Panchang › Festival and vrata calendar
Festival and vrata calendar · Hyderabad
Each date is worked out from the rule a classical text gives for that festival — the tithi that must be present at a particular part of the day — using Sankalp's Panchang for Hyderabad. Where two traditional rules give different days, both are shown.
Convention: amānta months (the South Indian reckoning), observance sunrise at the Sun's upper limb with refraction, Lahiri ayanāṃśa; parts of the day as the Dharmasindhu defines them. Your family's Panchang may follow a different convention.
Calculate for your city and date
Choose a city and a starting date. Sankalp works out the five limbs for the week, this year's festivals by the Dharmasindhu's rules, and the coming pradoṣa days — in your browser. You can keep dates on this device and add them to your own calendar.
Coming festivals
Pakṣa-pradoṣa vrata — for release from debt
The Vrata-cūḍāmaṇi (Madras, 1928) says this Śiva vrata, begun on a dark-fortnight trayodaśī that falls on a Tuesday, is kept for release from debt, on every trayodaśī at dusk for a year. In Hyderabad the next such start is 2027-01-05.
Next observances: 2027-01-05 (kṛṣṇa) · 2027-01-20 (śukla) · 2027-02-03 (kṛṣṇa) · 2027-02-18 (śukla) · 2027-03-05 (kṛṣṇa) · 2027-03-20 (śukla)
How these dates compare with a published calendar (2026)
Śrī Rāma Navamī 2026: the Dharmasindhu's main rule (navamī at midday) gives 26 March; the view it records as "some" (the second day, when navamī lasts three muhūrtas after its sunrise) gives 27 March, the date in the Telangana Government's list.
Knowledge › Teachings and practices
Teachings and practices
Teachings from Hindu scripture, quoted from public-domain translations with exact references, and devotional practices with what is known and what is still missing. None of these is a remedy for a personal problem.
Concord in the home: two Vedic hymns
Verified text · checked in 2 editions · text checked by Sankalp
Two Vedic hymns pray for a household and a community to be 'of one mind'. They ask family members to speak kindly, share food and act with a common purpose. They are prayers and teachings, not remedies with a promised result.
Atharvaveda 3.30 is titled by Griffith 'A prayer or charm to secure love and concord in a family'. Rigveda 10.191 is the closing hymn of the Rigveda and is addressed to Agni; its last verses call an assembly to be of one mind. The Kauśika Sūtra's rite for Atharvaveda 3.30 (12.6–9, in Bloomfield's notes) uses surā and meat; Sankalp records it as history and does not suggest it.
Freedom from hate I bring to you, concord and unanimity. Love one another as the cow loveth the calf that she hath borne.Atharvaveda 3.30.1 — tr. Ralph T.H. Griffith, Hymns of the Atharva Veda (1895)
No brother hate his brother, no sister to sister be unkind. Unanimous, with one intent, speak ye your speech in friendliness.Atharvaveda 3.30.3 — tr. Ralph T.H. Griffith (1895)
Let what you drink, your share of food be common together, with one common bond I bid you.Atharvaveda 3.30.6 — tr. Ralph T.H. Griffith (1895)
Assemble, speak together: let your minds be all of one accord, As ancient Gods unanimous sit down to their appointed share.Rigveda 10.191.2 — tr. Ralph T.H. Griffith, The Hymns of the Rigveda (1896)
One and the same be your resolve, and be your minds of one accord. United be the thoughts of all that all may happily agree.Rigveda 10.191.4 — tr. Ralph T.H. Griffith (1896)
Limits of interpretation
- These hymns ask for concord; they do not say that reciting them ends a quarrel.
- Verse 3.30.2 asks the wife to speak sweetly to her husband, and Griffith's 3.30.5 uses the word 'submissive'. Sankalp does not use these lines to place the burden of harmony on one partner; an editor must approve how such verses are presented.
- Recitation conventions (who recites, when, with what accompaniment) are NOT covered here and need a purohit.
Worship offered with devotion: leaf, flower, fruit, water
Verified text · checked in a public-domain edition · text checked by Sankalp
In the Bhagavad Gītā, Kṛṣṇa says that a leaf, a flower, a fruit or water offered with devotion is accepted, and that everyday actions can be offered too. Many traditions take this verse as the basis for simple worship at home.
