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Panchang · Gochar · Mangala (Mars)

Mangala gochar in 1974

Mangala changes sign 7 times in 1974: Vrishabha on 15 Feb, Mithuna on 9 Apr, Karka on 29 May, Simha on 17 Jul ….

Mangala’s signs through 1974

  1. Mesha30 Jul, 6:11 am 1973 → 15 Feb, 3:26 pm 1974· about 7 months
  2. Vrishabha15 Feb, 3:26 pm 1974 → 9 Apr, 2:12 pm 1974· 53 days
  3. Mithuna9 Apr, 2:12 pm 1974 → 29 May, 2:14 pm 1974· 50 days
  4. Karka29 May, 2:14 pm 1974 → 17 Jul, 9:27 am 1974· 49 days
  5. Simha17 Jul, 9:27 am 1974 → 2 Sep, 10:19 pm 1974· 48 days
  6. Kanya2 Sep, 10:19 pm 1974 → 18 Oct, 7:48 pm 1974· 46 days
  7. Tula18 Oct, 7:48 pm 1974 → 1 Dec, 8:36 pm 1974· 44 days
  8. Vrishchika1 Dec, 8:36 pm 1974 → 13 Jan, 2:00 am 1975· 42 days

Date by date

Times in IST.

February 1974

  • 15 Feb3:26 pm

    Mangala enters Vrishabha

April 1974

  • 9 Apr2:12 pm

    Mangala enters Mithuna

May 1974

  • 29 May2:14 pm

    Mangala enters Karka

July 1974

  • 17 Jul9:27 am

    Mangala enters Simha

August 1974

  • 23 Aug5:32 pm

    Mangala becomes combust (asta) until 6 Dec†

September 1974

  • 2 Sep10:19 pm

    Mangala enters Kanya

October 1974

  • 18 Oct7:48 pm

    Mangala enters Tula

December 1974

  • 1 Dec8:36 pm

    Mangala enters Vrishchika

  • 6 Dec11:23 am

    Mangala rises again (asta ends)†

† Practice varies. Mangala is counted asta within 17° of the Sun (Surya Siddhanta); some almanacs use another limit or a visibility rule.

See also: Mangala (glossary) · Gochar 1974: all grahas · Transits over your chart

Understand

What gochar is

Gochar means the movement of the grahas: each moves on through the zodiac, and when it crosses from one rasi into the next, that is its sign change (sankramana). This page only says which graha is where, and when. In the classical method gochar is read by counting from a person’s natal Moon sign; to see today’s sky against your own chart, open the transits tool.

Retrograde (vakri) and direct (margi)

Seen from the Earth, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus and Saturn now and then appear to move backward for a while. That is retrograde motion; the instant the graha stops and turns is a station, and moving forward again is turning direct. It is an effect of the Earth and the planet moving on their orbits at different speeds. The Sun and Moon are never retrograde; Rahu and Ketu (mean) always move backward.

Combustion (asta)

A graha very close to the Sun is lost in its glare; the texts call it asta (set), and its reappearance udaya (rising). The Surya Siddhanta gives a distance limit for each graha. The limits used here: Mangala 17°, Budha 14° (12° when retrograde), Guru 11°, Shukra 10° (8° when retrograde), Shani 15°. Almanacs leave out the asta periods of Guru and Shukra when choosing times for samskaras such as weddings.

Sidereal signs

Indian almanacs count the rasis against the stars (nirayana). Western (tropical) signs run about 24° ahead, so the dates printed there are about three weeks earlier than these. The ayanamsa used here is Lahiri.

How this is calculated

Each graha’s apparent geocentric position from NASA JPL’s DE421 ephemeris, less the Lahiri ayanamsa. The instants of crossing a rasi edge, of zero speed and of reaching the asta limit are found by bisection to under a second. Small differences in ayanamsa can move a slow graha’s time (Shani above all) by a few hours against other almanacs.

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