Queries and Unsolicited Answers on Timings in Panchangam

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 19-2009 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 + 530 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

23-8-2009 24-8-2009

Sunrise (IST) 4-59 4-59

Sunset (IST) 17-50 17-49

Longitudes at 5:30 IST Ravi Chandra 6¬7 11ª19 7¬5 25ª15

Rajahmundry 17N00, 81E46

23-8-2009 24-8-2009

5-48 5-48

18-23 18-22

6¬7 7¬5

11ª19 25ª15

Mumbai 19N01, 72E51

23-8-2009 24-8-2009

6-22 6-23

19-01 19-00

6¬7 7¬5

11ª19 25ª15

Place

Date

Shillong 25N35, 91E53

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 23-82009 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 23-8-2009 24-8-2009

Ravi 000-00’ª52’’ 000-58’ª43’’

Chandra 50«3’ 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 (IST)

Sunset (IST)

Duration day

of

the Ravi

Chandra

30-8-2009 31-8-2009

5-49 5-49

18-18 18-17

12-29 12-28

12¬53 13¬51

10}40 22}28

1-9-2009 2-9-2009

5-50 5-50

18-16 18-16

12-26 12-26

14¬49 15¬47

4ƒ16 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 31-82009 Ekadasi ends at 5:30 + 7-30 = 13-00 IST. Dwadasi starts at 13-00 IST on 318-2009. 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 13-9-2009 14-9-2009 15-9-2009 16-9-2009

Sunrise (IST) 5-51 5-51 5-51 5-51

Sunset (IST) 18-7 18-6 18-5 18-4

Ravi at IST 26¬27 27¬26 28¬24 29¬23

5-30 Chandra at 5-30 IST 8Ð14 22Ð28 6˜54 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 14-92009, 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 (PII) Ending Tithi for Tithi for of time of Sraddha Sraddha Tithi Tadiya 9-22 Tadiya Chavithi 6-57 Chavithi

Panchangam –I (P-I) Date

22-8-2009 23-8-2009 24-8-2009

30-8-2009 31-8-2009 1-9-2009 2-9-2009

12-9-2009 13-9-2009 14-9-2009

15-9-2009

Tithi Sunrise

at

Ending time Tithi Suddha Vidiya 11-48 Suddha 10-06 Tadiya Suddha 8-50 Chavathi

Panchami

5-12

Panchami

Suddha Dasimi Suddha Ekadasi Suddha Dwadasi Suddha Triodasi

11-6

Ekadasi

10-21

Ekadasi

12-57

Dwadasi

12-57

15-00

Sunya Tithi

15-31

Sunya Tithi Dwadasi

17-02

Triodasi

17-54

Triodasi

Bahula Ashtami Bahula Navami Bahula dasimi

16-12

Ashtami

18-51

Ashtami

13-59 11-38

Navami Dasimi Ekadasi

Bahula Ekadasi

9-12

Dwadasi

+ 16-45

Navami

14-20

Dasimi + Ekadasi Dwadasi

11-40

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)