Some queries and unsolicited answers on timings in astrology

Karanam L. Ramakumar
India

Recently just before Vinayaka Chaturthi (Ganesh Chaturthi) festival, one of

my acquaintances inquired to know the starting time of Chaturthi Tithi on August
23, 2009. August 23, 2009 was Vinayaka Chaturthi festival day. It seems one
Panchangam (P-I) gave 10:06 AM (IST) as the start time of Chavithi while another
Panchangam (P-II) gave the start time as 6:57 AM (IST). Both the Panchangams
are calculated for Rajahmundry city in Andhra Pradesh. As Chavithi was through out
that day it really did not matter for celebrating the festival. But it did incite me to
verify. Two more interesting observations were made by the acquaintance:
(i) Panchangam (P-I) mentioned that 31-8-2009 was Dwadasi Tithi day and on 1-
9-2009 it was Sunya Tithi for Rajahmundry. The second Panchangam (P-II)
exactly reversed the observations, again for Rajahmundry!! (31-8-2009 it was
Sunya Tithi and 1-9-2009 it was Dwadasi Tithi day).
(ii) Panchangam (P-I) mentioned that 13-9-2009 had two Tithis (Tithi Dwayam)
namely Navami and Dasimi while the second Panchangam (P-II) mentioned
that 14-9-2009 had two Tithis namely Dasimi and Ekadasi.
It may be mentioned that the prevailing Tithis at a particular time of the day
are critical for performing Shraddha (offering of worship and food to one’s departed
parents and forefathers, normally done once a year).
It is not my intention to pass judgment as to which of the Panchangams is
correct. But it would be interesting to know what is the correct status.

Chavithi duration on 23-8-2009

As the relative distance of Chandra from Ravi is a measure of Tithi, it is easy
to calculate the same. This relative distance should not also depend on Ayanamsa.
In fact Tithis should be same whether we use Sayana longitudes or Nirayana
longitudes. Let us tabulate the Nirayana longitudes for Ravi and Chandra on 23rd
and 24th August 2009 at 5-30 IST on both the days. Let us also list Sunrise and
Sunset timings on these two days for three different places in India (Time zone + 5-
30 from GMT)
It is clearly seen that depending on the place even for the same time zone,
the sunrise and sunset times change. But the longitudes of Ravi and Chandra
remain same for a given time irrespective of the place. So the relative distance
between Ravi and Chandra should also remain the same. The relative distance of
Chandra from Ravi on 23-8-2009 is
(161-19) – (126-7) = 35-12.
 Nirayana Longitudes of Ravi and Chandra

Place Date Sunrise Sunset Longitudes at 5:30 IST

(IST) (IST) Ravi Chandra
Shillong 23-8-2009 4-59 17-50 6¬7 11ª19
25N35, 91E53 24-8-2009 4-59 17-49 7¬5 25ª15

Rajahmundry 23-8-2009 5-48 18-23 6¬7 11ª19

17N00, 81E46 24-8-2009 5-48 18-22 7¬5 25ª15

Mumbai 23-8-2009 6-22 19-01 6¬7 11ª19

19N01, 72E51 24-8-2009 6-23 19-00 7¬5 25ª15

Remembering that for every 12 degrees, Tithi changes, it is apparent that at

5:30 IST on 23-8-2009, the prevailing Tithi is Suddha Tadiya. Tadiya lasts between
the relative distance of 24 to 36 degrees. So for Chavithi to commence, still 48 arc
minutes should be traversed. Time taken to traverse this distance is given by
(00-48)/(12-58-09) x 24 hours = 1.4823 hours or 1 h- 29 m
Recalling that the longitudes of Ravi and Chandra are at 5-30 IST, on 23-8-
2009 Tadiya ends at 5:30 + 1-29 = 6-59 AM very near to the time given in P-II.
If we calculate the longitudes of Ravi and Chandra at the Sunrise times of a
place, then even though ending time of the Tithi does not change, the duration of
the Tithi can change. For example, in Shillong, as the Sunrise time on 23-8-2009 is
4-59 IST, the duration of Tadiya on that day is (6-59)-(4-59) = 2 Hrs. In Mumbai
the duration is only 37 minutes.
We can show that even if use Sayana longitudes from Swiss ephemeris we do get
the same ending time for Tithis. So all Panchangams should give the same ending
times for Tithis for a given time zone.

