Patna, Bihar Moonrise & Moonset Times

Patna, one of the world's oldest continuously inhabited cities, stretches along the southern bank of the Ganges in a long, narrow ribbon where the river's immense width gives the moon a reflective surface sometimes spanning over a kilometre from shore to shore. Today's moonrise is at 20:33 and moonset at 06:06. From Gandhi Ghat the moon lifts above the low northern bank of the Ganges, its amber disc mirrored in the slow-moving current as a wide, trembling column of light that splits around the sandbars and islands midstream, while the ghats' stone steps catch the overflow of luminance and glow with a warm, honeyed patina.

The ruins of Pataliputra, the ancient Mauryan capital, lie beneath the modern city's surface, but at Kumhrar the excavated remains of the Mauryan assembly hall's stone pillars still stand open to the sky, and on full-moon nights these stumps cast short, dark shadows that echo the geometry of a throne room where Ashoka once held court by lamplight. Sonepur, across the river at the confluence of the Gandak, hosts Asia's largest cattle fair during the full moon of Kartik Purnima in November, when thousands of oil lamps along the ghats merge with the moonlight reflecting off both rivers to create a vast, trembling field of golden light. During the dry winter months of December and January the Ganges retreats, exposing wide sandy flats that reflect the moon with the brightness of a snow field, and the river's remaining channels become narrow, glittering threads winding between pale dunes.

Tracking moonrise and moonset times helps boatmen on the Ganges plan evening crossings to Hajipur, assists devotees timing Chhath Puja offerings at the riverbank during the relevant lunar phase, and guides photographers seeking the classic composition of moon over the Mahatma Gandhi Setu's long arc. Patna's river-dominated geography means the moon's influence extends beyond light to the tides and currents that shape daily life along the ghat, weaving the city's ancient rhythms into every lunar cycle.