A lunar day in the Hindu panchang, measured by the Moon gaining 12 degrees of separation from the Sun. Thirty tithis fill a lunar month — fifteen in the waxing Shukla paksha and fifteen in the waning Krishna paksha — from Pratipada up to Purnima or Amavasya. Tithi is the first of the five panchang limbs and shapes the day's suitability for rituals and new work.
Glossary · Panchang
Tithi
A lunar day in the Hindu panchang, measured by the Moon gaining 12 degrees of separation from the Sun. Thirty tithis fill a lunar month — fifteen in the waxing Shukla paksha and fifteen in the waning Krishna paksha — from Pratipada up to Purnima or Amavasya. Tithi is the first of the five panchang limbs and shapes the day's suitability for rituals and new work.
What does Tithi mean in astrology?
The Moon never stands still relative to the Sun. Each day it drifts about 12 degrees further ahead of (or behind) it, and each 12-degree step is one tithi — the lunar day, the oldest unit of the Indian calendar and the first limb of the panchang.
Because the Moon's speed varies, a tithi does not match the solar day neatly. One tithi can last from about 19 to 26 hours; it may begin and end mid-day, and occasionally two solar days carry the same tithi while another is skipped entirely. That is why printed calendars sometimes note "tithi kshaya" — a lost lunar day.
How it works: the thirty tithis carry Sanskrit names repeated in cycles of fifteen. Pratipada, Dwitiya, Tritiya, Chaturthi, Panchami, Shashthi, Saptami, Ashtami, Navami, Dashami, Ekadashi, Dwadashi, Trayodashi, Chaturdashi — and then Purnima (full moon) closing the bright half or Amavasya (new moon) closing the dark half.
Worked example: say the Moon at sunrise today is 47 degrees ahead of the Sun. Divide by 12: three full steps done, the fourth in progress — so today runs the 4th tithi, Chaturthi, until the separation reaches 48 degrees. In the bright half this is Ganesh Chaturthi territory in the calendar; as a rikta tithi, tradition usually passes over it for auspicious beginnings.
Each tithi carries a traditional temperament. Nanda tithis (1st, 6th, 11th) suit joyous beginnings; bhadra (2nd, 7th, 12th) suit stability; jaya (3rd, 8th, 13th) suit difficult tasks; rikta (4th, 9th, 14th) are avoided for new work; purna (5th, 10th, 15th) suit completions. Festivals anchor to tithi rather than dates — Diwali is Amavasya, Ekadashi recurs twice monthly — which is why festival dates drift against the Gregorian calendar each year. In muhurat work the tithi is the first limb checked, before weekday and nakshatra, and a day with a lost tithi is generally passed over entirely for auspicious beginnings.
Keep exploring the glossary
Abhijit MuhuratA universally auspicious window near local midday, lasting about 48 minutes. It is counted as the eighth of the fifteen muhurats between sunrise and sunset, beginning roughly 24 minutes before solar noon. Tradition holds it auspicious for most beginnings, and it is one of the few windows allowed to override a mild dosha — though it is still avoided on Wednesdays by many practitioners.Ascendant (Lagna)The zodiac sign rising in the east at the exact moment of birth. It sets the first house of the chart and shapes your look, nature and the layout of the whole kundli.Aspect (Drishti)The influence a planet casts on the house or planet it 'looks at'. Every planet aspects the 7th house from itself; Mars, Jupiter and Saturn cast special extra aspects in Vedic astrology.AyanamsaThe cumulative difference between the tropical zodiac (anchored to the equinox) and the sidereal zodiac (anchored to the fixed stars), caused by the slow precession of Earth's axis. Currently about 24 degrees. Subtracting the ayanamsa from a tropical position gives the sidereal one used in Vedic astrology — which is why a Western Sun sign often becomes the previous sign in a Vedic chart.
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