nakshatra · धनिष्ठा
Dhanishta Nakshatra: Every Day It Held Sunrise, 2026 and 2027
13 days in 2026 · 17 in 2027 · sunrise at New Delhi
Dhanishta is the 23rd of the 27 nakshatras. A panchang names a day by the nakshatra running at sunrise, and between 1 January 2026 and 31 December 2027 Dhanishta was the nakshatra at sunrise in New Delhi on 30 days: 13 in 2026 and 17 in 2027. It never fell between two sunrises without holding one, and four times it held two sunrises in a row, naming two consecutive days (6 March 2027 and 7 March 2027; 27 May 2027 and 28 May 2027; 13 September 2027 and 14 September 2027; 4 December 2027 and 5 December 2027).
The muhurta texts put Dhanishta in the Chara (movable) group, which is the class the muhurat filter reads it by. Its own page, Dhanishta nakshatra, covers it as a birth star.
The 30 Days, Month by Month
| Month | 2026 | 2027 |
|---|---|---|
| January | 21 | 11 |
| February | 17 | 7 |
| March | 16 | 6, 7 |
| April | 13 | 3, 30 |
| May | 10 | 27, 28 |
| June | 7 | 24 |
| July | 4, 31 | 21 |
| August | 27 | 17 |
| September | 24 | 13, 14 |
| October | 21 | 11 |
| November | 17 | 7 |
| December | 15 | 4, 5 |
By weekday, Dhanishta held sunrise most often on Sundays (6 times) and least on Wednesdays and Fridays (3): Sunday 6, Monday 5, Tuesday 5, Wednesday 3, Thursday 4, Friday 3, Saturday 4. Over two years that spread is chance, not a pattern; the weekday and the nakshatra run on unrelated cycles.
Festivals that fell on a Dhanishta day: Maha Shivratri (6 March 2027), Raksha Bandhan (17 August 2027) and Anant Chaturdashi (14 September 2027).
In the cycle Dhanishta comes after Shravana and before Shatabhisha; all 27 are on the nakshatra index. For what the five limbs are and how a day’s panchang is read, see reading the panchang and the guide to choosing a day. This page in Hindi: धनिष्ठा नक्षत्र.