Whoever with devotion offers me leaf, flower, fruit, water, that, presented with devotion, I accept from him whose self is pure.Bhagavad Gītā 9.26 — tr. Kâshinâth Trimbak Telang, Sacred Books of the East vol. 8 (1882)
Whatever you do, O son of Kuntî! whatever you eat, whatever sacrifice you make, whatever you give, whatever penance you perform, do that as offered to me.Bhagavad Gītā 9.27 — tr. K. T. Telang (1882)
Limits of interpretation
- The verse is about devotion, not about the cost of worship; it does NOT make a simple offering equivalent to a specific elaborate rite that a tradition prescribes for a particular occasion.
- Sankalp uses it to explain why simple worship is meaningful, never to tell anyone a prescribed ceremony is unnecessary.
The guest as a god, and the giving of food (atithi and anna-dāna)
Verified text · checked in a public-domain edition · text checked by Sankalp
The Taittirīya Upaniṣad's parting instruction to the student treats mother, father, teacher and guest 'like unto a god', and says that giving should be done with faith, joy, modesty and kindness. A later section makes never turning away a stranger, and having food to share, a rule of the household.
Let thy mother be to thee like unto a god! Let thy father be to thee like unto a god! Let thy teacher be to thee like unto a god! Let thy guest be to thee like unto a god!Taittirīya Upaniṣad 1.11.2 — tr. F. Max Müller, The Upanishads Part 2, Sacred Books of the East vol. 15 (1884)
Whatever is given should be given with faith, not without faith,--with joy, with modesty, with fear, with kindness.Taittirīya Upaniṣad 1.11.3 — tr. F. Max Müller (1884)
Let him never turn away (a stranger) from his house, that is the rule. Therefore a man should by all means acquire much food, for (good) people say (to the stranger): 'There is food ready for him.'Taittirīya Upaniṣad 3.10.1 — tr. F. Max Müller (1884)
Limits of interpretation
- These are rules of conduct for a householder, not remedies for a specific problem.
- Organised anna-dāna at temples has its own customs and costs; Sankalp does not list prices or bookings it has not verified.
How anger arises, and how it is stilled (Bhagavad Gītā 2.62–64)
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Kṛṣṇa traces anger to its root: dwelling on things breeds attachment, attachment breeds desire, and thwarted desire becomes anger, which clouds judgement. The self-restrained person, free from attachment and aversion, reaches tranquillity.
Read from the 1882 edition (archive.org bhagavadgtwi00tela).
The man who ponders over objects of sense forms an attachment to them; from (that) attachment is produced desire; and from desire anger is produced; from anger results want of discrimination; from want of discrimination, confusion of the memory; from confusion of the memory, loss of reason; and in consequence of loss of reason he is utterly ruined.Bhagavad Gītā 2.62–63 — tr. Kāshināth Trimbak Telang, SBE 8 (1882)
But the self-restrained man who moves among objects with senses under the control of his own self, and free from affection and aversion, obtains tranquillity.Bhagavad Gītā 2.64 — tr. K. T. Telang (1882)
Limits of interpretation
- A teaching about the mind, not a promise that reading it removes anger.
The duty of study, and what disturbs it
Verified text · checked in 2 editions · text checked by Sankalp
The teacher's parting instruction in the Taittirīya Upaniṣad is not to neglect study. Patañjali names the obstacles that scatter the mind, and says they are removed by steady practice on one object.
Yoga Sūtra checked in Woods (1914) and Jhā (1907), who agree.
Do not neglect the study of the Veda! … Do not neglect what is useful! … Do not neglect the learning and teaching of the Veda!Taittirīya Upaniṣad 1.11.1 — tr. F. Max Müller, SBE 15 (1884)
Sickness and languor and doubt and heedlessness and worldliness and erroneous perception and failure to attain any stage [of concentration] and instability in the state [when attained] — these distractions of the mind-stuff are the obstacles.Yoga Sūtra 1.30 — tr. J. H. Woods (1914)
To check them [let there be] practice upon a single entity.Yoga Sūtra 1.32 — tr. J. H. Woods (1914)
Limits of interpretation
- Teaching, not a promise of marks.
