How to read a panchang

Five limbs of time

Pancha means five and anga means limb. A panchang (Sanskrit panchanga) is an almanac that gives, for each day, five quantities derived from the positions of the Sun and the Moon. Together they describe the quality of a day in the traditional calendar. Each can be computed exactly; none is a forecast.

1. Tithi, the lunar day

A Tithi is the time it takes the Moon to gain twelve degrees of longitude on the Sun. There are thirty in a lunar month: fifteen in the bright fortnight (shukla paksha), from new Moon to full Moon, and fifteen in the dark fortnight (krishna paksha), back to new Moon. They are named Pratipada (first), Dvitiya (second) and so on to Chaturdashi (fourteenth), with Purnima (full Moon) and Amavasya (new Moon) as the fifteenth. The tithi current at local sunrise names the civil day. Our separate article on the tithi explains why it is the backbone of the Hindu calendar.

2. Vara, the weekday

The seven weekdays are named for the Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus and Saturn. In the panchang a vara runs from sunrise to sunrise rather than midnight to midnight.

3. Nakshatra, the lunar mansion

The ecliptic is divided into twenty-seven equal parts of 13°20′, each a Nakṣatra, named after a star or star group near it: Ashvini, Bharani, Krittika and so on. The panchang gives the nakshatra the Moon occupies and when it moves into the next. Because the Moon covers a nakshatra in roughly a day, it changes almost daily.

4. Yoga, the combined motion

Here yoga is a technical term unrelated to the discipline of yoga. Add the longitudes of the Sun and the Moon and divide the circle into twenty-seven parts of 13°20′; each is a yoga, with names such as Vishkambha, Priti and Ayushman.

5. Karana, the half-tithi

Each tithi is divided into two karanas. Seven movable karanas repeat in sequence through the month, and four fixed karanas occur once each near the new Moon. Vishti, also called Bhadra, is the karana most often noted in printed almanacs because the tradition treats it as unsuitable for starting new work.

What else is on the page

Most printed panchangs add:

• Sunrise and sunset for the place of computation. Everything in the day is anchored to these.
• The Sun's sign and the lunar month, with the samvat year in Vikram and Shaka eras.
• Rahu Kaal (Rāhu kāla), a period of about one and a half hours each day, fixed by dividing daytime into eight parts and assigning one to Rahu according to the weekday. On Monday it is the second part, on Saturday the third, and so on.
• Choghadiya (Caughaḍiyā), a division of day and night into eight parts each, labelled with qualities such as amrit, shubh, labh, char, rog, kaal and udveg. It is widely used in western India for ordinary undertakings.
• Festivals and vratas observed on that day, decided by the tithi at sunrise or at a particular time of day according to the rules of each observance.
• Muhūrta notes, the classical "auspicious windows" for named activities.

A worked reading

Suppose a page reads: Kartika, Shukla Paksha, Ekadashi until 14:32, then Dvadashi; Shatabhisha until 09:10, then Purva Bhadrapada; Vyaghata yoga; Vanija karana; Saturday.

This tells us the lunar month is Kartika, in its bright fortnight. The day is named Ekadashi because that tithi was current at sunrise, even though it ends in the afternoon. The Moon is in Shatabhisha at sunrise and enters Purva Bhadrapada mid-morning. The yoga and karana are given for sunrise. The weekday runs from this sunrise to the next.

Why two almanacs can disagree

Almanacs may compute positions from modern ephemerides (the drik method) or from classical parameters such as those of the Surya Siddhanta. They may use different Ayanāṃśa values, the correction between sidereal and tropical zodiacs, and different sunrise conventions. They are also printed for particular cities, and every time on the page is a local clock time. A difference of a few minutes is normal; a difference of a day in a festival usually comes from a tithi that ends close to sunrise. Our research note on five almanacs sets out a method for tracing these differences.

Reading without anxiety

The panchang records the state of the sky in the vocabulary of the tradition. Terms like Rahu Kaal or Vishti describe conventions for choosing times, rooted in the Kalpa idea that an act should be done at a fitting moment. We present them as part of a cultural and astronomical system. They are not personal advice.

Try it

The Panchang tool computes all five limbs for your location and date. The Festivals tool lists observances by tithi, and the Muhurta tool shows how the classical rules combine.