Bheemana Amavasya 2020

Bheemana Amavasya — also known as Jyotirbheemeshwara Vrata — is the Kannada observance of Ashadha Amavasya, the new moon day closing the month of Ashadha. It is widely observed across Karnataka, especially by married and unmarried women, who pray for the long life and wellbeing of their husbands or future husbands, and for the prosperity of their brothers.

The vrata centres on the worship of Lord Shiva and Parvati (as Jyotirbheemeshwara), with lamps lit in pairs to symbolize the couple, and stories recounting the devotion that gave the day its name are told through the evening.

Like the wider family of Ashadha Amavasya observances across Indian regional traditions, its exact civil-day attribution follows a traditional rule: the day Amavasya rules sunrise counts as the observance day only if the tithi continues for at least three muhurtas past that sunrise; if it ends sooner, the observance shifts to the previous day instead.