Tithi – what it is and how it is counted

A tithi is the time the Moon takes to move 12° ahead of the Sun. There are 30 in a lunar month — 15 in Shukla paksha and 15 in Krishna paksha.

Because the Moon's speed varies, a tithi can last anywhere from about 19 to 26 hours. Sometimes a tithi begins and ends between two sunrises and never touches a sunrise — it is called kshaya (lost). Sometimes one tithi covers two sunrises — vriddhi (extended). Most "festival on two days" confusion in Bihar comes from these cases.

Tithis and the festivals tied to them

No.	Tithi	Hindi	Bihar festivals
1 / 16	Pratipada	प्रतिपदा	Chaiti Chhath begins / Holi (Bihar)
2 / 17	Dwitiya	द्वितीया	Bhai Dooj, Chitragupta Puja
3 / 18	Tritiya	तृतीया	Teej, Akshaya Tritiya
4 / 19	Chaturthi	चतुर्थी	Chaurchan, Ganesh Chaturthi
5 / 20	Panchami	पंचमी	Basant Panchami, Nag Panchami
6 / 21	Shashthi	षष्ठी	Chhath Sandhya Arghya
7 / 22	Saptami	सप्तमी	Chhath Usha Arghya, Saptami
8 / 23	Ashtami	अष्टमी	Jitiya, Ashok Ashtami, Janmashtami
9 / 24	Navami	नवमी	Ram Navami, Janaki Navami
10 / 25	Dashami	दशमी	Vijayadashami
11 / 26	Ekadashi	एकादशी	Ekadashi fasts
12 / 27	Dwadashi	द्वादशी	Dwadashi – Ekadashi parana
13 / 28	Trayodashi	त्रयोदशी	Dhanteras, Pradosh
14 / 29	Chaturdashi	चतुर्दशी	Shivratri, Anant Chaturdashi
15 / 30	Purnima	पूर्णिमा	Purnima / Amavasya (30th)

Udaya tithi

For most vrats Bihar uses the tithi in force at sunrise. A few festivals follow a different time: Diwali and Holika Dahan look at the evening (pradosh), Janmashtami at midnight, and Chaurchan at moonrise.

See today's tithi →