 06:26 Mon. Sunday reads Ashtami and Monday reads Dashami: Navami is a kshaya tithi here.

The night of Sat 24 Mar ran from sunset 18:36 Sat to sunrise 06:27, 11 h 51 m. Cut into 15 muhurtas of 47 m, its 14th is Brahma Muhurta, the one before the last.

Daylight here, 06:27 to 18:36, 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, 18:36 to 06:26 Mon, 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′. Ardra spans 66°40′–80°00′; the Moon entered its pada 3 at 73°20′. It leaves at 14:20, for Punarvasu.

Add the Sun's and the Moon's places among the stars: 340.2° + 75.4° = 415.6°, one full turn and 55.6°. Past the turn, cut into 27 parts of 13°20′, it gives the yoga: 53°20′–66°40′ is the 5th, Shobhana. It ends at 00:01 Mon, then Atiganda.

A karana is half a tithi: 6° of the Moon's lead, so the first half of Ashtami is Vishti and the second Bava. Vishti ended at 21:05 Sat, when the lead reached 90°; Bava runs until 08:02.

A Hindu day runs from one sunrise to the next, not midnight to midnight. This one runs 06:27 to 06:26 Mon, so the hours after midnight still belong to Raviwara.

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: Meena gives Chaitra. The Sun enters Mesha on 14 Apr, inside the month. The next new moon, 16 Apr, finds it in Mesha and begins Vaishakha.

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 17 Mar, with the Sun in Meena, began Chaitra. This Shukla paksha reads Chaitra in both counts.

A samvat year begins with Chaitra, the month whose new moon finds the Sun in Meena: 17 Mar 2018, 18:41 Sat. Since then the Sun has moved 7.4° round the stars. Vikram Samvat numbers that year 2075; Shaka Samvat numbers it 1940.