What Is Panchangam

Tamil panchangam, Telugu Panchangam, Kannada Panchangam, Gujarati Panchangam, Marathi Panchangam, Hindi
Panchangam, Bengali Panchangam or whatever panchangam you call it. Panchangam means five attributes of Hindu calendar
day that is Tithi, Vaar, Nakshatra, Yoga, and Karana. It is the official astrological calendar of practicing Hindus. It forecasts
celestial phenomena such as solar eclipses as well as more mundane occurrences. The study of Panchangam involves
understanding Rasi phala, the impact of the signs of the zodiac on the individual. Astrologers consult the Panchangam to set
dates for weddings, corporate mergers, and other worldly activities.

These panchangam elements are same across all panchangam -- Tamil panchangam, Telugu panchangam, Malayalam
panchangam, and Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi, Punjabi, and other panchangam. What is different is how they threat their
months/year. Solar months and their starting rules and luni-solar moths. Tamil, Malayalam, Bengali uses solar months and
the rules on how month start is determined is different, but rest of information remains same. Panchangam is important part
of the Hindu Panchangam.

The word panchang is derived from the Sanskrit panchangam (pancha, five; anga, limb), which refers to the five limbs of the
calendar: Vaara, Month and Tithi, Nakshatra, yoga, karana. The panchangam may also includes details about Rahu kalam,
Yamagandam, Gulika Kalam, Durmuhurtham, Varjyam, Lagna Pravesh tables, daily planetory transists, and other
information. The panchangam presented on this website contains enough information for people following different
panchangam and they are available for diffferent places in the world. To learn how to read panchangam and to get more
information please click here. We offer panchangam from 1900AD onwards.

Hindu Panchangam

People call panchang with different names like Panchang, Panchangam, Panchangamu, Panjangam, Jantri, Panjika, etc..., and
there are various calendars / panchang used through out India, depending on region. Most people buy panchang every year
for various reasons like festival dates, yearly horoscope, muhurtham for house warming, upanayana, weddings, naming
ceremony, etc. Hindu Panchangam is both Solar and Luni-Solar. Mainly Luni-Solar calendar is used. Luni-Solar Panchangam
means it is designed to keep phase with the tropical year (Actually Solar Sidereal year) using lunar months. In a Lunar year
there are twelve months, However the whole lunar month is added at every few years interval to help the calendar to keep up
with the tropical year. Lunar months may end on Amavasya (New Moon) or Purnima (Full Moon). This gives us two types of
Luni-Solar calendars -- Amavasyant (ending with amavasya) and Purnimant (ending with Purnima). However certain regions
in India do follow solar months in combination with lunar months.

Names of lunar months are: Chaitra, Vaishakha, Jyestha, Ashadha, Shravana, Bhadrapada, Ashwayuja (Ashwin), Kartik,
Margashirsha, Pausha, Maha, Phalguna. The Tamil calendar is a derivative of the old Hindu solar calendar and is based on
the sidereal year. Tamil solar month names are Chiththirai (Mesha), Vaikasi (Vrishabha), Aani (Mithuna), Aadi (Karka),
Aavani (Simha), Purattasi (Kanya), Aippasi (Tula), Karthikai (Vrishika), Markazhi (Dhanu), Thai (Makara), Maasi
(Kumbha), Panguni (Mina). Please click here Indian Panchangam and its usage outside of India

How to Interpret Panchangam ?

Please use the following explanations to understand the panchangam presented on this site.

• Please clear your browser (Internet Explorer or whatever browser you are using) cache before viewing our
panchangam(s) as we keep updating our panchangam with various information, additions etc....

• To select the appropriate month please click on the top bar on the month names, it will load appropriate month for
you for the current year. The panchang presented here are in the calendar format.

• If your city is in USA or Canada then the times are adjusted for the Daylight Saving Summer Time. For other
countries please add or subtract the DST time zone manually.

• The first two lines are sunrise and sunset times. The sunrise time indicates rising of middle of solar disk which is
used in most astrological and muhurtham calculation. Most newspapers give sunrise time which is rise of sun's
upper limb which is not used in astrological purpose. (Sunrise:08:01 Sunset:16:23). Unlike other online
panchangam, all times presented in our panchangam have been adjusted for daylight saving time for North
American/Candaian Panchangam. Please manually adjust for other places in the world where daylight saving time
applies.

