Pradosham / Pradosha is an important day dedicated to God Shiva. Pradosham / Pradosha falls on the 13th day (trayodashi) of every lunar fortnight. On Pradosham 2016 / Pradosha days, devotees of Hindu God Shiva fast from sunrise to sunset and they break the fast after performing the Pradosh pooja. There two pradoshams in ecah hindu lunar month. one in waxing moon period and another in Waning moon period.
When Pradosham / Pradosha day falls on Monday it is called Soma Pradosham, on Tuesday it is called Bhauma Pradosham and on Saturday it is called as Shani Pradosham. The dates of Pradhosham 2016 is given below. These dates may differ by a day according to location and other things.
Pradosham 2016 / Amavasai 2016 / Pournami 2016 / Karthigai 2016 / Ashtami 2016 / Navami 2016 / Sashti 2016 / Sankatahara Chathurthi 2016 / Thiruvonam 2016 / Matha Sivarathiri 2016 / Ekadhasi 2016 / Chathurthi 2016
| Year – 2016 | Amavasai | Pradosham | Pournami | Karthigai | Ashtami | Navami | Sashti | Sankatahara Chathurthi | Thiruvonam | Matha Sivarathiri | Ekadhasi | Chathurthi |
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| Year – 2016 | Amavasai | Pradosham | Pournami | Karthigai | Ashtami | Navami | Sashti | Sankatahara Chathurthi | Thiruvonam | Maadha Sivarathiri | Ekadhasi | Chathurthi |
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| Year – 2016 | Amavasai | Pradosham | Pournami | Karthigai | Ashtami | Navami | Sashti | Sankatahara Chathurthi | Thiruvonam | Maadha Sivarathiri | Ekadhasi | Chathurthi |
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Importance Of Pradosham 2016 / Pradosha Viratham
Pradosham / Pradosha Viratham is considered very auspicious and is an important Viratham among all Virathams (fasts). It is also said that worshiping lord Shiva on this day washes away all your sins and an individual can get moksham or mukkti after death. Keeping Pradosha viratham or donating two cows helps you reap the same reward. It is believed that a person who performs viratham on Pradosham dates “Shiva will be his”.
Location based Pradosham Days
It is important to understand that fasting day for Pradosham might differ for two cities even if those cities are within same Indian state. Fasting for Pradosham depends on sunset time and it is observed when Trayodashi Tithi prevails after sunset. Hence Pradosham fasting might be observed on Dwadashi Tithi i.e. one day before Trayodashi Tithi. As Sunset time is different for all cities, it is important to refer Hindu calendar like this website which lists location based Pradosham days. As generating location based dates are time consuming most sources ignore this fact and publish single list for all cities.