The five limbs (panchanga)
A traditional panchang (Sanskrit: pañcāṅga, "five limbs") records five astronomical/astrological elements for each day:
- Tithi — the angular distance between sun and moon, divided into 30 equal slices of 12° each. Each tithi has a name (Pratipada, Dwitiya, ... Purnima/Amavasya). Tithis 1–15 form the shukla paksha (waxing fortnight) ending at full moon; tithis 16–30 form the krishna paksha (waning fortnight) ending at new moon.
- Vara — the weekday (Sunday, Monday, ...) named after the seven classical planets in Hindu astronomy.
- Nakshatra — the moon's position among 27 fixed lunar mansions, each spanning 13° 20' of the sidereal zodiac. From Ashwini (1) through Revati (27).
- Yoga — sum of sun and moon longitudes divided into 27 equal divisions of 13° 20', each with a name (Vishkambha, Priti, ... Vaidhriti). Indicates a kind of "harmonic" of the day.
- Karana — half of a tithi (so 60 karanas in a lunar month). 7 movable karanas (Bava, Balava, Kaulava, Taitila, Gara, Vanija, Vishti) cycle 8 times, then 4 fixed karanas (Shakuni, Chatushpada, Naga, Kimstughna) appear at the end.
Inauspicious periods
- Rahu kalam — one of the "Kalas" of Rahu; about 90 minutes per day, traditionally avoided for starting new ventures. Different time slot each weekday.
- Yamaganda — another inauspicious period of about 90 minutes daily, also weekday-specific.
- Gulika kalam — the period of Gulika (a sub-planet); also inauspicious for new beginnings.
- Abhijit muhurat — the auspicious midday window (about 48 minutes around solar noon), considered favourable for any activity.
All four periods scale with daytime length, so they shift with sunrise/sunset by a few minutes per week as the year progresses.
FAQ
Why does my published panchang differ slightly?
Two reasons: (1) printed panchangs typically use the precise siddhānta astronomical model with full ayanamsa adjustment, while this tool uses simplified Meeus-style formulas accurate to ~0.2°. The tithi name is correct ~99% of the time but may be off by one near tithi boundaries. (2) Some panchang traditions use slightly different ayanamsa values (Lahiri, Raman, Krishnamurti); we use ~24°, close to the Lahiri ayanamsa for current epoch.
Why is panchang computed at sunrise rather than midnight?
Hindu day reckoning starts at sunrise. The tithi, nakshatra, etc. of a "day" are conventionally those active at sunrise of that day, even though they may change later in the day.
What if my city isn't listed?
Pick the geographically closest one — sunrise/sunset times rarely differ by more than ~10 minutes between nearby Indian cities. The five panchang limbs themselves are largely city-independent within India (depends on the time of day they're computed).