Paush Purnima
Also called Shakambhari Purnima
The first snan of the Magh Mela.
When it falls
Wednesday, 12 January 2028
By the sunrise at Har Ki Pauri, Haridwar
- The rule
- Pausha Shukla Purnima
- 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
- One of the year's great days
- Returns
- Once a year
What it is
Paush Purnima is the full moon that closes Pausha and opens Magha. At Prayagraj it is the first of the great bathing days of the Magh Mela and the day the kalpavasis, who stay on the sands for the whole month, begin their vow. From this morning to Magha Purnima the month of Magh Snan runs. It is a bathing day at every Ganga ghat; the Sangam is where it is the beginning of something.
Where it is kept
Two of the six waters, the Sangam first.
Triveni Sangam
Sangam, Prayagraj
Purnimanta reckoning
The Magh Mela's first snan and the start of kalpavas.
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.