Learn the Panchang
The Panchang means five limbs: tithi, vara, nakshatra, yoga and karana. Start here if the words are new.
The five limbs of the Panchang
What is a Panchang?
A Panchang is the Hindu almanac that lists the five parts of each day, tithi, vara, nakshatra, yoga and karana, so you can plan festivals and ceremonies.
The five limbs of the Panchang
Tithi, vara, nakshatra, yoga and karana: what each of the five Panchang limbs measures, how many there are, and how long each lasts.
Tithi: the lunar day
A tithi is the time the Moon takes to gain 12 degrees on the Sun. There are 30 in a lunar month, and each has a presiding deity and its own length.
Vara: the weekday and its lord
The seven Hindu weekdays are each named for a planet that is the lord of the day, in the same order as the days in the English week.
Nakshatra: the 27 lunar mansions
The nakshatra is the star group the Moon is passing through. There are 27, each 13 degrees 20 minutes wide, with a ruling planet, deity and symbol.
Yoga: the Sun and Moon combination
In the Panchang, a yoga is one of 27 divisions made by adding the Sun's and Moon's longitudes, each covering 13 degrees 20 minutes. It is not the exercise.
Karana: the half tithi
A karana is half a tithi. Eleven karanas fill the 60 half-tithis of a lunar month: seven that repeat and four that occur once. Vishti, also called Bhadra, is the one to watch.
The calendar
Paksha: the bright and dark halves
A Hindu lunar month has two pakshas, Shukla (the waxing, bright fortnight) and Krishna (the waning, dark fortnight), each with 15 tithis.
The twelve Hindu months
The Hindu year has twelve lunar months from Chaitra to Phalguna, named after the star group near the Full Moon, with different Krishna paksha names in North and South.
The six Hindu seasons (ritus)
The Hindu year has six ritus of two months each, Vasanta, Grishma, Varsha, Sharad, Hemanta and Shishira, matching the farming and weather year of India.
Amanta and Purnimanta months
Amanta months end on Amavasya (Gujarat, Maharashtra, South India) and Purnimanta months end on Purnima (North India). The Krishna paksha has different names in the two.
Vikram Samvat: the Hindu year count
Vikram Samvat is the Hindu year number used across North and West India and Nepal. It runs about 57 years ahead of the Gregorian year and starts at Chaitra or Kartika.
Shaka Samvat: the national era
Shaka Samvat is a year count that starts about 78 years after the common era began. It is used in the Deccan and adopted for India's national calendar.
Times of the day
Rahu Kalam
Rahu Kalam is a period of about an hour and a half each day, one eighth of the daylight, that many people avoid for starting new and important work.
Choghadiya
Choghadiya divides the day and the night into eight slots each, with seven repeating names, three auspicious, one neutral and three inauspicious.
Abhijit Muhurat
Abhijit Muhurat is the eighth of the fifteen daytime muhurtas, centered on local solar noon. Many traditions regard it as a favourable time to begin work.
Brahma Muhurta
Brahma Muhurta is the quiet pre-dawn period beginning about 96 minutes (two muhurtas) before sunrise, traditionally favoured for prayer, study and meditation.
How this site reads a day
The udaya tithi rule
The udaya tithi rule says the tithi in effect at sunrise names the whole day. It explains why a festival can fall on a different date from what you expect.
The sunrise-based Hindu day
The Hindu day begins at sunrise, not midnight. The weekday changes at sunrise, and the tithi at sunrise names the day.