Tithi
Why a tithi can end in the middle of the day
A tithi ends when the Moon gains another 12° on the Sun, at any hour. See why it rarely lines up with sunrise and why some tithis name no day.
01 · The Moon’s clock
A tithi ends when the Moon reaches the next 12°, whatever the hour.
A tithi measures how far the Moon has pulled ahead of the Sun: each 12° of lead is one tithi, thirty to a lunar month. The Moon gains on the Sun at an uneven rate, and nothing ties the 12° marks to sunrise or midnight. Move through five days in Delhi.
On 2 October Shashthi held at sunrise and ended at 10:15, mid-morning. Ashtami began at 08:00 on 3 October and ended at 05:52 on 4 October, before that day’s sunrise, so no Delhi day was named Ashtami.
02 · Uneven steps
A tithi can be shorter or longer than a day.
The Moon moves faster near its closest point to Earth, and the Sun’s pace changes slightly too. So the time to gain 12° varies, by several hours either way.
A clock run by the Moon
A tithi is a step of 12° in the Moon’s lead over the Sun along the ecliptic. At new Moon the lead is 0°; each further 12° completes a tithi, and thirty of them make the full circle to the next new Moon.
Nothing in that definition refers to the Sun’s rising. The Moon reaches each 12° mark whenever its motion carries it there, by day or by night, so a tithi can begin or end at any clock time.
One morning in Delhi
On 2 October 2026 the Sun rose in Delhi at 06:14 IST with Krishna Shashthi in force, and the Panchang names the day Shashthi. At 10:15 the Moon’s lead reached the next 12° mark and Saptami began. Saptami lasted until 08:00 the next morning, after the next sunrise, so 3 October is named Saptami.
Both are true at once: the day is a Shashthi day, and Saptami holds for most of it. The sunrise guide explains how the dashboard shows the two, and why a Panchang day begins at sunrise sets the clock date, the Panchang day and the tithi side by side.
Why the steps are uneven
The Moon’s speed against the stars changes over its orbit, faster near Earth and slower far from it, and the Sun’s speed varies slightly over the year. The time needed to gain 12° therefore changes. Between 2026 and 2036 a tithi lasts from about 20.0 to 26.8 hours, 23.6 on average, while sunrises come about 24 hours apart.
That mismatch has two consequences:
- A short tithi can fall entirely between two sunrises. In Delhi, Ashtami began at 08:00 on 3 October 2026 and ended at 05:52 on 4 October, 23 minutes before sunrise, so no Delhi day was named Ashtami.
- A long tithi can hold two sunrises, and then two successive days carry the same name.
In Delhi in 2026, 17 tithis fell between sunrises and named no day, and 11 named two. Another city, with a different sunrise, can name its days differently, as why two cities can show different Panchangs shows.
Festivals and the moment that counts
Because a tithi can change in mid-morning, many observances specify which part of the day must fall within the tithi: sunrise for some, midday, sunset or midnight for others. The festival pages state the rule that applies where it affects the date.
See today’s tithi and when it ends on the Delhi Panchang, or explore another topic in Learn.