Vaisakhi
Also called Baisakhi
Mesha Sankranti, the solar new year, and the Ganga at Haridwar.
When it falls
Thursday, 13 April 2028, 21:48 IST
The sun enters the sign after sunset, so many keep the day that follows.
By the sunrise at Har Ki Pauri, Haridwar
- The rule
- Sidereal ingress of the sun into Mesha
- Which day
- The instant of the crossing
- The instant the sun's sidereal longitude crosses the sign boundary under the Lahiri ayanamsa, computed at the ghat.
- Weight
- A major occasion
- Returns
- Once a year
What it is
Vaisakhi is the sun's entry into Mesha, the first sign, and the solar new year across the north: Baisakhi in Punjab, Pohela Boishakh in Bengal, Vishu in Kerala, Puthandu in Tamil Nadu, all on this crossing. At Haridwar it is one of the largest bathing days of the year, the Baisakhi snan, when Punjab comes to Har Ki Pauri. The day is the day of the crossing; the moment is computed and printed, and the snan follows it.
Where it is kept
Two of the six waters, Haridwar first.
Ganga
Har Ki Pauri, Haridwar
Purnimanta reckoning
The Baisakhi snan. Har Ki Pauri and the whole of Haridwar, full.
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.
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.