Shukla Chaturdasiచతుర్దశి
Tithis 4, 9 and 14. Avoided for beginnings; good for clearing.
- Deity
- Kali (and Shiva)
- Paksha
- Shukla Paksha
- Group
- Rikta — empty
- Sanskrit
- Chaturdashi
- Telugu
- చతుర్దశి
- Number
- 14 / 15
About Shukla Chaturdasi
The fourteenth tithi is fierce. In krishna paksha it is Masik Shivaratri, observed monthly, and once a year — in Magha — it becomes Maha Shivaratri. In shukla paksha of Kartika it is Naraka Chaturdashi. As a rikta tithi it is avoided for pleasant beginnings and used instead for what requires force.
The paksha
In shukla paksha the moon is waxing, gaining light each night. The tradition treats the waxing half as favourable to growth, expansion and outward undertakings, and most auspicious ceremonies are placed in it.
Rikta — empty
Rikta means 'empty'. These tithis are traditionally avoided for weddings, housewarmings and other auspicious beginnings. They are not bad days — they suit demolition, dispute, medical treatment, settling debts and clearing out what is finished. Their weekday is Saturday.
What it traditionally favours
Night worship of Shiva, mantra and tantra practice, ancestral rites, and confronting what has been avoided. Avoided for weddings and new ventures.
How this tithi is reckoned
The tithi shown on any date page is the one running at sunrise in the city you have selected, which is the convention used by published panchangams. Because a tithi can begin or end at any hour, the same calendar date can carry a different tithi in two cities several time zones apart — this is a real difference, not an error, and it is why every timing on this site is computed for a specific place rather than for a country.