Sources

Every text and date page lists the sources used for it. This page explains what kinds of sources we use and how we count them.

Verse texts

For each text we compare several publications of it, usually six to ten:

• transcriptions of printed editions, such as those on sanskritdocuments.org;
• established devotional websites and the devotional sections of newspapers;
• panchang websites that publish lyrics, such as Drik Panchang.

A line is published only when at least two independent sources agree on it. Many websites copy one another, so sources that are near-identical, or that share typing errors found nowhere else, are counted as one. The comparison record for each text, including every reading that differed and why one was chosen, is kept with the text.

All verse texts we publish are traditional or by authors who died long ago (for example Tulsidas, d. 1623), and are in the public domain. We do not reproduce copyrighted translations or commentaries.

Meanings and descriptions

Meanings, summaries and descriptions are our own, drafted with the help of AI and checked against the verse text. Background facts (for example about a festival or a text's history) are checked against cited references such as Wikipedia articles, which are linked on the page.

Festival and vrat dates

Dates are computed by our own engine and published only when at least two of these online panchangs agree with it:

• Drik Panchang (drikpanchang.com), New Delhi;
• Hindupad (hindupad.com), for festivals;
• PanchangBodh (panchangbodh.com), New Delhi, for vrats;
• AstroSage (astrosage.com), for Amavasya and Pradosh.

Each published date shows which references were checked and when. Where they disagree with each other, the date is held or the difference is explained. See methodology for details.