Today is the Chinese New Year which also means today 17th February is the first day of the new moon (new month) in the Chinese calendar. The Chinese calendar does not sight the new moon in the sky to signal the birth of the new month. Instead they calculate the last day of last month (yesterday) when the moon was completely dark (or black) in the sky last night. This means that the next day (today 17th February) will automatically be the first day of the new month in the Chinese calendar.
In the Tamil calendar this complete darkness of the moon is called Amavasai. It also refers to no-moon visible. It also automatically marks the start of a new lunar month the very next day.
In the Tamil calendar, Amavasai for February 2026 fell on the night of Monday 16 February 2026 (yesterday) and into Tuesday 17 February 2026 (today).
So in both the Chinese and Tamil calendar today is the beginning of the new lunar month.
Fasting in Saudi Arabia will start on Wednesday, February 18, 2026 (tomorrow).
Fasting in Indonesia will begin on Thursday, February 19 or Friday, February 20, 2026 (depending on local sighting).
In Morocco fasting will begin on Thursday, February 19, 2026.
Here is something from Indonesia - try to understand their language. If I understand the guy correctly he says the new moon will not be visible in Indonesia (from Sabang in Sumatera to Merauke in Papua) until 19th February 2026.