Sayana Longitudes of Ravi and Chandra (from Swiss ephemeris) at 5-30 IST

Date Ravi Chandra

23-8-2009 000-00’ª52’’ 50«3’
24-8-2009 000-58’ª43’’ 190«9’

Sunya Tithi issue

Now let us deal with the Sunya Tithi issue on 31-8-2009 or 1-9-2009. For
computing Shraddha Tithi, we should know the duration of the day on that day for
the place where shraddha is to be performed. For this we need sunrise and sunset
times.

The relevant data at 5-30 IST for Rajahmundry is as follows:

 Date Sunrise Sunset Duration of the Ravi Chandra
(IST) (IST) day
30-8-2009 5-49 18-18 12-29 12¬53 10}40
31-8-2009 5-49 18-17 12-28 13¬51 22}28
1-9-2009 5-50 18-16 12-26 14¬49 4ƒ16
2-9-2009 5-50 18-16 12-26 15¬47 16ƒ6

How to determine shraddha tithi

Shraddha is performed during the later half of the day during aprahana kala.
It is necessary that the Shraddha Tithi should prevail for major duration of aprahana
kala. The Aprahana kala is the 4/5th part of the day. The Shraddha is performed
during aparaahna kaala of the day, after completing the madhyahna sandhya. The
aparaahna is the fourth part of daytime, among the five, and they are: praatah,
sangavah, madhyaahna, aparaahna, saayaahna
1. Find out the duration of the day for the date
Duration of the day (DD) = sunset-sunrise for the place where Sharaddha is
to be performed
2. Divide DD into 5 equal parts to get duration of each ‘kaala’ time.
3. Find out the time at which the 3/5th part of the day starts. Add this to the
Sunrise time. That time so obtained is the beginning of aparaahna kaala.
4. Add the duration of ‘kaala’ time to the beginning of aparaahna kaala to get
the ending time of aparaahna kaala.
5. Now check the Tithi of the day if it prevails during the aparaahna kaala.
6. If the Tithi prevails during this period, it is the shraddha Tithi. If the Tithi
prevails on two successive days, repeat the above steps for the other day
also to check if the same Tithi prevails during that day. If the Tithi prevails
during both days then according to Sastras, the first day is called Sunya Tithi
day and the next day is the Tithi proper. Now a days some Panchangas
consider the day as the Shraddha day when the Tithi prevails more during the
aparaahna kaala period.

On 31-8-2009, duration of the day is 12h-29m. Divide this 5 to get the duration of
aparaahna kaala. (12-29)/5 = 2h-30m.
3/5th of this time is (12-29) x 3/5 = 7-30.
Add this to Sunrise time for the place. In this case the place is Rajahmundry.
Beginning of aparaahna kaala = (5-49) + (7-30) = 13h-19m and lasts for the next
2h-30m ending at 15h-49m.
Now let us find out the Tithi on 31-8-2009 at 5-30 IST.
Tithi in 31-8-2009 =(262-28)-(133-51) = 128-37.
 Remembering that for every 12 degrees, Tithi changes, it is apparent that at
5:30 IST on 31-8-2009, the prevailing Tithi is Suddha Ekadasi. Ekadasi lasts
between the relative distance of 120 to 132 degrees. So for Dwadasi to come, still
30-23’ arc should be traversed. Time taken to traverse this distance is given by
(30-23’)/(100-50’) x 24 hours = 7h- 30 m
Recalling that the longitudes of Ravi and Chandra are at 5-30 IST, on 31-8-
2009 Ekadasi ends at 5:30 + 7-30 = 13-00 IST. Dwadasi starts at 13-00 IST on 31-
8-2009.
On 1-9-2009, the Tithi is Dwadasi and the ending time of Dwadasi is
(5-30) + (40-33’)/(100-52’) x 24 hours = (5-30) + (10-00) = 15-30 on 1-9-2009
Please notice that as Dwadasi prevails during apraahna kala on two
successive days, Sastras mention that the second day should be treated as the
shraddha Tithi day and not the first one. So P-II depicts correctly the status.
However, during aparaahna kaala on 31-8-2009, Dwadasi lasts for the whole
period whereas on next day it falls short by 10 minutes. So some Pundits are of the
opinion that the Dwadasi Tithi is on 31-8-2009 and not on 1-9-2009.

