living hindu abroad
How do Hindus abroad maintain daily Sandhyavandanam at high latitudes where sunrise and sunset times vary drastically?
What Sandhyavandanam is built around
Sandhyavandanam is a daily practice of prayer and ritual performed three times a day. The three times are pratah (around sunrise), madhyahna (midday), and sayam (around sunset). The word sandhya means junction or twilight, pointing to the moments when night meets day and day meets night. The practice is tied to these astronomical turning points. This structure comes from very old texts in the Grihyasutra tradition. The idea is that these junctions carry a special quality, and that prayer at those moments has particular meaning.
What the tradition says about difficult times and places
Dharmashastra commentators did think about situations where normal astronomical times are hard to pin down, whether because of travel, illness, or unusual conditions. The general principle that comes through is that intention and effort matter. When the exact moment cannot be observed, the practitioner is expected to do their best with what is available. The tradition has always held that a sincere attempt, even an imperfect one, carries value. This is not a modern workaround. It reflects how the tradition has always handled the gap between ideal conditions and real life.
What people actually do today
Hindus living in Scandinavia, Canada, Alaska, and other high-latitude places face real challenges. In summer, the sun barely sets. In winter, it barely rises. A few approaches have emerged in these communities. One common approach is to use Indian Standard Time as a reference, treating the sunrise and sunset times of their home region or a major pilgrimage city as the anchor for their practice. This keeps continuity with the tradition they grew up in. Another approach is to use the local clock times that roughly correspond to morning, noon, and evening, even when the sky does not match. Some practitioners use apps or almanacs that calculate sandhya times for any location on earth, including high latitudes, based on astronomical formulas. Others follow the guidance of their own acharya or family tradition, which may differ from community to community. There is no single universal ruling that all Hindus follow on this. Practice varies by sampradaya, family, and individual.
The deeper point
Many practitioners and teachers point out that the sandhya times are not just about the sky. They are about pausing at the junctions of the day, turning attention inward, and connecting to something larger. That intention does not disappear because the sun is still up at midnight. The spirit of the practice, regularity, attention, and devotion, can be kept even when the external conditions are unusual. This is how many Hindus abroad make peace with the gap between the ideal and the possible.