When is Mauni Amavasya?
The answer
Saturday, 6 February 2027
Kept in silence. The great bathing day.
Why that day
- The tithi it is
- Magha Krishna Amavasya
Read the ordinary way: the day whose SUNRISE this tithi is running at.
And after that
Wednesday, 26 January 2028
Magha Krishna Amavasya
Sunday, 14 January 2029
Magha Krishna Amavasya
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 new moon of Magha — the largest bathing day of the Kumbh and the Magh Mela. 'Mauni' comes from muni: silence is kept today, and Manu is said to have been born on it. There is an astronomical reason too — Sun and Moon stand together in Makara, and that conjunction is the stated reason for the bath at the sangam. It is also a day for the ancestors: after Sarva Pitru Amavasya, the next largest occasion for tarpan.
The story behind it
Manu's birth
Svayambhuva Manu is said to have appeared on this tithi — the name from which the word for man comes. That is why the day is tied to the beginning of things.
The drops of amrit
After the churning, devas and asuras ran with the pot for twelve days. Drops fell at four places — Prayag, Haridwar, Ujjain, Nasik — and the Kumbh is held at those four.
Twelve years
A day of the devas is a year of men, so those twelve days became twelve years. That is the Kumbh cycle.
The silence
The silence has its own reason: holding the tongue today was said to be worth more than the bath. Bathe talking and bathe silent, and the fruit is not the same.
What to keep ready
- Black sesame — for the bathing water and to give away
- Kusha grass and a copper lota, for tarpan
- Ganga water
- Sesame laddus, jaggery and a blanket — what is traditionally given today
- Red flowers and roli, for the arghya to the sun
- Water, milk and a lamp for the peepal
- Barley and rice
How the puja is done
1
Silence
Keep silence from waking until the bath and the giving are done. Anyone who cannot hold it all day should hold it through the morning — silence is the day's name.
2
The bath
In Brahma muhurta, at the sangam, the Ganga or any river. At home, put Ganga water and black sesame in the bucket.
3
Arghya to the sun
Straight after the bath, water from a copper lota with sesame and a red flower in it.
4
Tarpan
Facing south, kusha in hand, water with sesame, three times for each ancestor named. After Sarva Pitru Amavasya this is the largest such day.
5
The peepal
Water and milk at the peepal, a circuit round it, a lamp. The tradition puts the ancestors in the peepal today.
6
Giving
Sesame, jaggery, a blanket, grain, cloth. The giving should be finished before the silence is broken.
What to do
- Hold the silence at least until the bath and the giving are done — the day is named for it.
- Put black sesame in the bathing water even if you bathe at home.
- Give the arghya to the sun immediately after the bath, not later.
- Do tarpan for the ancestors even if no one's tithi falls today.
- Keep sesame and a blanket in what you give — that is the Magha amavasya's own daan.
What not to do
- Do not begin anything new or auspicious — nothing is started on an amavasya.
- No anger, no argument, no ill-speaking during the silence; the silence is held to break on a harsh word, not on any word.
- Do not break a leaf or branch off the peepal or any tree today.
- No meat, no drink, no onion or garlic.
- Give rather than take today; receiving is not the day's custom.
The aarti
Shri Ganga Ji ki Aarti
ॐ जय गंगे माता, मैया जय गंगे माता।
जो नर तुमको ध्याता, मनवांछित फल पाता॥
चंद्र सी जोत तुम्हारी, जल निर्मल आता।
शरण पड़े जो तेरी, सो नर तर जाता॥
पुत्र सगर के तारे, सब जग को ज्ञाता।
कृपा दृष्टि हो तुम्हारी, त्रिभुवन सुख दाता॥
एक ही बार जो तेरी, शरणागति आता।
यम की त्रास मिटाकर, परमगति पाता॥
आरती मात तुम्हारी, जो जन नित गाता।
सेवक वही सहज में, मुक्ति को पाता॥
The sky has a calendar. So do you.
The same engine reads your own birth moment — every house, every graha, every period with dates.