Entering a new home: what the Matsya Purāṇa describes
Source-verified text (Matsya Purāṇa 257.22–23) — what the rite includes; the full rite is led by a purohit
The Matsya Purāṇa describes entering a new home with learned brāhmaṇas going in front and a full water-pot, for auspiciousness and peace; a homa by the household's own gṛhya rules and bali offerings, with the rite for pacifying the site; then feeding the brāhmaṇas, and entering in white clothes with incense.
The verses close the Matsya Purāṇa's chapters on house-building. The homa follows the household's own gṛhya-sūtra, so the full rite is led by the family's purohit; Sankalp gives what the text describes and does not supply the homa.
Placing excellent brāhmaṇas in front, and a full water-pot, … one should enter the house, the abode of auspiciousness and peace. One should make the bali offering by the homa rule given in one's gṛhya, and the rite stated for pacifying the site of the dwelling; then satisfy the excellent brāhmaṇas with foods, and, dressed in white, enter one's own house with incense.Matsya Purāṇa 257.22–23 (Ānandāśrama 1907, p. 527) — tr. Sankalp's own literal translation (from the page image)
Limits of interpretation
- Not a complete procedure: the homa and the site-pacifying rite follow other texts.
- No muhūrta is given here; Sankalp does not yet compute one for gṛha-praveśa.
- No consequence of entering without the rite is claimed.
A child's first solid food (annaprāśana) in the sixth month
Source-verified text (Āśvalāyana Gṛhya Sūtra 1.16) — knowledge of the rite; performed with the family's purohit
The Āśvalāyana Gṛhya Sūtra places the first feeding with solid food in the sixth month. It names three foods by the wish held for the child — goat's flesh, partridge, or boiled rice with ghee — mixed with curds, honey and ghee, given with a verse to the Lord of food. For a girl, the text says, the rite is done without the verse.
One of the saṃskāras of childhood, done within the household's fire ritual; families follow their own sūtra and custom, and many give only rice with ghee. Oldenberg notes that the Śāṅkhāyana Gṛhya Sūtra (1.27) is nearly word for word the same.
1. In the sixth month the Annaprâsana (i.e. the first feeding with solid food). 2. Goat's flesh, if he is desirous of nourishment, 3. Flesh of partridge, if desirous of holy lustre, 4. Boiled rice with ghee, if desirous of splendour: 5. (Such) food, mixed with curds, honey and ghee he should give (to the child) to eat with (the verse), 'Lord of food, give us food painless and strong; bring forward the giver; bestow power on us, on men and animals.' 6. The rite only (without the Mantra) for a girl.Āśvalāyana Gṛhya Sūtra 1.16.1–6 — tr. Hermann Oldenberg, Sacred Books of the East vol. 29 (1886), pp. 183–184
Limits of interpretation
- Knowledge of the rite, not a do-it-yourself procedure: it is performed within the household fire ritual, usually with the family's purohit.
- Ask your paediatrician about starting solid foods; the sūtra's sixth month is a ritual timing, not medical advice.
- Sankalp shows the text as printed, including its different treatment of a girl; it does not endorse that difference.
Cultivating the opposite — Patañjali's discipline for anger (Yoga Sūtra 2.33–34)
Practice for this concern · checked in 2 editions · text checked by Sankalp
Patañjali teaches what to do when a harmful thought arises — to hurt, to lie, to take — whether it comes from greed, anger or delusion: cultivate its opposite (2.33). The 'opposite' is a reflection: such acts, whether done, caused or approved, mild or intense, bear endless fruit in pain and ignorance (2.34).
Outline
- When a harmful thought or word arises — to hurt, to lie, to take — stop and cultivate its opposite (2.33).
- Reflect: harmful acts, whether done by me, caused by me or approved by me, whether from greed, anger or delusion, mild, moderate or intense, bring endless pain and ignorance (2.34).
- Vyāsa's commentary gives the reflection in the practitioner's own words: having taken refuge in the rules of Yoga, going back to the harm I gave up would be like a dog returning to its vomit (both editions).
Source: Yoga Sūtra 2.33–34 with Vyāsa's Bhāṣya — Woods (1914) and Jhā (1907) agree
Traditions differ:
Free.
When: Whenever a harmful thought or word arises; the daily routine above is Sankalp's suggestion.
Officiant: Not needed.
