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Learn the Hindu calendar
Plain-language explainers of the calendar and of Indian astrology — what each thing is, how it is computed, and where on this site to look it up.
Panchang & muhurta
5limbs
What is Panchang?
Panchang is the Hindu almanac describing each day through five limbs — Tithi, Nakshatra, Yoga, Karana and Vaara — computed from the Sun and Moon.
30tithis a month
What is Tithi?
A tithi is a lunar day — the time the Moon takes to move 12° ahead of the Sun. 30 tithis make a lunar month, split into Shukla and Krishna paksha.
27nakshatras
What is Nakshatra?
A nakshatra is one of 27 lunar mansions — 13°20′ segments of the zodiac. The nakshatra of the day is the one the Moon occupies, used for naming and muhurta.
⅛of the daylight
What is Rahu Kaal?
Rahu Kaal is a roughly 90-minute inauspicious period each day, one-eighth of the daytime, whose slot depends on the weekday. New ventures are avoided during it.
16parts, day and night
What is Choghadiya?
Choghadiya divides day and night into eight parts each (~90 minutes), labelled auspicious (Amrit, Shubh, Labh) or inauspicious (Rog, Kaal, Udveg) by their ruling planet.
5limbs must agree
What is Muhurat?
A muhurat is an auspicious time window chosen for an activity by combining the panchang limbs — tithi, nakshatra, vaara, yoga and karana — into favourable yogas.
12years, about
The Kumbh Mela Alignment
Kumbh Mela dates are astronomy: each of the four sites has its mela when Surya and Guru stand in a specific pair of rashis at once — roughly every 12 years, on Guru's orbital clock.
Kundali & astrology
12bhavas
What is a Kundali (Janam Kundli)?
A kundali is a diagram of the sky at a birth moment — the lagna, twelve bhavas and nine grahas placed in the sidereal rashis. It records positions, not predictions.
~2 hper rashi rising
What is Lagna (Ascendant)?
The lagna is the rashi rising on the eastern horizon at a given moment. It changes about every two hours and fixes the twelve houses of a kundali.
30°each
What is Rashi (Moon Sign)?
A rashi is one of twelve 30° divisions of the sidereal zodiac. In Indian astrology “your rashi” usually means the Moon’s rashi at birth, not the Sun’s.
9grahas
What are the Navagraha?
The navagraha are the nine grahas of Indian astronomy — Surya, Chandra, Mangala, Budha, Guru, Shukra, Shani and the two lunar nodes Rahu and Ketu.
27nakshatras
What is Nakshatra?
A nakshatra is one of 27 lunar mansions — 13°20′ segments of the zodiac. The nakshatra of the day is the one the Moon occupies, used for naming and muhurta.
120years
What is Vimshottari Dasha?
Vimshottari Dasha is a 120-year cycle of nine planetary periods. Which one runs at birth, and how much of it remains, is fixed by the Moon's nakshatra.
108syllables
What is Naam Akshar (name letter)?
The naam akshar is the syllable a traditional name begins with, fixed by the pada of the nakshatra the Moon occupied at birth. There are 108 of them.
5houses
What is Mangal Dosha (Manglik)?
Mangal Dosha, or being manglik, is Mars falling in certain houses of a kundali. Which houses count — and from what reference point — varies by tradition.
36points
What is Kundali Milan (Guna Milan)?
Kundali Milan scores compatibility out of 36 gunas across eight kootas, computed almost entirely from the two Moon positions — nakshatra and rashi.
24°today
What is Ayanamsa?
Ayanamsa is the angle between the sidereal and tropical zodiacs, growing about 50 arcseconds a year from precession. Lahiri is the standard Indian value.