Sharad Purnima
Also called Kojagari Purnima
Kojagara, the night the moon is held to be full of nectar.
When it falls
Sunday, 25 October 2026
By the sunrise at Har Ki Pauri, Haridwar
- The rule
- Ashwina Shukla Purnima, at midnight
- Which day
- True midnight (nishita kaal)
- The night on which the tithi is running at midnight, because this is a night observance; the morning snan is the morning after that night.
- Weight
- A major occasion
- Returns
- Once a year
What it is
Sharad Purnima is the full moon of Ashwina, the first clear full moon after the rains. It is kept at night: kheer is set out under the moon, Lakshmi is held to walk the earth asking who is awake, which is what Kojagara means, and in Braj it is the night of the raas. The morning after is a bathing morning, and it opens the run of Kartika, whose first day is the next day. The tithi is fixed by midnight, since the observance is the night's; the snan follows at the next sunrise.
Where it is kept
Three of the six waters; the Yamuna first, for Braj.
Yamuna
Vishram Ghat, Mathura
Purnimanta reckoning
Vishram Ghat and the whole of Braj keep the raas purnima; the Yamuna is the river of that night.
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.
Triveni Sangam
Sangam, Prayagraj
Purnimanta reckoning
At the Sangam the day is one of the bathing days of the year.
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.
Godhuli Muhurat
about 24 minutes
From sunset
- Definition
- Sunset, until half a muhurta of the night after it: about 24 minutes, a little longer in winter.
Godhuli is better known as a wedding muhurta. The evening snan rests on the sandhya rather than on that use.
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.