Mahashivratri
The great night of Shiva.
When it falls
Wednesday, 23 February 2028
By the sunrise at Har Ki Pauri, Haridwar
- The rule
- Krishna Chaturdashi, Phalguna in the Purnimanta reckoning, Magha in the Amanta reckoning; the same instant, two month-names
- Which day
- True midnight (nishita kaal)
- The day is decided at nishita kaal, the eighth of the fifteen muhurtas of the night, around true midnight, because the tithi must be running then for the night to be Mahashivratri. That decides the day. The snan of this occasion is a pre-dawn and morning rite, so the window is a separate field.
- Weight
- One of the year's great days
- Returns
- Once a year
What it is
Mahashivratri is the fourteenth tithi of the dark fortnight in the month the Purnimanta reckoning calls Phalguna and the Amanta reckoning calls Magha, the same night under two names. It is kept with a fast, a night of four watches, and abhisheka of the linga. The fast, the watches and the abhisheka are kept at home. The snan belongs to the river, on the morning of it. At Ujjain it is Mahakala's own night, and the Bhasma Arati and the crowd on the Shipra bank make it the largest day of the year at Ram Ghat.
Where it is kept
Four of the six waters.
Shipra
Ram Ghat, Ujjain
Purnimanta reckoning
Ram Ghat, below Mahakaleshwar. Here the occasion and the ghat are the same thing.
Ganga
Har Ki Pauri, Haridwar
Purnimanta reckoning
Har Ki Pauri keeps the night. The Ganga water carried to Shiva temples on this day begins at ghats like this one.
Godavari
Ram Kund, Nashik
Amanta reckoning
Ram Kund keeps the night. The Godavari's Shaiva associations along this stretch are old.
Triveni Sangam
Sangam, Prayagraj
Purnimanta reckoning
The Sangam keeps the day within the wider Magha bathing season.
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 Shivaratri vrat and its four watches are described in the Shaiva Puranic literature and in the vrata sections of the nibandhas. 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.