Kanwar Yatra
The dark fortnight of Shravana: the walk to Haridwar for Ganga water.
When it falls
19 July 2027 to 2 August 2027
By the sunrise at Har Ki Pauri, Haridwar
- The rule
- Shravana Krishna Paksha, the dark fortnight
- Which day
- Sunrise (udaya-vyapini)
- The dark fortnight of the purnimanta month: from the day after the full moon to the new moon that ends it.
- Weight
- One of the year's great days
- Returns
- A season of days
What it is
The Kanwar Yatra is the walk to Haridwar in the first fortnight of Shravana, by the purnimanta reckoning the dark fortnight after Guru Purnima. Pilgrims fill a kanwar with Ganga water at Har Ki Pauri and carry it home on foot, to pour on a Shiva linga on Shravana Shivratri, the fourteenth of the fortnight, or on the amavasya that closes it. Millions walk; the roads out of Haridwar are given over to them. The span here is the fortnight, computed by the tithi at sunrise; the pouring day is its last two days.
Where it is kept
One water. The Kanwar is the Ganga at Haridwar.
Ganga
Har Ki Pauri, Haridwar
Purnimanta reckoning
Where the water is taken from. Har Ki Pauri in Shravana is the Kanwar.
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.