Repeating Oṃ and reflecting on its meaning — for a scattered mind (Yoga Sūtra 1.27–32)
Practice for this concern · checked in 2 editions · text checked by Sankalp
Patañjali says the word that expresses Īśvara is the sacred syllable Oṃ (1.27); its repetition and reflection on its meaning should be practised (1.28); from it come inner knowledge and the removal of obstacles (1.29). He then names the obstacles — languor, doubt, heedlessness, instability and others (1.30) — and gives the remedy: practice on a single object (1.32).
Outline
- Repeat Oṃ (japa), the word that expresses Īśvara (1.27–28).
- With the repetition, reflect on its meaning — Īśvara (1.28).
- The commentary quotes a verse on alternating repetition with meditation (Jhā: 'after repetition … meditation; after meditation … repetition'; Woods renders the same verse 'through study … yoga').
- The stated result: inner knowledge and the removal of obstacles (1.29); the obstacles are named in 1.30.
- To check distraction, keep to one object (1.32).
Source: Yoga Sūtra 1.27–32 with Vyāsa's Bhāṣya — Woods (1914) and Jhā (1907) agree
Traditions differ:
Free.
When: The text sets no time or count. Before study is Sankalp's suggestion.
Officiant: Not needed.
Aśūnyaśayana-vrata — the Matsya Purāṇa's vow that husband and wife are never parted
Authentic marriage-related observance (Matsya Purāṇa 71) — procedure incomplete in the source
In the Matsya Purāṇa (ch. 71) Brahmā asks for an observance by which husband and wife are never separated and know no grief. Viṣṇu is said to rest with Lakṣmī on the ocean of milk on the dark-fortnight second day of Śrāvaṇa; on that day the householder worships Viṣṇu with Lakṣmī and prays that, as the Lord is never apart from Lakṣmī, he may never be parted from his wife.
Outline
- On the dark-fortnight second day (Kṛṣṇa dvitīyā) of Śrāvaṇa, worship Viṣṇu with Lakṣmī.
- Recite the vow's prayer.
- Sing Viṣṇu's hymns — or, if that is not possible, simply ring the bell.
- Take one meal at night, without salt or kṣāra; keep the vow until four are complete.
- Next morning, give a furnished bed and the other gifts to a Vaiṣṇava Brāhmaṇa couple, according to your means.
Source: Matsya Purāṇa 71 — SBH 1916 (page images) and Ānandāśrama Sanskrit Series 54 agree, with the differences listed
Not yet available: the worship sequence itself (invocation to dismissal), the saṅkalpa wording and the closing: 71.5 says only that Viṣṇu is worshipped 'according to the rite' — owner review, round 5; which four observances: the Sanskrit says 'until four are complete' (71.11) but names no months; Sankalp's dates after the first are an interpretation, not a source rule; no lower-cost alternative to the gifts is documented; the text says only 'according to one's means' (yathāśakti).
Traditions differ:
Essential: An image or picture of Viṣṇu with Lakṣmī, Flowers, a lamp and the usual offerings of your family's pūjā, A bell (if hymns with music are not possible), Food for one meal at night, without salt
The worship itself — the prayer, hymns or simply a bell, and the night meal — costs little. The next morning's gift of a furnished bed is prescribed 'according to one's means' (71.14); the text gives no smaller substitute, and Sankalp does not invent one.
When: The dark-fortnight second day of Śrāvaṇa, kept four times. Dates are calculated for Hyderabad at sunrise for both calendar conventions; your purohit decides which applies.
Officiant: Not needed for the worship; a Vaiṣṇava Brāhmaṇa couple receives the gift.
Pakṣa-pradoṣa vrata — Śiva's evening worship on each trayodaśī, begun on a Tuesday for release from debt
Source-verified observance (Vrata-cūḍāmaṇi 1928) — worship printed in full; one phrase illegible in the scan
In the Vrata-cūḍāmaṇi (Madras, 1928) Devī asks Śiva how the pradoṣa vrata should be kept by men and women. Śiva answers that it is begun on a dark-fortnight trayodaśī — on a Tuesday for release from debt, on a Sunday for long life and health — and kept on the trayodaśī of every fortnight for a year, worshipping Śiva at dusk and eating only at night.
Outline
- Begin on a dark-fortnight trayodaśī that falls on a Tuesday (for release from debt) or a Sunday (for long life and health).
