Should we celebrate a birthday by tithi or by the English date?

both are fine; the traditional birthday is the janma-tithi (or janma-nakṣatra in some regions), and many families mark both.

In the traditional calendar, a birthday is the return of the same lunar tithi in the same lunar month as the birth — the janma-tithi. In Kerala and parts of Tamil Nadu, the birthday is instead kept on the day the Moon returns to the birth nakṣatra in the same solar month. Because lunar and solar calendars do not match, the tithi birthday moves around the English date each year.

Many families celebrate the English date with friends and cake, and keep the tithi or nakṣatra day for a temple visit, an abhiṣeka, or feeding someone in need. For important ceremonies such as the 60th year (ṣaṣṭi-abdapūrti), the traditional reckoning is generally used.

There is no wrong choice here. If you want to know your janma-tithi, enter your birth details in our tools or ask a priest with a pañcāṅga. Starting the day with a prayer and a blessing from elders is the heart of it.

Source: common practice · Kerala: nakṣatra birthday

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