Ruling · Holī · 1981

Saturday 21 March

Boundaryin Aleppo, under the Rashtriya Panchang method. Kept the day after Holikā Dahana, Fri 20 Mar. Both late afternoons qualify and the rule does not say which to take. Say “contested”.

Decide it for

36°12′ N 37°10′ E · Asia/Damascus · GeoNames 170063

The two late afternoons

One ghaṭī is 24 minutes. Sāyāhna is last 3 of 15 day muhūrtas.

Late afternoon of Thursday 19 March

Qualifies with 111 of 145 minutes. Not taken.

15:17 sāyāhna beginssunset 17:42
Pūrṇimā begins 15:50:38
14:5315:1715:4116:0516:2916:5317:1717:4118:05

111 of 145 minutes covered, the last 111

Late afternoon of Friday 20 March

Taken for Holikā Dahana. Both late afternoons qualify; the rule is silent, and this one is covered longer. Holī is the day after.

15:17 sāyāhna beginssunset 17:43
Pūrṇimā ends 17:22:27
14:5315:1715:4116:0516:2916:5317:1717:4118:05

125 of 145 minutes covered, the first 125

Pūrṇimā presentSāyāhna, the window the rule readsThe instant the tithi begins or ends

How it was decided

  1. 01

    Aṅga

    Pūrṇimā runs from 15:51 on Thu 19 Mar to 17:22 on Fri 20 Mar.

    1981-03-19T13:50:39Z → 1981-03-20T15:22:28Z

  2. 02

    Kāla

    Sāyāhna is last 3 of 15 day muhūrtas: 15:17–17:42 on the 19th, 15:17–17:43 on the 20th.

    sayahna: day-muhurta-13-15 · sunrise and sunset: upper limb, 31′ + 16′

  3. 03

    Rule

    Pūrṇimā must be present during sāyāhna. It covers 111 of 145 minutes on the 19th and 125 of 145 on the 20th.

    Calendar Reform Committee 1955, General Rules for Religious Festivals, p. 105

  4. 04

    Tie-break

    Both late afternoons qualify and the rule marks neither. The one covered longer is ruled, as a boundary.

    priority: unstated → greater-coverage · margin 1210 s

  5. 05

    Counted

    Holī is kept the day after Holikā Dahana: Friday 20 March is the day taken above.

    follows: holika-dahana + 1 d

  6. 06

    Ruling

    Holī, Aleppo, 1981: Saturday 21 March.

    confidence: boundary (tie-break-unstated)

Say it like this

In Aleppo, Holī 1981 falls on Saturday 21 March. It is kept the day after Holikā Dahana, which falls on Friday 20 March. Pūrṇimā runs from 15:51 on Thu 19 Mar to 17:22 on Fri 20 Mar and covers 125 of 145 minutes of sāyāhna on the 20th. It also reaches the previous late afternoon for 111 minutes; the rule does not say which to take, and the one covered longer is ruled: treat the date as contested.

ahargana.org/aleppo/festivals/1981/holi · pac-rp@2026.1

Who says what

AuthorityKindDate
Ahargaṇa, pac-rpThis rulingSat 21 Mar
Ahargaṇa, classicalDisc centre, no refractionSat 21 Mar
compat-drikpanchangComparison profileSat 21 Mar
No institution has a recorded ruling for Aleppo.

Institutional rulings are recorded with a source address, and are never edited to agree.

The rule, as data

/rules/holi · ruleset 2026.3-draft

Month
Phālguna, amānta
Pakṣa · aṅga
Śukla · Pūrṇimā
Kāla
Sāyāhna
Priority
Unstated
Tie-break
Longer coverage, as a boundary
Kept
The day after Holikā Dahana

“S 15 Holika-dahana (Sayahnavyapini — it should be observed on second half of purnima at night), Dolayatra (Bengal & Orissa) (covering 4 ghatikas before sunrise of the day of festival), Holi — on the day after Holikadahana.” Calendar Reform Committee 1955, General Rules for Religious Festivals, p. 105.

The same rule, elsewhere

Twelve places, west to east. Local clock times.

PlacePūrṇimāSāyāhna 19thCoveredSāyāhna 20thCoveredRuled
Los Angeles05:51 → 07:2215:39145 min15:390 min20 Mar
Chicago07:51 → 09:2215:36145 min15:370 min20 Mar
Jersey City08:51 → 10:2215:42145 min15:430 min20 Mar
Port of Spain09:51 → 11:2215:52145 min15:510 min20 Mar
London13:51 → 15:2215:46145 min15:470 min20 Mar
Durban15:51 → 17:2215:42138 min15:41101 min20 Mar
Dubai17:51 → 19:2216:0439 min16:04145 min21 Mar
Delhi19:21 → 20:5216:070 min16:07145 min21 Mar
Kolkata19:21 → 20:5215:220 min15:22145 min21 Mar
Singapore21:21 → 22:5216:200 min16:20145 min21 Mar
Sydney23:51 → 01:2215:420 min15:41146 min21 Mar
Suva01:51 → 03:2215:530 min15:52145 min21 Mar
Profile · tradition
pac-rp@2026.1 · smarta
Rule
holi@2026.3-draft
Engine · kernel
0.1.0 · de440 7eef…ea74
Boundary margin
300 s

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