What is choghadiya

The daytime runs from sunrise to sunset and is divided into eight equal choghadiyas. The night runs from sunset to the next sunrise and is divided into eight as well. That makes sixteen in a full day and night. Day and night are rarely equal, so a day choghadiya and a night choghadiya usually differ in length. At 12 hours each, every one lasts 90 minutes.

The first choghadiya of the day is set by the weekday: Amrit on Monday, Rog on Tuesday, Labh on Wednesday, Shubh on Thursday, Char on Friday, Kaal on Saturday and Udveg on Sunday. The rest follow in a fixed order. On Sunday, for example, the day runs Udveg, Char, Labh, Amrit, Kaal, Shubh, Rog, and then Udveg again. The night has its own order and its own first choghadiya for each weekday.

The same seven names run through the day and the night. Amrit, Shubh and Labh are the good ones. Amrit means nectar and is often named the best, Shubh means auspicious, and Labh means gain. Char is neutral, and it is considered good for travel. Udveg, Kaal and Rog are the ones to avoid when starting something new.

The names work like the colours of a traffic light. They describe the quality of a period. They are not predictions. A good choghadiya favours a beginning, but it does not guarantee how things will turn out. Our panchang lists the day and night choghadiyas under More details and marks each one as Good, Neutral or Avoid.

In Gujarat and Rajasthan, many families check the choghadiya before a journey, a business deal or a purchase. For travel, Char is liked, and Amrit, Shubh and Labh also suit. For deals and buying, Labh, Amrit and Shubh are the first choice. The aim is to begin in a good period, not to wait out the whole day.

If the choghadiya at your planned time is Udveg, Kaal or Rog, many people move the start to the next Amrit, Shubh, Labh or Char. Only the moment of beginning is judged. The work that follows can run on into any period. With sixteen choghadiyas in a day and night, there is usually another good window to choose.

Choghadiya and Rahu Kaal are separate systems, so they can disagree. Both split the daytime into eight equal parts, so Rahu Kaal always lines up with exactly one day choghadiya. On five days of the week that one is already a choghadiya to avoid. On Tuesday it is Shubh and on Thursday it is Amrit, both good by name. Neither system cancels the other.

A simple way to use both: choose a good choghadiya for your task first, then check that it does not fall inside Rahu Kaal. Our panchang shows the two on one page. If they clash, look at the next good choghadiya, since a day offers several. When both agree, the time is considered comfortable for a new beginning.