- Take the vow with the text's words: 'pradoṣe śivam abhyarcya naktaṃ bhokṣyāmi śaṅkara'.
- Bathe ('snātvā …' — the following words are illegible in the scan) and keep the vow's restraints ('niyamān vratī').
- Go to a Śiva temple and worship Śiva at pradoṣa ('śivālayaṃ tato gatvā pradoṣe śivam arcayet').
- Bathe the deity with pañcāmṛta and worship with these sixteen names: oṃ bhavāya namaḥ, oṃ mahādevāya namaḥ, oṃ rudrāya namaḥ, oṃ nīlakaṇṭhāya namaḥ, oṃ śaśimaulaye namaḥ, oṃ ugrāya namaḥ, oṃ umākāntāya namaḥ, oṃ īśānāya namaḥ, oṃ viśveśvarāya namaḥ, oṃ tryambakāya namaḥ, oṃ tripuruṣāya namaḥ, oṃ tripurāntakāya namaḥ, oṃ trikāgnikālāya namaḥ, oṃ kālāgnirudrāya namaḥ, oṃ nīlakaṇṭhāya namaḥ, oṃ sarveśvarāya namaḥ (nīlakaṇṭhāya is printed twice).
- Offer naivedya of curd-rice and cooked food with ghee; then mouth-freshener (mukhavāsa) and tāmbūla with areca; set ghee lamps in the eight directions ('samarpyāṣṭa-diśas tatra dīpān ājya-samanvitān' — reading of a damaged word).
- Pray: 'yathā bhavān samastānāṃ bhaktānāṃ pāpa-mocanaḥ | tathā vratena santuṣṭaḥ putraṃ dehi sulakṣaṇam || ṛṇa-rogādi-dāridrya-pāpa-kṣudrāpamṛtyavaḥ | bhaya-śoka-manas-tāpā naśyantu mama sarvadā ||' — 'As you free all devotees from sin, so, pleased by this vow, grant a good son (putra); may debt, disease, poverty, sin, trouble and untimely death, fear, grief and anguish of mind always be destroyed for me.'
- At pradoṣa all the tīrthas of the earth are said to dwell in the bull: touch Nandī, look at Śiva between its horns, and touch its tail and hump.
- Offer the rite, and give dakṣiṇā to brāhmaṇas according to one's means ('vittānusārataḥ'); then end the silence kept during the worship ('maunaṃ visarjayet').
- Eat at night (naktam), as vowed.
Source: Vrata-cūḍāmaṇi 1928, pp. 189–190 (single edition, page images)
Not yet available: the words after 'snātvā' (the bath before worship) are illegible in the scan.
Traditions differ: Begun on a Sunday trayodaśī: for long life and health (same worship).
Essential: Pañcāmṛta for the deity's bath, Curd-rice and cooked food with ghee for naivedya, Tāmbūla with areca, Ghee lamps
The only gift is dakṣiṇā 'according to one's means' (vittānusārataḥ) — the text's own words. Everything else is ordinary pūjā material.
When: Every trayodaśī at pradoṣa (the three muhūrtas after sunset) for one year, beginning on a dark-fortnight trayodaśī that falls on a Tuesday. Dates are computed for Hyderabad.
Officiant: Not needed; the worship is done at a Śiva temple, and dakṣiṇā is given to brāhmaṇas.
Viṣṇu-sahasranāma — Bhīṣma's thousand names of Viṣṇu (Mahābhārata, Anuśāsana-parvan)
Source-verified hymn (Mahābhārata, Anuśāsana-parvan) — the text states these fruits; the hymn's text is linked, not yet reproduced
In the Anuśāsana-parvan, Yudhiṣṭhira asks Bhīṣma by hymning whom a person obtains what is beneficial. Bhīṣma answers with the thousand names of Viṣṇu (Vāsudeva), then lists the fruits of hearing or reciting them every day.
Outline
- Purify yourself (bathe).
- Recite, or listen to, the thousand names, with devotion and with your heart turned to Viṣṇu.
- Do this every day.
Source: Mahābhārata, Anuśāsana-parvan CXLIX, Ganguli p. 356
Not yet available: no hour of day or count beyond 'every day'; the frame verses popular in recitation today (pūrva- and uttara-pīṭhikā, nyāsa, dhyāna) are not in this translation; Sankalp does not yet reproduce the hymn itself; the source link opens the public-domain printed page..
