Dana Kala Nirnaya (दानकालनिर्णयः)

Scriptures have laid down several rules regarding the proper times for offering Dana (दानकालनिर्णयः). Apart from the daily offering of dana, (nityadana । नित्यदानम्) donations made at specific times of the year and festival days are said to be highly meritorious.

Planetary Transits and Eclipses

A donor is bestowed with inexhaustible rewards when he offers gifts on

• first day of Ayana (passage of sun to the north or south । )
• on equinox days (vishuvat ।)
• during an eclipse of sun or moon (surya or chandra grahanam।)
• beginning of Shadashiti (sankranti ।) marked by sun's entrance into the zodiac signs of Gemini, VIrgo, Sagittarius, and Pisces according to Laghu Shatatapa text.
• all twelve sankrantis are auspicious for offering dana, the most prominent being Makara sankranti which is the festival for dana itself.

These injunctions are explained in Vanaparva of Mahabharata.

Amavasya and Pournima

A gift made on Amavasya imparts rewards by a hundred times more than that obtained by making a dana on an ordinary day.

Day and Night

The preferred time to make a dana is during the day, however on particular occasions it may be made at night.