Tithi Dwayam issue

Nirayana Longitudes of Ravi and Chandra at 5-30 IST

Date Sunrise Sunset Ravi at 5-30 Chandra at 5-30

(IST) (IST) IST IST
13-9-2009 5-51 18-7 26¬27 8Ð14
14-9-2009 5-51 18-6 27¬26 22Ð28
15-9-2009 5-51 18-5 28¬24 6˜54
16-9-2009 5-51 18-4 29¬23 21˜29

Using the usual method of calculations we get the following information:

1. On 13-9-2009, at 5-30 IST it was Navami Tithi, which ends at 16-45 IST. So
on that day it is only Navami Tithi during aparaahna kaala.
2. On 14-9-2009, at 5-30 IST it was Dasimi Tithi, which ends at 14-21 IST.
aparaahna kaala starts at 13-12 IST and lasts until 15-38 IST. So on 14-9-
2009, it was also Dasimi Tithi during aparaahna kaala. Please note that
Dasimi Tithi ends during aparaahna kaala. During this aparaahna kaala the
next Tithi namely Ekadasi begins.
3. On 15-9-2009, at 5-30 IST it was Ekadasi Tithi, which ends at 11-41 IST.
Notice that Ekadasi Tithi ends much before the start of aparaahna kaala. So
on 15-9-2009 the Tithi during aparaahna kaala it is Dwadasi and NOT
Ekadasi.
 As Ekadasi is prevailing during aparaahna kaala on 14-9-2009, one performs
Ekadasi shraddha Tithi on that day. Thus we have two shraddha Tithis namely
Dasimi and Ekadasi on 14-9-2009, which is what P-II mentions.

For Amavaasya Tarpanam also similar procedure is followed.

Excerpts from two Panchangams

Panchangam-II (P-
Panchangam –I (P-I)
II)
Tithi at
Date Ending Ending
Sunrise Tithi for Tithi for
time of time of
Sraddha Sraddha
Tithi Tithi
22-8-2009 Suddha Vidiya 11-48 Tadiya 9-22 Tadiya
23-8-2009 Suddha 10-06 Chavithi 6-57 Chavithi
Tadiya
24-8-2009 Suddha 8-50 Panchami 5-12 Panchami
Chavathi

30-8-2009 Suddha 11-6 Ekadasi 10-21 Ekadasi

Dasimi
31-8-2009 Suddha 12-57 Dwadasi 12-57 Sunya
Ekadasi Tithi
1-9-2009 Suddha 15-00 Sunya Tithi 15-31 Dwadasi
Dwadasi
2-9-2009 Suddha 17-02 Triodasi 17-54 Triodasi
Triodasi

12-9-2009 Bahula 16-12 Ashtami 18-51 Ashtami

Ashtami
13-9-2009 Bahula 13-59 Navami + 16-45 Navami
Navami Dasimi
14-9-2009 Bahula 11-38 Ekadasi 14-20 Dasimi
dasimi +
Ekadasi
15-9-2009 Bahula 9-12 Dwadasi 11-40 Dwadasi
Ekadasi

Literature cited
L. D. S. Pillai, “Panchang and Horoscope: Or the Indian Calendar and Indian
Astrology”, Asian Educational Services, India (1996)
K.V. Soundara Rajan, “Concise Classified Dictionary Of Hinduism”, Concept
Publishing Company, India (2001)