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{{about|the astronomer|the poet|Dinakara Desai}}
{{Short description|16th century Hindu astronomer}}

'''Dinakara''' ([[Floruit|fl.]] 1550) was an astronomer from India who produced a treatise named the Candrārkī (consisting of 33 verses) dealing with the preparation of Indian calendars ([[Panchangam|pancanga]]) based on the movement of the sun and moon. The treatise exists in as many as 150 manuscript versions as well as with commentaries, some of which have been interpreted, translated and compared with modern approaches.

Dinakara is noted as the son of Rāmeśvara and greatgrandson of Dunda from the Moḍhajñāti family and at the time of writing his treatise was residing at Bārejya (which has been assumed to be [[Baria State|Bariya]] in [[Rewa Kantha Agency|Rewa Kantha]], [[Gujarat]]). His major works were [[Ephemeris|astronomical tables]] made for [[Shaka era|Śaka]] 1500 (Sunday, April 9, 1578 CE) and Śaka 1505 (AD 1583). His treatise Kheṭakasiddhi (1578) contains rules for determining the positions of the five planets based on the Brahmatulya of [[Bhāskara II]]. The Candrārkī has tables on solar and lunar movement. His third work ''Tithisāraṇī'' (or ''Dinakarasāraṇī'') (1583) covers the making of pancangas, the calculation of days, [[Tithi|tithis]], [[Nakshatra|nakṣatras]], and yogas, and was based partly on the earlier work Mahādevī of Mahādeva. Dinakara's work was an influence for [[Haridatta II|Haridatta II's]] ''Jagadbhūṣaṇa'' (1638).<ref>{{cite journal |author=Kolachana, Aditya |author2=Montelle, Clemency |author-link2=Clemency Montelle |author3=Dhammaloka, J. |author4=Melnad, K. |author5=Mahesh, K. |author6=Vyas, P. |author7=Ramasubramanian, K. |author8=Sriram, M.S. |author9=Pai, V. |year=2018 |title=A Critical Edition of the Candrārkī of Dinakara: A Text Concerning Solar and Lunar Tables. |url=https://journals.library.ualberta.ca/hssa/index.php/hssa/article/view/35/90 |journal=History of Science in South Asia |volume=6 |pages=127–161 |doi=10.18732/hssa.v6i0.35 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author1=Kolachana, A. |author2=Montelle, C. |author3=Dhammaloka, J. |author4=Melnad, K. |author5=Mahesh, K. |author6=Vyas, P. |year=2018 |title=The Candrārkī of Dinakara: A Text Related to Solar and Lunar Tables. |journal=[[Journal for the History of Astronomy]] |volume=49 |issue=3 |pages=306–344 |doi=10.1177/0021828618787556}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Ikeyama |first=Setsuro |title=The Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers |last2=Chapront‐Touzé |first2=Michelle |last3=Joeveer |first3=Mihkel |last4=Durham |first4=Ian T. |last5=Martres |first5=M. J. |last6=Rust |first6=David M. |last7=Lévy |first7=Jacques |last8=Débarbat |first8=Suzanne |author-link8=Suzanne Débarbat |last9=Bònoli |first9=Fabrizio |publisher=[[Springer Publishing]] |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-387-31022-0 |editor-last=Hockey |editor-first=Thomas |place=New York, NY |pages=299–299 |language=en |chapter=Dinakara |doi=10.1007/978-0-387-30400-7_361 |editor2-last=Trimble |editor2-first=Virginia |editor-link2=Virginia Louise Trimble |editor3-last=Williams |editor3-first=Thomas R. |editor4-last=Bracher |editor4-first=Katherine}}</ref>

Achalajit of Muraripupura in [[Gurjaradesa]] wrote another ''Chandrarki'' ([[IAST]]: Candrārkī) in 1655, by converting Dinakara's work from the system followed by the ''brahma-paksha'' school to that of the ''saura-paksha'' school.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/PingreeCESS/Pingree_CESS_A1_1970/ |title=Census of the Exact Sciences in Sanskrit Series A |publisher=[[American Philosophical Society]] |year=1981 |editor=David Pingree |editor-link=David Pingree |volume=4 |page=12}}</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist}}
== External links ==
* [[iarchive:chandrarki-CGV-PSS-0132-1274/|Candrarki Manuscript]]

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[[Category:16th-century Indian astronomers]]

Dinakara - Revision history

Aurelia2406 at 23:45, 3 February 2026