Sankashti Chaturthi 2026: 31 August or 1 September? Is It Angarki, and City-wise Moonrise Times

2026-08-31

Our calendar labels Tuesday 1 September Angarki Sankashti, yet Chaturthi ends at 07:41 that morning and the classical moonrise rule lands on Monday 31 August. Both calculations side by side, whether the Angarki label holds, and moonrise times for 16 cities.

Sankashti Chaturthi is the one monthly vrat whose date depends on the evening, not the morning: you fast through the Krishna Chaturthi and break the fast only after arghya to the rising moon, so the day you keep is the day on which Chaturthi is running at moonrise. At the turn of September 2026 that rule and the ordinary sunrise rule point at different days: our own calendar labels Tuesday 1 September "Angarki Sankashti Chaturthi", while the classical moonrise test lands on Monday 31 August. Here are both calculations side by side, the fate of the "Angarki" label, and moonrise for sixteen cities on both evenings.

The facts at a glance (Delhi, IST)

• Krishna Chaturthi: begins 31 August 2026 at 08:51, ends 1 September at 07:41.
• Monday 31 August: sunrise 05:59, sunset 18:43, moonrise 20:25 — Chaturthi is running at moonrise.
• Tuesday 1 September: sunrise 06:00, sunset 18:41, moonrise 21:00 — Panchami is running at moonrise.
• Moonrise rule gives Monday 31 August; our calendar (sunrise tithi) shows Tuesday 1 September.

Why Sankashti is dated by moonrise

Most festivals are fixed by the tithi running at sunrise — the udaya tithi. Sankashti Chaturthi is the well-known exception, because the vrat is built around the moon: fasting that ends with arghya at chandrodaya, and food only after that. The digests that settle such questions, Dharmasindhu and Nirnayasindhu, therefore take the chandrodaya-vyapini Chaturthi for Sankashti — keep the vrat on the day on which Chaturthi is present at the moment of moonrise. Karva Chauth follows the same logic. The reasoning is plain: the tithi must exist when the offering is made. The texts give no further reason, and we will not invent one. When Chaturthi covers moonrise on both evenings, or on neither, there are tie-break rules; neither situation arises this month.

Where 2026 gets awkward

Chaturthi begins at 08:51 on 31 August, about three hours after sunrise (05:59), so the sunrise tithi that day is Tritiya. It then runs through the day and night and ends at 07:41 on 1 September — present at sunrise (06:00) on the 1st, which is why a sunrise-keyed calendar calls 1 September the Chaturthi day.

The vrat, however, is tested at moonrise. On 31 August the moon rises over Delhi at 20:25, eleven and a half hours into Chaturthi with more than eleven still to run. On 1 September it rises at 21:00, more than thirteen hours after Chaturthi ended, with Panchami running. This is not a borderline case anywhere: tithi times are the same across India and moonrise shifts by only about an hour from Kolkata to Mumbai, so on 1 September every city sees the moon rise in Panchami.

What our calendar shows, and what the classical rule says

In the interest of transparency: on astrovedansh.org's panchang, major festivals are dated by their own deciding kaal (madhyahna, pradosh, aparahna), but the recurring monthly vrats — Sankashti, Pradosh, Masik Shivratri — are still labelled from the sunrise tithi. That is why 1 September carries the label "Angarki Sankashti Chaturthi", and why our puja-vidhi article is dated to it. The classical moonrise rule gives 31 August, and panchangs that follow it list this Sankashti on Monday 31 August. Both statements are true on their own terms — one describes the sunrise tithi, the other the vrat day. We are not overruling anyone; we are setting out the reasoning so you can weigh it against your family custom and local panchang.

• If you follow the moonrise rule (the prevailing practice in Maharashtra, Gujarat and the South): keep the vrat on Monday 31 August and offer arghya at your city's moonrise — 20:25 in Delhi.
• If your family or local panchang lists 1 September: Chaturthi is indeed present at sunrise that day, but the moon that evening rises in Panchami (21:00 in Delhi). Arghya can still be offered; only the tithi argument does not line up.

So is it Angarki or not?

"Angarki" means only that the Sankashti vrat day falls on a Tuesday (Angaraka is Mars); the name attaches to the weekday of the vrat, not to the tithi. By the moonrise rule the vrat day is Monday 31 August — a Monday Sankashti, known in Maharashtra's amanta reckoning as Heramba Sankashti of Shravana Krishna. The "Angarki" label arises only if the day is taken as Tuesday 1 September by the sunrise-tithi count. The next Tuesday Sankashti by the moonrise rule falls on 29 September 2026: Ashwina Krishna Chaturthi runs 17:10 on 29 September to 14:55 on 30 September, and the moon rises over Delhi at 19:39 on the 29th. Re-check it on your own panchang nearer the date.

City-wise moonrise, 31 August and 1 September 2026

The tithi window is national, but moonrise moves west across the country by about an hour: 19:46 in Kolkata, 20:53 in Mumbai. Offer arghya by your own city's time. In every city the 31 August moonrise falls in Chaturthi and the 1 September moonrise in Panchami.

How much to trust the minute

The times above are Swiss Ephemeris values for the moon's upper limb with refraction — the standard our panchang uses. Panchangs that compute for the disc centre without refraction print times three to five minutes later, and buildings or trees on the eastern horizon delay the sighting further. Have the arghya thali ready five minutes early and offer when you see the moon; sighting, not the clock, settles it.

The day in brief

Vidhi, samagri and katha are in the puja-vidhi article linked above; only the timing frame is repeated here.

• Morning bath and sankalpa, outside Rahu Kaal — 07:35–09:10 in Delhi on 31 August; your city's Rahu Kaal will differ.
• Ganesh puja after sunset (18:43) with durva, modak and red flowers; arghya and parana at moonrise, 20:25.
• Nakshatra Revati (Moon in Meen), yoga Ganda; on 1 September Ashwini (Mesh), Vriddhi.

For those keeping the vrat on 1 September: Rahu Kaal in Delhi 15:31–17:06, moonrise 21:00. By the purnimanta count this is Bhadrapada Krishna Chaturthi, by the amanta count Shravana Krishna — the month-name differs, the day does not. Two weeks later comes Ganesh Chaturthi on 14 September, a Shukla Chaturthi dated by the madhyahna rule, not by moonrise.

In short

• Krishna Chaturthi: 31 August 08:51 to 1 September 07:41.
• Moonrise rule (classical): vrat on Monday 31 August, Delhi moonrise 20:25 — not an Angarki.
• Our calendar / sunrise tithi: Tuesday 1 September, moonrise 21:00 — in Panchami.
• Next Angarki by the moonrise rule: Tuesday 29 September 2026.

All times are Delhi/IST; sunrise and moonrise differ by city, and the vrat day can differ by regional tradition and family custom — in borderline cases check your own local panchang.