Nothing is needed; the text asks only for recitation or listening.
When: Every day. The text names no hour.
Officiant: None needed; hearing it recited also counts, in the text's words ('hears … or recites').
Arjuna's hymn to Durgā (Mahābhārata, Bhīṣma-parvan) — recited at dawn; the text says its reciter is victorious in disputes
Source-verified hymn (Mahābhārata, Bhīṣma-parvan) — the text states these fruits; the hymn's text is linked, not yet reproduced
Before the battle at Kurukṣetra, Kṛṣṇa tells Arjuna to purify himself and recite a hymn to Durgā. Arjuna praises her; she appears and grants him victory. Sañjaya then states what the hymn brings to anyone who recites it at dawn.
Outline
- Purify yourself (bathe).
- Rise at dawn and recite the hymn (Bhīṣma-parvan XXIII).
Source: Mahābhārata, Bhīṣma-parvan XXIII, Ganguli pp. 51–53
Not yet available: the framing verse (p. 51) that tells Arjuna to purify himself first was read from the text layer only; Sankalp does not yet reproduce the hymn itself; the source link opens the public-domain printed page..
Nothing is needed.
When: At dawn ('rising at dawn').
Officiant: None.
Yudhiṣṭhira's hymn to Durgā (Mahābhārata, Virāṭa-parvan) — the Goddess promises success to those who recite it
Source-verified hymn (Mahābhārata, Virāṭa-parvan) — the text states these fruits; the hymn's text is linked, not yet reproduced
Entering King Virāṭa's city in disguise, Yudhiṣṭhira praises Durgā and asks for her protection. She appears, promises the Pāṇḍavas victory, and says what those who recite the hymn will receive.
Outline
- Bow to Durgā at daybreak.
- Listen to, or recite with devotion, the hymn (Virāṭa-parvan VI).
Source: Mahābhārata, Virāṭa-parvan VI, Ganguli pp. 12–13
Not yet available: no count or materials are stated; Sankalp does not yet reproduce the hymn itself; the source link opens the public-domain printed page..
Nothing is needed.
When: At daybreak ('bow to thee at daybreak').
Officiant: None.
The 108 names of Sūrya (Mahābhārata, Vana-parvan) — recited at sunrise; the text names memory and learning among its fruits
Source-verified hymn (Mahābhārata, Vana-parvan) — the text states these fruits; the hymn's text is linked, not yet reproduced
When the Pāṇḍavas went into exile, Yudhiṣṭhira could not feed the brāhmaṇas who followed him. The priest Dhaumya taught him the 108 names of Sūrya; Yudhiṣṭhira worshipped the Sun and received a vessel whose food never ran out.
Outline
- Rise for sunrise and concentrate your mind.
- Recite the 108 names with fixed attention — at sunrise, or every day in the two twilights (dawn and dusk).
Source: Mahābhārata, Vana-parvan III, Ganguli pp. 10, 13
Not yet available: no count or materials are stated; Sankalp does not yet reproduce the hymn itself; the source link opens the public-domain printed page..
Nothing is needed.
When: At sunrise, or in the two twilights every day.
Officiant: None.
Gajendra-mokṣa — the elephant-king's hymn (Bhāgavata Purāṇa 8.3–4), recited at the end of the night
Source-verified hymn (Bhāgavata Purāṇa 8.4) — the text states these fruits; the hymn's text is linked, not yet reproduced
Gajendra, king of elephants, is seized by a crocodile and, when his strength fails, turns to the Lord with a hymn of surrender. Viṣṇu comes and frees him. The Lord then tells the devotees what this story and hymn give to those who remember and recite them.
Outline
- Rise at the end of the night (before dawn), purified, self-controlled and composed.
- Recite Gajendra's hymn (Bhāgavata 8.3).
- Remember the forms of the Lord named in 8.4.17–23.
Source: Bhāgavata Purāṇa 8.4.15, 24–25 (Kṛṣṇācārya 1916, p. 7)
Not yet available: Sankalp's translation of 8.4 is its own literal one (marked); Sankalp does not yet reproduce the hymn itself; the source link opens the public-domain printed page..
Nothing is needed.
When: At the end of the night, on waking (8.4.24–25); at dawn (8.4.15).
Officiant: None.