For New Delhi
Holika Dahan time
Holika Dahan muhurta†6:31 pm – 8:54 pm · 2 hr 23 min
- Pradosh kaal†
- 6:31 pm – 8:54 pm
- Bhadra (left out)†
- 2:03 am – 12:47 pm
- Purnima tithi
- 2:03 am – 11:26 pm
How this time is worked out
The night runs from sunset to the next sunrise and is cut into fifteen equal muhurtas (about 48 minutes each in New Delhi that night).
Holika Dahan is done in pradosh kaal (the first three muhurtas of the night†) on the day Purnima runs, outside Bhadra (Vishti karana)†. When Bhadra covers pradosh, almanacs wait for Bhadra to end, up to the middle of the night†.
† Practice varies between schools; our faculty is reviewing these rules.
2030
Tuesday, 19 March 2030
In 2030 the tithi runs from 2:03 am on 19 Mar to 11:26 pm on 19 Mar; it is running at pradosh, the twilight just after sunset on Tuesday, 19 March 2030, so that is the day of Holika Dahan.
2031
Saturday, 8 March 2031
In 2031 the tithi runs from 9:55 am on 8 Mar to 9:59 am on 9 Mar; it is running at pradosh, the twilight just after sunset on Saturday, 8 March 2031, so that is the day of Holika Dahan.
How the date is fixed
Holika Dahan falls on the full-moon day (Purnima) of the lunar month Phalguna. The date is the day on which that tithi is running at pradosh, the twilight just after sunset.
About
Holika Dahan is kept on the evening of Phalguna Purnima, the last full moon of the lunar year. The fire is lit during pradosh, the period after sunset, while Purnima is running and the Bhadra (Vishti) karana is not. Because the first half of Purnima is always Bhadra, panchangs often print a narrow window, and when Bhadra runs past midnight the texts give alternative rulings that local almanacs follow. The bonfire recalls the story of Prahlada and Holika and closes the agricultural year in North India.
How it is observed
A community bonfire is lit after sunset, circled, and offered new grain; the colour play follows the next morning.