AATHREYA aarbeekay - PANCHAANGAM IV

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OM SESHAANJANEYA NAMHA OM

 

AATHREYA - DR. RAMARAJU , BALA KRISHNAMURTHY ( AARBEEKAY )

 

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AATHREYA aarbeekay - PANCHAANGAM IV

 

WHAT IS THITTHI ?

 

Thitthi is the most important of Panchaangam and it is essential

everyone of us should know what a particular day's Thitthi is.

As I understood , and it took some time for me to understand it,

I will try to simplify about Thitthi for beginners and others

like me to understand what a Thitthi is .

 

A Thitthi is the distance of Moon from Sun as seen from Earth and

each Thitthi is measured in 12 Degrees each .It is easy to look

at Moon , so our Vedic Rushis determined Thitthi based on Moon's

position in relation to Sun as we see The Moon from Mother Earth.

 

Let us project a Maasam ( month ) as a circle of 360 degrees and

each Thitthi is a distance of 12 degrees traveled by Moon going

away from Sun in 24 hours in Sukla (Suddha) Paksham ,bright fortnight;

or Moon approaching Sun by 12 degrees in 24 hours in Krishna (BahuLa)

Paksham aka dark fortnight. It is now seen that there are 30 Thitthis

in a month , one Thitthi per 24 hours - 15 Thitthis in Sukla Paksham

(bright fortnight) and 15 Thitthis in Krishna Paksham (dark fortnight).

Each Thitthi is equal to 12 degrees of Moon's distance from Sun.

Actually all Thitthis are not of equal length and the duration of a

Thitthi varies from 21 1/2 hours to 26 hours with an average of

23 and 1/2 hours . This is due to Earth Spinning around itself and

at the same time orbiting Sun with Moon orbiting Earth.

 

Now let us superimpose clock dial over the above circle of 360 degrees

and mark out 12 , 3 , 6 , and 9'O clock positions . 12'O clock is zero

degrees starting and/or 360 degrees ending . 3'O clock is 90 degrees,

6'O clock is 180 degrees , 9'O clock is 270 degrees; back to 12'Oclock.

 

12'O clock - O degrees starting is Amaavaasya meaning Moon and Sun are

together as shown : S mo U on N . Moon is there but we cannot see the

Moon as it is completely over shadowed by the luminosity of Sun.

Sun and Moon are rising together in the East and setting together in the

West. Night is dark , only stars are seen and there is no Night Moon ,

and as a boy I thought it is NO MOON DAy , but it is No Moon Night aka

New Moon Day or Amaavaasya.

This is the beginning and as we continue in next post Moon slowly

emerges from the shadow of Sun and I also come out of darkness =

Thamaso Maa Jyothirgamaya = from Dark to Light = from Ignorance to

Knowledge . Sukla or Suddha Pakshma starts ( Start of Bright Fortnight)

 

TO BE CONTINUED

 

P.S: Wednesday , 21 November 2007 is Ksheeraabddhi or Churning Dwaadasi

when Churning of Milky Ocean started resulting in Birth of Moon , Lakshmi

and also Poison which was swallowed by Lord Parameshwar, Thanks to SHIVA,

but for WHOM , we would not be here today. Om Namaha Sivaaya Namaha Om.

 

 

Om Hari Hara Om Thath Sath .

 

aathreya - r b krishna murthy