India’s timezone & time reference
Dawn meditation, midday reflection, dusk meditation and deep-night sit for Kolkata, West Bengal — calculated from today's local sunrise.
The dawn meditation window in Kolkata begins approximately 90 minutes before sunrise and ends at sunrise itself. This corresponds to Brahma Muhurta in the Hindu tradition and is widely considered the most serene and undisturbed time for seated meditation (samatha or vipassana) across all Buddhist traditions.
The midday reflection window is the hour around solar noon — when the sun is at its zenith over Kolkata (22.57°N). In Theravada monasteries, this marks the end of the eating period (after noon, monastics observe the Vinaya rule of not eating). It is also a time for walking meditation (kinhin).
The dusk meditation window in Kolkata runs from approximately 30 minutes before sunset to 30 minutes after. Evening puja with incense, candles, and chanting the Pali suttas is traditionally performed during this window in Theravada and Mahayana viharas.
India spans 30° of longitude. The sunrise in Kolkata can differ from Mumbai or Kolkata by 20–40 minutes. Since all Buddhist and Vedic contemplative schedules are sun-relative, using Kolkata's local sunrise ensures the dawn, midday, and dusk windows are accurate for your practice.
Kolkata (West Bengal) is located at 22.5675°N, 88.3700°E. Buddhist contemplative practice is structured around the movement of the sun: dawn meditation begins in the pre-sunrise stillness, midday reflection marks solar noon, and dusk meditation follows local sunset. The deep-night sit opens in the small hours before dawn. All windows are calculated from Kolkata's GPS sunrise and sunset. India observes IST (UTC+5:30) year-round without Daylight Saving Time.