The Moon moves through a roughly 29.5-day cycle from new moon (Amavasya) to full moon (Purnima) and back. In Vedic astrology this same cycle is read as the tithi and the paksha — the waxing Shukla and waning Krishna fortnights. Enter any date to see the Moon's phase, tithi and paksha, including the phase at your birth.
As the Moon orbits the Earth, the angle between the Moon and the Sun changes, so the sunlit portion we see grows and shrinks over a cycle of about 29.5 days. This cycle is commonly marked by four main phases:
Vedic astrology measures this same cycle as tithi and paksha rather than as a percentage of illumination. A tithi is the time the Moon takes to gain 12° on the Sun, so the lunar month holds 30 tithis: 15 in the waxing Shukla Paksha (Pratipada to Purnima) and 15 in the waning Krishna Paksha (Pratipada to Amavasya).
The tithi at the moment of your birth is your Janma tithi. It is used to celebrate the traditional tithi-based birthday and appears in muhurta and festival timing. This calculator reports the phase, tithi and paksha for any date you choose, and for your date of birth.
A Moon phase (new, waxing, full, waning) describes how much of the Moon is lit, while a tithi is the precise Vedic lunar day — one of 30, each defined by another 12° the Moon gains on the Sun. The paksha tells you whether that tithi falls in the waxing Shukla half or the waning Krishna half of the month.
It is the phase, tithi and paksha of the Moon on the day you were born. Enter your date of birth and the tool shows your Janma tithi, which is used for tithi-based birthdays and in traditional timing.
Amavasya is the new-moon tithi that closes each Krishna Paksha, and Purnima is the full-moon tithi that closes each Shukla Paksha. Their exact dates shift every month, so enter a date to see which tithi applies.
For educational purposes. Astrological interpretations are traditional and not a substitute for professional advice.