Saptami Tithi: The Seventh Day and the Worship of the Sun

Saptami is the seventh tithi, when the Moon is between seventy-two and eighty-four degrees from the Sun. In Shukla paksha this is just before the first quarter Moon, a half-lit Moon that stands high in the south at sunset. In Krishna paksha the tithi falls in the dark half, a few days after the full Moon.

It is above all the day of the Sun. Many traditions keep Sunday as the Sun’s day of the week, and the seventh tithi of the lunar fortnight carries a second layer of that devotion, with festivals to the Sun and to the river and the goddess that tradition associates with early morning bathing.

The tithi at a glance

Group and deity

Saptami is the middle member of the Bhadra group, with Dwitiya and Dwadashi. The word Bhadra means auspicious, and muhurat summaries describe the group as suiting constructive, steady work, such as building, farming, health matters, and the long projects of a household.

A common list gives Surya, the Sun god, as the deity of Saptami. Where another list gives another name, it is a difference between texts, not between traditions of practice: Saptami is widely understood as the Sun’s tithi. A mantra for his worship is on the Surya mantra page, and the classical hymn Aditya Hridayam is traditionally recited to him.

Festivals on Shukla Saptami

Ratha Saptami falls on Magha Shukla Saptami and marks the day on which the Sun is said to have turned his chariot towards the northern hemisphere. Devotees bathe at sunrise, make a rangoli of the chariot, and offer water to the Sun, and the festival is especially important in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, where it is also called Achala Saptami.

Ganga Saptami falls on Vaishakha Shukla Saptami and honours the descent or the rebirth of the river Ganga, with a bath in the river or an offering at a home shrine. During Navaratri, the seventh night is dedicated to the goddess Kalaratri, and on the Saptami of Bhadrapada Shukla some regions keep Santan Saptami for the well-being of children.

When Saptami falls on a Sunday it is called Bhanu Saptami or Surya Saptami, and many devotees of the Sun keep a fast on it.

Festivals on Krishna Saptami

Shitala Saptami is kept in honour of Shitala, the goddess associated with fevers and pox, with a cold meal made the day before. In some regions it is the Krishna Saptami after Holi, in others the Ashtami that follows, and in Gujarat it is kept on Krishna Saptami in Shravana, so the date depends on the local calendar.

Because Krishna Saptami belongs to a different month in the amanta and purnimanta reckonings, a printed festival list may name the observance in two months. The amanta and purnimanta page shows why that is not a mistake.

What muhurat practice says

Shukla Saptami is on the list of tithis many almanacs recommend for marriage, a housewarming, starting construction and buying a vehicle, and it is the sort of tithi most traditions describe as steady and trustworthy. Krishna Saptami is acceptable, though less often chosen than the bright half.

The connection to the Sun gives it a specific use: it is a tithi that families choose for beginning a regime of morning worship or for health-related undertakings, and for a day of prayer for the eyes and for general vitality. That is a devotional custom and not a medical measure, and anyone with a health concern should see a doctor.

A family astrologer will also check the weekday, the nakshatra, and the birth charts of the people involved, because a good tithi alone does not make a date. The muhurat section lays out how the factors fit together.

A simple way to observe the day

The simplest Saptami practice is to rise before sunrise, stand facing the east, and offer a small vessel of water to the Sun as it appears, with a short prayer or one of the mantras above. It needs no equipment and about two minutes.

On Ratha Saptami the tradition adds a bath at sunrise. If you have a health condition or live somewhere cold, a normal warm bath is fine, and nothing in the tradition requires hardship.

Reading the tithi in the calendar

The tithi for Ratha Saptami is taken at sunrise, since the observance is the early morning bath and the offering to the rising Sun. This is one of the cleaner rules on the calendar, and the festival is usually the same date in most places. For Ganga Saptami the rule is the midday tithi.

Saptami can be shortened or doubled as any tithi can be. If Saptami is in force at two successive sunrises, a calendar names it on both days, and a festival keeps the day on which the tithi is present at the time the observance needs.

To see whether Saptami is the tithi running today in your own city, open the daily panchang. Saptami follows Shashthi in the cycle and is followed by Ashtami; the whole set is described in the guide to the thirty tithis.

Related pages

• Surya mantra and Surya Ashtakam: texts for the Sun.
• Aditya Hridayam: the hymn to the Sun from the Ramayana tradition.
• Sharad Navratri: the nine nights that include the Saptami of Kalaratri.
• Muhurat: how favourable tithis are used.
• Amanta and purnimanta: why month names differ for a Krishna Saptami.
• Hindu calendar: the lunar months and festivals.

Frequently asked questions