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Panchang · Gochar

Gochar 2026: when each graha changes sign

In 2026, Guru moves into Karka on 1 Jun; Guru moves into Simha on 31 Oct; Rahu moves into Makara on 5 Dec. Below is every sign change, station and asta period of the nine grahas.

Times in Cape Town (Africa/Johannesburg, UTC+2).

Where the grahas are today

Sidereal (Lahiri) sign, and from when to when. Open a graha for its whole year.

Gochar calendar for 2026

Times in Cape Town (Africa/Johannesburg, UTC+2). Each is the same instant everywhere on Earth. The Moon changes sign every two and a half days, so its list is on its own page.

Sign changeRetrograde / directAsta / rising

January 2026

  • 13 Jan12:21 am

    Shukra enters Makara

  • 14 Jan11:29 am

    Surya enters Makara

  • 16 Jan12:47 am

    Mangala enters Makara

  • 17 Jan6:48 am

    Budha enters Makara

February 2026

  • 3 Feb6:17 pm

    Budha enters Kumbha

  • 5 Feb9:34 pm

    Shukra enters Kumbha

  • 10 Feb12:46 am

    Budha rises again (asta ends)†

  • 13 Feb12:30 am

    Surya enters Kumbha

  • 17 Feb11:38 am

    Shukra rises again (asta ends)†

  • 23 Feb8:09 am

    Mangala enters Kumbha

  • 26 Feb8:47 am

    Budha turns retrograde at 28°21′ Kumbha

  • 28 Feb6:37 pm

    Budha becomes combust (asta) until 13 Mar†

March 2026

  • 1 Mar9:20 pm

    Shukra enters Meena

  • 8 Mar6:04 am

    Shani becomes combust (asta) until 11 Apr†

  • 11 Mar5:46 am

    Guru turns direct at 20°52′ Mithuna

  • 13 Mar6:39 pm

    Budha rises again (asta ends)†

  • 14 Mar9:24 pm

    Surya enters Meena

  • 20 Mar9:33 pm

    Budha turns direct at 14°16′ Kumbha

  • 26 Mar1:32 am

    Shukra enters Mesha

  • 26 Mar10:37 am

    Mangala rises again (asta ends)†

April 2026

  • 2 Apr11:49 am

    Mangala enters Meena

  • 10 Apr9:39 pm

    Budha enters Meena

  • 11 Apr8:34 pm

    Shani rises again (asta ends)†

  • 14 Apr5:54 am

    Surya enters Mesha

  • 19 Apr12:10 pm

    Shukra enters Vrishabha

  • 30 Apr3:18 am

    Budha enters Mesha

May 2026

  • 1 May7:46 pm

    Budha becomes combust (asta) until 26 May†

  • 11 May8:57 am

    Mangala enters Mesha

  • 14 May7:17 am

    Shukra enters Mithuna

  • 14 May8:58 pm

    Budha enters Vrishabha

  • 15 May2:43 am

    Surya enters Vrishabha

  • 26 May7:54 pm

    Budha rises again (asta ends)†

  • 29 May7:37 am

    Budha enters Mithuna

June 2026

  • 1 Jun9:35 pm

    Guru enters Karka

  • 8 Jun2:05 pm

    Shukra enters Karka

  • 15 Jun9:13 am

    Surya enters Mithuna

  • 20 Jun8:17 pm

    Mangala enters Vrishabha

  • 22 Jun11:44 am

    Budha enters Karka

  • 29 Jun7:35 pm

    Budha turns retrograde at 2°02′ Karka

July 2026

  • 4 Jul3:35 pm

    Shukra enters Simha

  • 5 Jul5:42 am

    Budha becomes combust (asta) until 21 Jul†

  • 7 Jul7:34 am

    Budha enters Mithuna (moving backward)

  • 14 Jul2:33 pm

    Guru becomes combust (asta) until 13 Aug†

  • 16 Jul7:59 pm

    Surya enters Karka

  • 21 Jul10:38 am

    Budha rises again (asta ends)†

  • 24 Jul12:58 am

    Budha turns direct at 22°05′ Mithuna

  • 26 Jul9:23 pm

    Shani turns retrograde at 20°32′ Meena

August 2026

  • 1 Aug5:49 am

    Shukra enters Kanya

  • 2 Aug7:07 pm

    Mangala enters Mithuna

  • 5 Aug4:16 pm

    Budha enters Karka

  • 13 Aug12:23 pm

    Guru rises again (asta ends)†

  • 13 Aug9:58 pm

    Budha becomes combust (asta) until 13 Sep†

  • 17 Aug4:18 am

    Surya enters Simha

  • 22 Aug3:57 pm

    Budha enters Simha

September 2026

  • 2 Sep10:02 am

    Shukra enters Tula

  • 7 Sep9:57 am

    Budha enters Kanya

  • 13 Sep3:05 pm

    Budha rises again (asta ends)†

  • 17 Sep4:13 am

    Surya enters Kanya

  • 18 Sep12:50 pm

    Mangala enters Karka

  • 26 Sep9:02 am

    Budha enters Tula

October 2026

  • 3 Oct9:14 am

    Shukra turns retrograde at 14°16′ Tula

  • 17 Oct4:12 pm

    Surya enters Tula

  • 19 Oct4:45 am

    Shukra becomes combust (asta) until 29 Oct†

  • 24 Oct9:12 am

    Budha turns retrograde at 26°45′ Tula

  • 29 Oct6:09 am

    Shukra rises again (asta ends)†

  • 30 Oct2:34 am

    Budha becomes combust (asta) until 10 Nov†

  • 31 Oct7:19 am

    Guru enters Simha

November 2026

  • 5 Nov10:01 pm

    Shukra enters Kanya (moving backward)

  • 10 Nov12:24 pm

    Budha rises again (asta ends)†

  • 12 Nov4:28 pm

    Mangala enters Simha

  • 13 Nov5:54 pm

    Budha turns direct at 10°49′ Tula

  • 14 Nov2:28 am

    Shukra turns direct at 28°38′ Kanya

  • 16 Nov4:04 pm

    Surya enters Vrishchika

  • 22 Nov1:22 pm

    Shukra enters Tula

December 2026

  • 2 Dec1:51 pm

    Budha enters Vrishchika

  • 5 Dec8:51 pm

    Rahu enters Makara (moving backward)

  • 5 Dec8:51 pm

    Ketu enters Karka (moving backward)

  • 6 Dec9:24 pm

    Budha becomes combust (asta) until 23 Jan†

  • 11 Dec2:01 am

    Shani turns direct at 13°42′ Meena

  • 13 Dec2:39 am

    Guru turns retrograde at 2°48′ Simha

  • 16 Dec6:45 am

    Surya enters Dhanu

  • 22 Dec4:03 am

    Budha enters Dhanu

† Practice varies. Texts and almanacs give slightly different asta limits, and some almanacs use the true rather than the mean node for Rahu and Ketu, which can move the nodes’ sign changes by some weeks.

See also: Transits over your chart · Gochar (glossary) · Sade Sati · Ayanamsa · Sankranti

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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