Maha Shivaratri 2027

Maha Shivaratri 2027 falls on Saturday, 6 March 2027. The day is Phalguna Krishna Chaturdashi (amanta Magha Krishna), and the tithi is tested at nishitha — the middle muhurta of the night.

The date, and how it was decided

Maha Shivaratri 2027 falls on Saturday, 6 March 2027.

The day is Phalguna Krishna Chaturdashi (amanta Magha Krishna). The tithi alone does not fix the date: a tithi rarely fills a civil day, so a festival names the period its tithi has to be running in. For Maha Shivaratri that period is nishitha, the middle muhurta of the night. This is the window the vigil is kept in.

The night is the observance, so the tithi is tested at nishitha — the middle muhurta of the night, found by dividing sunset to sunrise into fifteen parts and taking the eighth. That is why Maha Shivaratri can fall on a day whose sunrise carries the previous tithi.

Nishitha in your city

This is the window the vigil is kept in. It is set by the Sun at your own horizon, so it is not the same time across the country — the spread below is about forty minutes end to end.

This is the whole of nishitha, computed as the middle muhurta of the night at that city's own sunrise and sunset. Almanacs often also print a narrower muhurat inside it, chosen for a fixed sign rising rather than for the tithi; if you have seen a shorter window elsewhere, that is what it was, and it sits inside this one.

Other dates in 2027

Holika Dahan · Ugadi and Gudi Padwa · Krishna Janmashtami · Ganesh Chaturthi · Sharad Navratri · Vijayadashami · Dhanteras · Diwali

How a tithi is computed · Why the day starts at sunrise