When is Magha Purnima?
The answer
Saturday, 20 February 2027
The full moon of Magha.
Why that day
- The tithi it is
- Magha Shukla Purnima
Read the ordinary way: the day whose SUNRISE this tithi is running at.
And after that
Thursday, 10 February 2028
Magha Shukla Purnima
Tuesday, 30 January 2029
Magha Shukla Purnima
How this date is worked out
A festival is a position, not a date. The lunar month is named by the sidereal sign the Sun stands in at the new moon that opens it, and the tithi is the Moon's distance from the Sun in twelve-degree steps. Both come from the same ephemeris this site casts birth charts with.
North India reckons a month from full moon to full moon, so the dark fortnight carries the next month's name — the same day is Shravana Krishna Tritiya in Pune and Bhadrapada Krishna Tritiya in Delhi. These dates use the northern reckoning, and the tithi is printed above so there is nothing to take on trust.
Why it is kept
The full moon of Magha — the last day of Kalpavas. Those who have spent the whole month in tents at the sangam, bathing and fasting and sitting in satsang, complete a month-long vow today. Vishnu is said to live in the water itself today, and the devas to come in human form to bathe at the sangam — which is why nobody is turned away today. Astronomically it is the purnima on which the moon stands near Magha nakshatra, and the month takes its name from there.
The story behind it
The brahmin Dhaneshwar
In the city of Kantika lived a brahmin named Dhaneshwar who had no child. When he and his wife asked for alms people turned them away as childless.
Kamyakvan
In their grief the two went to Kamyakvan and asked the sages what to do.
The Magha bath
The sages said: bathe every morning through Magha, hold yourself in check, and give on the purnima.
The fruit
They kept the whole month. A son was born to them after the giving on the full moon.
Kalpavas
From that custom came the rule of living at the sangam through Magha — Kalpavas — which ends on this purnima.
What to keep ready
- Ganga water and black sesame for the bathing water
- Sesame laddus, jaggery and a blanket, to give away
- An image of Vishnu or Satyanarayan, and tulsi
- Panchamrit and panjiri, the prasad of the Satyanarayan katha
- Banana leaves, mango leaves, a kalash
- A ghee lamp and camphor
- Yellow cloth and yellow flowers
- Grain and cloth to give
How the puja is done
1
The bath
In Brahma muhurta, at the sangam, the Ganga or any river. At home, Ganga water and sesame in the bucket. Take the sankalp before you bathe.
2
Arghya
Water to the sun from a copper lota after the bath, with sesame and a red flower.
3
Satyanarayan katha
The purnima is this katha's own day. Kalash, panchamrit, tulsi, the five chapters, and panjiri as prasad.
4
The ancestors
Those whose ancestors' tithi falls in Magha do tarpan today — water with sesame, facing south.
5
Giving
Sesame, jaggery, blankets, grain, cloth. Those who kept Kalpavas give away everything they used — tent, bedding, vessels.
6
Breaking the vow
Eat only after the giving. Anyone who took the whole month's sankalp completes it today.
What to do
- Take the sankalp before bathing and put sesame in the water — this is the last and largest day of Magha snan.
- It is the best day for the Satyanarayan katha; the purnima is that katha's own day.
- Give before you eat, not after.
- If you kept Kalpavas, give away what you used — that is the custom that closes it.
- Turn nobody away today; the devas are said to come in human form.
What not to do
- No meat, no drink and no tamasik food today.
- No cutting of hair or nails on the purnima.
- No harsh words and no quarrels — that is the core rule of a purnima vrat.
- End the day having given, not having taken.
- Do not step into the river with soap or oil on you.
The aarti
Om Jai Jagdish Hare
ॐ जय जगदीश हरे, स्वामी जय जगदीश हरे।
भक्त जनों के संकट, क्षण में दूर करे॥
जो ध्यावे फल पावे, दुख बिनसे मन का।
सुख सम्पत्ति घर आवे, कष्ट मिटे तन का॥
मात-पिता तुम मेरे, शरण गहूँ किसकी।
तुम बिनु और न दूजा, आस करूँ जिसकी॥
तुम पूरण परमात्मा, तुम अंतर्यामी।
पारब्रह्म परमेश्वर, तुम सबके स्वामी॥
दीनबंधु दुखहर्ता, ठाकुर तुम मेरे।
अपने हाथ उठाओ, द्वार पड़ा तेरे॥
विषय विकार मिटाओ, पाप हरो देवा।
श्रद्धा भक्ति बढ़ाओ, संतन की सेवा॥
The sky has a calendar. So do you.
The same engine reads your own birth moment — every house, every graha, every period with dates.