What is a Nepali Patro?

Patro (पात्रो) literally means "document" or "record" in Nepali, but in common use it refers to the traditional Nepali almanac-calendar that is published each Baisakh. A patro goes far beyond a simple date grid — it includes the lunar tithi, planetary positions, festival dates, auspicious (shubha) and inauspicious (ashubha) times, yoga, karana, and other Jyotish data.

Printed vs. digital patro

For generations the patro was a small printed booklet, sold at bookshops and temples from 1 Baisakh. Today, apps and websites like npdates serve the same function digitally. The underlying data — month lengths, festival dates, tithi boundaries — is the same; the medium has changed.

The Bikram Sambat solar grid

The core of every patro is the solar-month calendar: each month is laid out in a grid of seven columns (Sunday through Saturday) with BS dates in each cell. Some patros also print the corresponding AD date in smaller type below each BS date. This dual-date layout is the most practical feature for people navigating both systems.

Tithi — the lunar day

Alongside the solar grid, the patro lists the tithi for each day. A tithi is a lunar day, roughly 23.6 hours long, so it does not align with solar days 1:1. One solar day may contain parts of two tithis. Most Hindu religious observances (fasting, weddings, naming ceremonies) are scheduled by tithi, not by the BS solar date, which is why the tithi column matters to millions of users.

Reading the auspicious time columns

Traditional patros mark certain times as Rahu Kalam (inauspicious window attributed to Rahu), Gulika Kalam, and Yamakantam. Important events — surgeries, business launches, travel — are often scheduled around these windows. While these are Jyotish-based, they remain a practical feature that millions of Nepali families consult daily.

Explore the digital patro on the Nepali calendar page.