Prayer Times in West Bengal 🇮🇳

Prayer times vary across West Bengal with each city's position. Today in Kolkata, Fajr at 4:28 AM, Sunrise at 5:45 AM, Dhuhr at 11:20 AM, Asr at 3:19 PM, Maghrib at 4:55 PM and Isha at 6:12 PM; each city page gives its own times.

The default for West Bengal is the University of Islamic Sciences, Karachi method. Each city page names the method it uses, and you can choose another if your mosque follows one.

The University of Islamic Sciences, Karachi method used in West Bengal sets Fajr when the sun is 18° below the horizon before sunrise, and Isha when it is 18° below the horizon after sunset.

Prayer times follow the sun, so they shift with each place's longitude and latitude: within one time zone the sun rises, peaks and sets earlier the further east a place lies, and day length varies more the further it is from the equator. That is why each city and town in West Bengal has its own times.

Prayer-time sources can differ in calculation method, Asr time and high-latitude rule, and some round times or add a few minutes of caution. The times in West Bengal use the University of Islamic Sciences, Karachi method with the Hanafi Asr time; with the same settings, other sources usually come within a minute or two.

Prayer times in West Bengal use the Hanafi Asr time by default. Asr begins when an object's shadow is twice its own length, added to its shadow at solar noon. This is the view of Abu Hanifa, followed by the Hanafi school. The alternative is Standard. Asr begins when an object's shadow equals its own length, added to its shadow at solar noon. This is the view of the Shafiʿi, Maliki and Hanbali schools. You can switch to it if your mosque follows it.

Each city's times are worked out for its own location with the University of Islamic Sciences, Karachi method and given to the minute. A printed timetable can differ by a minute or two because it rounds times or adds minutes of caution; a bigger gap usually means a different method, Asr time or high-latitude rule.

From Kolkata, the Qibla, the direction of the Kaaba in Makkah, is 278° measured clockwise from true north. The bearing changes slightly from city to city, and each city page gives its own.

Today is 29 Jumada al-Ula 1448 in the Umm al-Qura calendar. Where months begin with a local sighting of the new moon, the date can differ by a day or more, depending on the country and the sighting, so for Ramadan and the Eids check the local announcement.