What is a panchang

Tithi is the lunar day, counted by the gap between the Moon and the Sun. Vaar is the weekday, which carries the nature of its ruling graha. Nakshatra is the star group the Moon is passing through, one of 27. Yoga is one of 27 divisions counted from the combined movement of the Sun and the Moon. Karana is half a tithi, so a lunar month holds 60 of them.

Each limb answers a different question about the same moment. Tithi shows where you are in the lunar month. Nakshatra shows where the Moon stands among the stars. Tithi, nakshatra, yoga and karana change at their own times, not together, so the panchang gives the time each one ends. Reading all five gives a fuller picture of the day than the date alone.

In the Hindu calendar the day runs from one sunrise to the next, not from midnight to midnight. The weekday changes at sunrise, so the hours between midnight and sunrise still belong to the day before. The tithi that names a day is the one running at sunrise. Sunrise is the anchor of the whole panchang.

This is also why a panchang is made for a place, not only for a date. Sunrise in Kolkata comes well before sunrise in Jaipur, and both change through the seasons. Rahu Kaal, Abhijit muhurat and choghadiya are all counted from sunrise and sunset, so they shift with your city too. Choose your city, and every time on the page follows it.

Start with the tithi. Our daily panchang names the tithi running at sunrise and the time it ends, then the tithi that follows. Beside it are the paksha, the month and any vrat or festival of the day. Nakshatra, yoga and karana come next, each with the time it ends. When a limb changes during the day, you will see both names.

Then look at the times of the day. Rahu Kaal is listed among the times to avoid for starting new work. Abhijit muhurat and Brahma muhurat are listed as good times. Choghadiya, Yamaganda and Gulika sit under More details. Treat all of these as a guide to timing, not as a rule to follow to the minute.

A lunar month has two halves: Shukla paksha, when the Moon grows, and Krishna paksha, when it fades. The two month systems differ in where a month ends. In Purnimanta, the north Indian system, the month ends on Purnima. In Amanta, used in the south and west, it ends on Amavasya. Our panchang follows Purnimanta and also shows the Amanta month under More details.

The two systems agree on Shukla paksha. They differ only in Krishna paksha, where the same days carry different month names. The system you follow does not move a festival. Diwali, for example, is Kartik Amavasya in Purnimanta and Ashwin Amavasya in Amanta, but it is the same Amavasya on the same day. Only the month name changes.