Trayodashi Tithi: The Thirteenth Day, Pradosh Vrat and Dhanteras

Trayodashi is the thirteenth tithi, when the Moon is between a hundred and fifty-six and a hundred and sixty-eight degrees from the Sun. In the bright half it is a Moon one or two days from full, rising in the afternoon and bright by sunset. In the dark half it is a thin waning Moon, rising in the last hours before dawn.

It is the tithi that most people now know through Pradosh Vrat, the fast in honour of Shiva that is kept in the hour around sunset on the thirteenth day of each fortnight, and through Dhanteras, the opening day of the Diwali festival. Between them they make Trayodashi one of the busiest tithis in the devotional year.

The tithi at a glance

Group and deity

Trayodashi is the last of the Jaya tithis, with Tritiya and Ashtami. Jaya means victory, and the group is traditionally associated with success in contests and in undertakings that need effort and resolve. Muhurat summaries describe it as strong for work in which one expects to meet resistance.

A common list gives Kamadeva, the god of desire, as the deity of Trayodashi, and a festival called Madana or Anang Trayodashi in Chaitra Shukla paksha keeps that link alive. In practice, however, the most common worship on the tithi is for Shiva at Pradosh, and, at Dhanteras, for Lakshmi and Dhanvantari. Lists differ between texts, so follow your family’s tradition if it differs.

Festivals and vrats on Shukla Trayodashi

Pradosh Vrat is kept on every Trayodashi, in the bright half as Shukla Pradosh and in the dark half as Krishna Pradosh. The fast is for Shiva and Parvati, with the main worship in the Pradosh kaal, the hour or two around sunset, and the rule is that the tithi must be in force in the evening and not necessarily at sunrise. The calculated dates are on the Pradosh Vrat page, and the steps of worship are in the Pradosh Vrat Vidhi.

The weekday adds a name: Pradosh on a Monday is called Soma Pradosh, on a Tuesday Bhauma Pradosh, and on a Saturday Shani Pradosh, and each is said to carry its own emphasis. The Monday vrat is covered in Somvar Vrat Vidhi and the Saturday one in Shani Puja on Saturday.

Chaitra Shukla Trayodashi is Madana Trayodashi, a minor observance for Kamadeva, kept in a few regions with flowers and songs.

Festivals on Krishna Trayodashi

Dhanteras falls on Krishna Trayodashi of Kartika in the purnimanta calendar, which is Ashvin in the amanta calendar, and is the first of the five days of Diwali. Families worship Lakshmi, Kubera and Dhanvantari, buy a small metal item, and light a lamp at the door in the evening. The steps are in Dhanteras Puja Vidhi.

Every Krishna Trayodashi is the Pradosh evening before Masik Shivaratri, the monthly night of Shiva on the next day, and the Trayodashi just before Maha Shivaratri is the last Pradosh before the great night of Shiva. The exact month name depends on the calendar, as explained in amanta and purnimanta.

What muhurat practice says

Shukla Trayodashi is one of the tithis commonly listed as favourable for marriage, a housewarming and starting a venture. It is a Jaya tithi and not Rikta. In the dark half, the late tithis are treated more cautiously, because the Moon is thin and the tithi is close to the end of the cycle, and Krishna Trayodashi is usually not the first choice for ceremonies.

The evening Pradosh hour carries its own devotion for Shiva, and families usually keep the evening for worship, so a celebration scheduled for a Pradosh evening may clash with the fast. This is a practical matter rather than a prohibition.

The weekday, nakshatra and individual charts count in every choice. Before fixing a date, read how the factors combine in the muhurat section and ask your family astrologer to check it.

A simple way to observe the day

A simple Pradosh worship is to bathe before sunset, light a lamp before Shiva, offer water, a bilva leaf where one is available, and a flower, and repeat a short mantra such as Om Namah Shivaya for as long as is comfortable. The fast is optional and often only until the evening worship.

If you fast, treat it as a personal choice. Speak to your doctor if you have a health condition, are pregnant, nursing, elderly or on regular medicine, and keep to a lighter observance if you need to.

Reading the tithi in the calendar

Trayodashi is the tithi where the evening matters most. Pradosh Vrat takes the tithi at Pradosh kaal, not at sunrise, so the vrat can fall on the civil day on which Trayodashi begins in the afternoon, even though the sunrise tithi of that day was Dwadashi. When Trayodashi covers two successive evenings, the calendar names the day on which it overlaps the Pradosh window for longer.

Dhanteras uses the Pradosh rule as well, with the Lakshmi puja placed in the evening. For ordinary purposes, the daily panchang shows the tithi in force today, and the festival pages calculate each observance for each city.

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

Related pages

• Pradosh Vrat and Pradosh Vrat Vidhi: dates, windows and steps.
• Dhanteras and Dhanteras Puja Vidhi: the Kartika Krishna Trayodashi festival.
• Om Namah Shivaya: a mantra for Pradosh worship.
• Maha Shivaratri: the night that follows a Krishna Trayodashi.
• Muhurat: how Jaya tithis are used.
• Amanta and purnimanta: why Dhanteras sits in two months.

Frequently asked questions