Hindu / Panchang Date

This converter maps a Gregorian civil date to Vikram Samvat using the same Chaitradi solar month structure as the Indian national Saka calendar, then adds an approximate tithi from mean lunar elongation. It is for invitations, school worksheets, and genealogy notes. It is not a temple panchang, muhurta engine, kundali, or fasting decision tool. Results stay in the browser. Hijri lunar dates belong on Islamic date, which answers a different religious and civil question.

Vikram Samvat years and Chaitradi solar months

Vikram Samvat years here are Saka years plus 135. Month names and day counts therefore match Indian Saka date: Chaitra through Phalguna, with Chaitra numbered 1. Chaitra 1 falls on 22 March in a common Gregorian year and on 21 March in a Gregorian leap year. That is the civil solar backbone used on many Indian government forms, not the Nepal Bikram Sambat month that typically begins around mid-April.

If a form asks specifically for Saka era years, use the Saka converter. This page exists because searchers ask for “Hindu date” or “panchang date” and need Vikram numbering plus a tithi hint in one result. Always print the Gregorian date beside the Hindu date on public notices so travel bookings and civic deadlines do not slip.

When a source document mixes Hindi month names with Arabic numerals, normalize to year-month-day before pasting. Month 1 is Chaitra on this page even if a letter says Chait. Transliteration variants such as Bhadra versus Bhadrapada map to the same Saka month index used here.

Approximate tithi from mean elongation

Tithi is estimated from Sun–Moon elongation at civil noon: each 12° of elongation is one tithi. The count splits Shukla (waxing) and Krishna (waning) paksha, with Purnima at 15 and Amavasya at 30. Mean-motion formulas are planning-grade. A local panchang that uses true sunrise, ayanamsha, and observed conjunction can differ by a day, especially near a tithi boundary.

Paksha labels help readers place Ekadashi or Chaturdashi relative to the nearest full or new moon without claiming a specific sampradaya’s sunrise rule. Nakshatra, yoga, and karana are omitted on purpose so the page stays a date converter, not an astrology product.

Tithi boundaries fall at uneven clock times. A panchang keyed to sunrise can still show yesterday’s tithi after civil midnight. Mean-motion math can also lag a true-position almanac. Treat the tithi line as a hint printed next to a stable solar Y-M-D, not as a ritual clock.

Converting both directions

Pick a Gregorian date and calculate to see Vikram Samvat Y-M-D, the Saka year, and the approximate tithi. To go the other way, paste Vikram Samvat as year-month-day using the same month numbers as Saka (Chaitra = 1). Refresh the conversion whenever a flyer is reprinted. Archived screenshots of last year’s Chaitra date will be wrong after the leap-year shift of Chaitra 1.

A family printing a wedding card wants the Vikram Samvat month name next to the hotel’s Gregorian check-in date. Convert the ceremony’s civil date, copy the VS line, and keep the hotel date unchanged. A genealogy volunteer translating a mid-century letter that says “Chaitra, Samvat …” can enter an estimated VS Y-M-D and read the Gregorian range, then confirm against the Saka converter if the source used national-calendar numbering instead of Vikram.

For 2026 classroom packets, convert one sample date so students see leap-year Chaitra 1 move between 21 and 22 March, then send them to monthly calendars and holidays 2026 for the civic Gregorian grid.

Amanta, purnimanta, and Nepal’s civil calendar

Amanta versus purnimanta month naming can shift which lunar month label a community uses even when the tithi number agrees. The solar month printed here follows Saka/Chaitradi, which is the stable civil answer. Festival offices should still commission a city panchang for sunrise tithi when the event is religious.

Nepal’s official Bikram Sambat and some regional lunisolar almanacs use different new-year days. If the audience is Nepali civil documents, treat this output as a cousin, not a legal equivalent. Write both calendars on the brief, name the rule (civil Vikram Samvat as Saka plus 135, plus approximate noon tithi), and recalculate after year rollover instead of cloning last year’s PDF. A letter that says only “Shukla Ekadashi” without a solar month is not enough to reverse-convert; you still need a Gregorian or Vikram Y-M-D anchor before this form can return a civil night.

Hebrew lunisolar overlays belong on the Hebrew date converter. Do not merge this solar-plus-tithi sketch with Hijri month lengths or with Easter Computus. The calendars answer different questions; keep them in separate cells on a planning sheet.

Printers, databases, and civic deadlines

Databases that already store Gregorian keys should keep those keys. Add Vikram Samvat as a display column generated at print time, not as a second primary key that drifts after a leap year. Share Gregorian ISO dates in URLs and mail, then let each reader convert to their community calendar. Civic holidays stay on the Gregorian holidays hub even when a flyer also shows a tithi.

A teacher comparing lunisolar festivals with Easter can convert the same spring week here and on a separate Easter or Passover tool. Do not merge those results into one “spring festival” cell. Recalculate after year rollover. Festival offices that need sunrise tithi still commission a city panchang; this converter is the civil overlay for printers who already locked the hotel’s Gregorian night.