Basant Panchami
Also called Saraswati Puja
Saraswati's day, and a Magh Mela snan in yellow.
When it falls
Thursday, 11 February 2027
By the sunrise at Har Ki Pauri, Haridwar
- The rule
- Magha Shukla Panchami
- Which day
- Sunrise (udaya-vyapini)
- The day on which the tithi is running at sunrise at the ghat, with the usual fallback when a tithi touches no sunrise.
- Weight
- A major occasion
- Returns
- Once a year
What it is
Basant Panchami is the fifth of the bright fortnight of Magha, the first day of spring by the old reckoning and the day of Saraswati. Yellow is worn, children are taught their first letters, and at Prayagraj it is the third of the Magh Mela's great snans, the last before Magha Purnima. The date follows the tithi at sunrise; when the panchami begins after sunrise and runs into the next day, the almanacs move it to the day it holds at sunrise, and so does this page.
Where it is kept
Two of the six waters.
Triveni Sangam
Sangam, Prayagraj
Purnimanta reckoning
The Magh Mela's third snan.
Ganga
Har Ki Pauri, Haridwar
Purnimanta reckoning
Har Ki Pauri keeps the day the way it keeps every great tithi: the steps full before first light.
The windows
Brahma Muhurat
about 48 minutes
From sunrise
- Definition
- Two muhurtas of the night before sunrise, until one muhurta before it. A night muhurta is a fifteenth of the night, about 48 minutes at the equinox and longer in winter.
Brahma Muhurat falls before sunrise, so it belongs to the panchang day that opened at the previous sunrise, and the Gregorian date beside it is the next day. The calendar keeps the two apart.
Pratah Snan
about 96 minutes
From sunrise
- Definition
- Sunrise, until two muhurtas of the day after it. A day muhurta is a fifteenth of the daylight, about 48 minutes at the equinox and longer in summer.
This window sits after sunrise, so its panchang day and its Gregorian date agree.
Every time is given at the ghat first, and in your own zone beside it. How the clock is read
Where the timing comes from
- Source
- Computed here, checked against Drik Panchang
- Ayanamsa
- Lahiri (Chitrapaksha)
- Ghat coordinates
- Har Ki Pauri, Haridwar: 29.9457, 78.1642
Textual basis
The living usage of the ghats named below, and the puranic and dharmashastra literature on the day. A citable edition and passage is still to be added.
Every date here is computed: the tithi at the ghat's sunrise, the month named by the sankranti it holds, and the sun's entry into each sign under the Lahiri ayanamsa. Tithi, nakshatra, sunrise and windows were checked against Drik Panchang for Haridwar on eight days between September 2026 and March 2027, to the minute. The dates roll forward each morning.