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.
Five ways to describe one moment
Every moment has a tithi, a vara, a nakshatra, a yoga and a karana. Together they are the panchanga = five limbs. Tithi and karana come from the angle between the Sun and the Moon. Nakshatra comes from the Moon's position among the stars. Yoga comes from the Sun and Moon positions added together. Vara is simply the weekday.
| Limb | Meaning | Count | What it measures |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tithi | Lunar day | 30 | Each time the Moon gains 12 degrees on the Sun |
| Vara | Weekday | 7 | The weekday, lord of the day, counted from sunrise |
| Nakshatra | Lunar mansion | 27 | Each 13 degrees 20 minutes of the Moon's position in the zodiac |
| Yoga | Sun plus Moon | 27 | Each 13 degrees 20 minutes of the sum of the two longitudes |
| Karana | Half tithi | 11 types (60 per lunar month) | Each time the Moon gains 6 degrees on the Sun |
Tithi
The tithi is the one most people look up first, because festivals and fasts are set by it. A tithi is the time the Moon takes to move 12 degrees ahead of the Sun. There is a full page on the tithi.
Vara
The vara is the weekday. It is named after the seven classical planets, and in this calendar it starts at sunrise rather than midnight. The Vara page has the details.
Nakshatra
The ecliptic is divided into 27 equal sections of 13 degrees 20 minutes, each named for a star group. The nakshatra is the section the Moon is in. The Nakshatra page lists all 27.
Yoga
Add the longitude of the Sun to the longitude of the Moon. Every 13 degrees 20 minutes of that total is one yoga, of 27 in all. The Yoga page lists all 27.
Karana
A karana is half a tithi, so the Moon gains 6 degrees on the Sun during one karana. There are 60 karana periods in a lunar month, filled by 11 named karanas. The Karana page explains the pattern.
Measuring on the sidereal zodiac
Nakshatra and yoga are measured on the sidereal zodiac, which is fixed to the stars. This site uses the Lahiri (Chitrapaksha) ayanamsa to convert from the tropical positions that astronomy gives. Tithi and karana depend only on the angle between the Sun and Moon, so they are not affected by the ayanamsa.
Each one starts and ends at its own time
The four moving limbs do not begin at sunrise or end at midnight. A tithi may begin at 3:20 in the afternoon and end at 4:05 the next afternoon. For this reason the site shows the exact start and end time of every tithi, nakshatra, yoga and karana, in the local time of your city.
The day itself runs from sunrise to the next sunrise, and the limb in effect at sunrise names the day. The pages on the sunrise-based day and the udaya tithi rule explain this further.
Which limb matters for what
Traditions give different weight to each limb. In general:
- Festivals and fasts are decided mainly by the tithi, sometimes with the nakshatra or weekday.
- Birth stars, naming and many family ceremonies use the nakshatra.
- Muhurat selection looks at all five limbs, and also at Rahu Kalam and similar periods.
Do not worry about remembering every name. The site shows all five for any day, and the pages here explain them one at a time.