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Panchang: the five limbs of the day

The panchang — “five limbs” — is the Vedic calendar of tithi (lunar day), vara (weekday), the Moon's nakshatra, yoga and karana. Together they describe the quality of each day, and they are used to choose the time for important undertakings — muhurat.

JyotiSoft editorial team · dates checked by calculation

In short

Tithi — the lunar day, 12° of Moon–Sun separation; 30 in a month.
Vara — the weekday, ruled by a planet.
Nakshatra — the Moon's mansion that day.
Yoga — one of 27, from the sum of the Sun's and Moon's longitudes.
Karana — half a tithi; 11 kinds, 60 in a lunar month.

Tithi

A tithi is a lunar day: the time it takes the Moon to move 12° further from the Sun. A lunar month has 30 tithis: 15 in the waxing half (shukla paksha) and 15 in the waning half (krishna paksha). A tithi lasts 19 to 26 hours, so one calendar day may start in one tithi and end in another. More in tithi.

Vara

The vara is the weekday, sunrise to sunrise. Each day is ruled by a graha: Sunday the Sun, Monday the Moon, Tuesday Mars, Wednesday Mercury, Thursday Jupiter, Friday Venus, Saturday Saturn. The planet colours the day: Thursday suits study and spiritual matters, Tuesday bold action.

Nakshatra

The day's nakshatra is the one of the 27 lunar mansions the Moon occupies. In muhurat the nakshatras are grouped as fixed, movable, soft, sharp, swift and others, each suited to its own activities. It is the most used limb of the panchang.

Yoga and karana

The yoga is one of 27, found by dividing the sum of the Sun's and Moon's longitudes by 13°20′. A few yogas (such as Vyatipata and Vaidhriti) are considered unfavourable for beginnings. The karana is half a tithi; there are 11 kinds (seven movable ones repeat, four fixed ones occur once a month). Vishti (Bhadra) karana is traditionally avoided for beginnings.

The panchang in JyotiSoft

The JyotiSoft Mini App shows the panchang for every day in your city: all five limbs with exact change times, Rahu kalam, the favourable windows and a personal rating of the day based on your chart.

Questions

What is a panchang?

The Vedic calendar of five daily limbs: tithi, vara, nakshatra, yoga and karana.

Why is the panchang different for different cities?

The limbs change at specific moments, and the Vedic day begins at local sunrise. So the time — even the date — of a limb depends on the place.

Which limb matters most?

For choosing a day, the nakshatra and tithi; then vara, yoga and karana.

Where can I see today's panchang?

In the JyotiSoft Mini App — for your city, with a personal rating of the day.

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