Maha Shivratri 2027: Date and Nishita Kaal Puja Time

Maha Shivratri in 2027 falls on Saturday, 6 March 2027. The most important puja window, the nishita kaal, is from 12:07 am to 12:56 am in New Delhi on the night of 6 to 7 March, because Phalguna Krishna Chaturdashi begins at 12:03 pm on the 6th and lasts until 1:46 pm on the 7th.

In other words, the fast and the night vigil start on Saturday the 6th, and the central midnight worship falls just after the clock passes midnight into Sunday the 7th. The nishita window shifts by city, from about 11 pm in the far east to after 1 am in the west; the table below has the main cities.

Date, tithi and the key times

The day's sunrise on the 6th is 6:41 am in New Delhi. The full festival entry, with the dates around it, is on our Maha Shivratri page.

Why 6 March: the nishita rule

Most festivals are fixed by the tithi at sunrise. Shivratri is different: it belongs to the night. The rule followed in Nirnaya Sindhu and Dharmasindhu is to keep Maha Shivratri on the night when Krishna Chaturdashi holds at nishita, the midnight muhurta.

In 2027 that test is easy:

• Night of 6 March: Chaturdashi began at 12:03 pm the same day and continues past midnight, so the nishita kaal (12:07 am to 12:56 am) lies fully in Chaturdashi.
• Night of 7 March: Chaturdashi ended at 1:46 pm that afternoon, so midnight falls in Amavasya.

Only the night of the 6th qualifies, so calendars should agree on 6 March. In years when Chaturdashi touches midnight on two nights, or on neither, the texts add tie-breakers, and that is when you see different dates; 2027 is not such a year.

What nishita kaal is, and why it moves by city

The night, from sunset to the next sunrise, is divided into 15 muhurtas. The eighth, the one that straddles local midnight, is the nishita muhurta. It is about 48 to 49 minutes long in early March.

Because it is tied to local sunset and sunrise, nishita is a local time. Cities further east see the Sun set earlier, so their midnight muhurta comes earlier on the clock; cities further west see it later. All of India uses one clock (IST), which is why the difference shows up so clearly.

Times after midnight belong to the night of 6 March, even though the calendar date has turned to the 7th. For a town not in this list, the panchang for the nearest city gives sunrise and sunset; the Varanasi panchang is a common reference for Kashi Vishwanath devotees.

The four prahars of the night

Many devotees worship Shiva four times through the night, once in each prahar: the night from sunset to sunrise divided into four equal parts. The first prahar begins at sunset; the nishita kaal falls around the middle of the night, at the boundary of the second and third. Because prahars depend on your own sunset and sunrise, they shift by city in the same way as nishita; the panchang for your city gives both. Most temples announce their own prahar puja times, and following your temple is perfectly fine.

If keeping all four prahars is not possible, the tradition itself is relaxed about it: the nishita worship is the one most texts single out, and a single sincere puja in the night is the core of the observance.

Fasting and parana

The fast is usually kept from the morning of 6 March through the night. It is traditionally broken (parana) on the morning of 7 March, after sunrise; many families also follow the rule of finishing parana before Chaturdashi ends, which in 2027 is at 1:46 pm in New Delhi. That leaves a comfortable morning window.

Fasting customs vary widely, from nirjala (without water) to fruit and milk. If you have a health condition, are pregnant or are elderly, follow your doctor's advice first; the tradition itself allows a lighter fast for anyone who needs it.

Maha Shivratri and Masik Shivratri

Every Krishna Chaturdashi of the year is a Masik Shivratri, a monthly Shivratri, kept by the same midnight rule. The one in Phalguna (Magha in the amanta calendar) is the Maha Shivratri, the great one. The month name differs between north and south only because of the two ways of counting months; the day is the same. All the monthly dates are on our Masik Shivratri page.

Around Maha Shivratri 2027

• 11 February 2027: Basant Panchami, the previous big festival.
• 15 March 2027, 7:00 am: the Sun enters Pisces and the spring kharmas begins.
• 16 to 21 March 2027: Holashtak, ending with Holika Dahan on 21 March and Holi on 22 March (our Holi 2027 guide explains this year's Bhadra puzzle).
• Saturn stays in Pisces until 3 June 2027; if you follow your Moon sign's transits, the Saturn in Aries 2027 page has the dates.

Why some sites may show different times

• City. A table computed for New Delhi will be off by up to an hour in Guwahati or Ahmedabad.
• Definition of nishita. We use the eighth of fifteen night muhurtas. A few sites show a fixed window around 12:00 midnight clock time, which is not the same thing in most of India.
• Prahar presentation. Some show the four prahars, some only nishita; both are the same festival day.

Try it yourself

The Maha Shivratri page shows the date and the night's timings, and the panchang gives your city's sunrise, sunset and tithi. For the monthly Shivratri dates through the year, see the Masik Shivratri list. If you would like to know your own Moon sign and nakshatra for the day, a free kundli shows them.