Death tithi calculator: find the annual shraddha date
This death tithi calculator works out the lunar day (tithi) on which a person passed away and the date of the annual shraddha — the varsha shraddha, barsi or punyatithi — in any year you choose. Enter the date and time of death and the place where the rites will be held; the page finds the tithi, the paksha and the Hindu month, then the day in the chosen year on which that tithi prevails in the afternoon, the time traditionally set for shraddha.
Families follow different calendars, so you can choose amanta months (South and West India), purnimanta months (North India) or the Tamil and Kerala practice of a solar month with the tithi. Where the texts and communities disagree — above all in a year with an adhika (extra) month — the page shows both options instead of picking one for you. The family purohit has the final word.
How to use the Death Tithi Calculator (Shraddha Date)
- Enter the Date of death and, if you know it, the Time of death. Without a time, the tithi at sunrise of that day is used.
- Choose Tithi taken: at the time of death (the usual choice) or at sunrise of that day, as your family does.
- Pick the Calendar your family follows and, for lunar months, what to do in a year with an adhika month.
- Enter the Shraddha year and choose the Place of the shraddha — sunrise, sunset and the afternoon window depend on it.
- Read the date, the aparahna time window and any notes. The table lists the next ten years; Add to calendar saves them as reminders.
Death Tithi Calculator (Shraddha Date) features
Tithi at the moment of death
The tithi is found to the minute from the Sun and Moon, and the page tells you when it changed on that day.
Aparahna rule
The annual date is the day on which the tithi covers the aparahna — the fourth fifth of the daytime — with the longer coverage winning when two days qualify.
Three calendars
Amanta and purnimanta lunar months, or the Tamil solar month with the tithi, as chosen by you.
Adhika month shown openly
When the year has an extra month of the same name, both possible dates are listed.
Ten years and Pitru Paksha
Ten years of dates, the Pitru Paksha day and calendar export.
How the shraddha date is worked out
A tithi is the time the Moon takes to gain 12° on the Sun — 30 in a lunar month, Shukla (waxing) then Krishna (waning) — and tithis do not line up with civil days. The calculator finds the tithi in force at the moment of death (or at sunrise if you choose), and the lunar month: an amanta month runs from new moon to new moon and takes its name from the sidereal sign the Sun is in at the new moon that starts it (Lahiri ayanamsa).
For the annual date the calculator looks for the same tithi in the month of the same name in your chosen year and picks the civil day on which that tithi covers the aparahna. The daytime from sunrise to sunset is split into five equal parts and aparahna is the fourth — for New Delhi on 1 October 2026 it runs from 13:22 to 15:45. If the tithi touches the aparahna on two days, the day with the longer coverage is chosen; equal coverage goes to the first day. This is the practice described by Drik Panchang, which cites texts such as the Dharmasindhu, and the automatic test reproduces all sixteen Pitru Paksha shraddha days Drik Panchang lists for New Delhi in 2026.
Amanta and purnimanta calendars name the dark fortnight differently (Ashwin Krishna in the North is Bhadrapada Krishna in the South) but point to the same days. For the full fortnight of ancestor rites see Pitru Paksha dates.
Adhika masa, Tamil solar months and other differences
About every 32 months a lunar month passes without the Sun changing sign; it becomes adhika (extra) and repeats the name of the following month, as Jyeshtha did in 2026. If the death fell in a regular month, many families keep the anniversary in the regular (nija) month, while others use the adhika month or perform the rite in both; if the death itself fell in an adhika month, the nija month of the same name is used in ordinary years. The sources we found do not settle this, so the page lists both dates and lets you choose.
In Tamil Nadu the annual thithi follows the solar month: the same paksha and tithi inside the Tamil month (Chithirai, Vaikasi … Panguni) in which the death occurred. If the tithi comes twice in that month the second is used unless it falls on the sankramana day; if it does not come at all, practice varies, and the page shows the nearest earlier one with a note. Many Kerala families keep the anniversary by the nakshatra (birth star) of the death in the Malayalam month instead; that method is not calculated here.
- Pitru Paksha: during the dark fortnight before Navaratri, shraddha is done by tithi number alone, whatever the paksha of the death.
- Before sunrise: a death before sunrise belongs to the previous Hindu day, which runs sunrise to sunrise.
- First year: the monthly rites and sapindikarana of the first year follow separate rules and are not calculated here.
Death Tithi Calculator (Shraddha Date) FAQ
How do I find the death tithi from the date of death?
Enter the date, the time and the place. The death tithi calculator shows the tithi, paksha and month in force at that moment, and warns you if the tithi changed during that day.
What is the shradh date in 2026?
Set the shraddha year to 2026. The page gives the day on which the death tithi prevails in the afternoon in the same Hindu month, with the aparahna time window for your city.
What if the tithi is on two days?
The rite is done on the day whose afternoon (aparahna) the tithi covers; if it covers both afternoons, the day with the longer coverage is used, and the page tells you when this happens.
How is the Tamil thithi date calculated?
Choose “Solar month + tithi”. The page finds the Tamil month of the death and the day in that month of a later year on which the same paksha and tithi prevail in the afternoon.
Is this date final?
No — it is a careful calculation, but customs differ between families and regions. Please confirm the date with your family purohit or local panchang.