[Advaita-l] Maha Shivaratri 2016 date?

[Jaldhar H. Vyas]

On Mon, 7 Mar 2016, S Jayanarayanan via Advaita-l wrote:

> What is the exact date of Maha Shivaratri in 2016? I'm particularly 
> interested in the location of California, USA.  

According to Mahesh Shastriji (www.mypanchanga.com) it was the 6th for 
people in Pacific Standard time and points west and the 7th for the rest 
of America, Europe and India etc.

My understanding (though perhaps someone like Anand who is more 
knowledgable about Panchanga Ganita can elaborate) is that unlike most 
utsavas which are determined based on the tithi prevailing at sunrise, 
Shivaratri is based on the tithi prevailing at night.  On the west coast 
the phalguna krishna chaturdashi didn't begin until after the night of the 
6th began  and will finish not long after the night of the 7th begins. 
To the east chaturdashi comfortably contains the night of the 7th.  So you 
Californians should strictly speaking observe on the 6th.  However if you 
did not do so, observing on the 7th isn't too wrong.


-- 
Jaldhar H. Vyas <jaldhar at braincells.com>