Tithi
A tithi is one thirtieth of a lunation, defined as twelve degrees of the Moon's elongation from the Sun: the tithi runs from the moment the elongation reaches a multiple of twelve degrees to the next multiple.
Because the Moon's motion varies, a tithi is not a fixed length: it averages about 23 hours 37 minutes and ranges from about 20 to about 27 hours. The tithi in force at sunrise is the tithi of the day, which is why a panchanga prints a tithi that may end before the next sunrise; a tithi that begins after one sunrise and ends before the next is a kshaya tithi, and one that is still running at the following sunrise is an adhika or ahoratra tithi. The fifteen waxing tithis have their own entries in this file; the waning fifteen carry the same names with the prefix Krishna and are recorded as a group.
Symbols and forms
- Alternate Names
- the lunar daylunar date
Nature and meaning
- Kind
- Concept
- Sanskrit
- तिथि
- English
- the lunar day
- Meaning
A tithi is one thirtieth of a lunation, defined as twelve degrees of the Moon's elongation from the Sun: the tithi runs from the moment the elongation reaches a multiple of twelve degrees to the next multiple. There are thirty in a lunar month, fifteen waxing (shukla paksha) and fifteen waning (krishna paksha), and their names are the same in both fortnights with the fifteenth being Purnima in the bright and Amavasya in the dark.
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