• The next lines indicate month name and paksha -- krishna paksha (wanning moon, leading to new moon) or shukla
paksha (waxing moon, leading to full moon) (Pausha Shukla Paksha). There are two paksha in indian month.
Krishna paksha and Shukla Paksha. Certain parts of India uses poornimant months -- Month ending with purnima
or full moon. Their month will start with krishna paksha and ends with shukla paksha. Gujarat, Maharastra,
Karnataka, Andrapradesh and other states uses Amavasyant months -- Their months ends with amavasya or new
moon. Their months will start from shukla paksha and ends with krishna paksha having poornima in middle. There
 are twelve lunar months in a year. Sometimes when within a given month sun's sign doesn't change it becomes
adhika masa giving us 13 months in a year. The Hindu calendar is based on the cycles of the Moon and the months
are based on lunar months which vary from 27 to 29 solar days. The lunar year of twelve months consists of 354
solar days. However a solar year consists of 365 days which is the basis of civil calendars. There is a difference of
11 days between the lunar year and the solar year. Due to this difference the two calendars move out of
synchronization and we notice that Holi is celebrated earlier and earlier in Spring every year as well as Diwali in
the Fall. However in about two and a half years a difference of 29 days accumulates between the two calendars.
Hence every two and half years an additional month or adhika masa (thirteenth month) is added to the Hindu
calendar to bring it back in synchronization with the solar calendar. Names of lunar months are: Chaitra,
Vaishakha, Jyestha, Ashadha, Shravana, Bhadrapada, Ashwayuja (Ashwin), Kartik, Margashirsha, Pausha, Maha,
Phalguna.

• The next line indicates tithi (Indian Day). The tithi name is right after T: The time next to the tithi is the time when
it is going to end. If the tithi ends after midnight but before next sunrise the endtime will have a value greater than
24 hours. To get actual time please subtract 24 from the time. Please remember that Indian date does not change at
midnight 0:00 hours. the day is from one sunrise to another sunrise. (T:Trayodashii 08:18:20). So if thithi ending
time says for October 23rd is T:Dwadashi 27:10:11. It means it ends after midnight of that day. So it means
dwadashi will end at 3:10:11 AM of the next day (October 24th). Unlike other online panchangam, all times
presented in our panchangam have been adjusted for daylight saving time for North American/Candaian
Panchangam. Please manually adjust for other places in the world where daylight saving time applies. In vedic
timekeeping, a tithi (also spelled thithi) is a lunar day, or the time it takes for the longitudinal angle between the
moon and the sun to increase by 12°. Tithis begin at varying times of day and vary in duration from approximately
19 to approximate 26 hours. Unlike english dates the duration varies. The english date starts at midnight to another
midnight. There are 30 days in one lunar months. Each day is tithi.
Telugu Tithis and Sanskrit names: Padyami / Prathama, Vidiya / Dvitiya, Tadiya / Tritiya, Chavathi / Chaturthi.
Rest of tithis maps exactly to samskritam names.
General purpose good Day (Vaar): Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
General purpose good Tithi: 2 (Dwitiya), 3 (Tritiya), 5 (Panchami), 7 (Saptami), 10 (Dashami), 11 (Ekadashi), 13
(Trayodashi -- shukla paksha only). 1 (Prathama - Krishna Paksha Only). Please avoid Krishna Paksha 13
(Trayodashi), 14 (Chaturdashi), and Amavasya in all good work. Please also avoid Shukla paksha's 1 (Prathama) in
all goog work. Please avoid rikta tithis 4-9-14 (From both paksha) in all good work.
Good Tithi for Wedding: All days (Vaara) are good for wedding. Please avoid Rikta 4-9-14, Krishna Trayodashi,
Amavasya, Shukla Paksha prathama 1 tithi. Rest of tithis are good for weddings. According to some Rikta tithi 4-9-
14 can be taken, but avoid 14 in krishna paksha.
Good Tithi for Grahapravesha: Avoid Sunday, and Tuesday. Avoid Shukla paksha's 1-4-9-14, and Krishna
Paksha's 4-9-13-14-Amavasya. Rest tithis are good for Grahapravesha.
Good Tithi for Buying a New Vehicle: 7-11-15. Avoid Amavasya.
To learn more about tithis please follow link here.

• The next line is nakshatra. The Nakshatra name is followed by N: The time next to the nakshtra indicates when it is
going to end. The same rules for tithi timings applies to nakshatras as well. (Rohinii 09:02:42). Nakshatra is also
known as star. so if you are looking for today's star use this one. Please avoid Aswini nakshatra on Tuesday, Rohini
nakshatra on Saturday, and Pushyami nakshatra on Thrusday for all graha pravesha, marraige, and travel
muhurthas. Although these combination causes Amrit Siddhi yoga but, the same combination is not good for above
said purposes. Unlike other online panchangam, all times presented in our panchangam have been adjusted for
daylight saving time for North American/Candaian Panchangam. Please manually adjust for other places in the
world where daylight saving time applies. A nakshatra is one of the 27 or 28 divisions of the sky, identified by the
prominent star(s) in them, that the Moon passes through during its monthly cycle, as used in Hindu astronomy and
astrology. Therefore, each represents a division of the ecliptic similar to the zodiac (13°20’ each instead of the 30°
for each zodiac sign). The orbit of the moon is 27.3 days, so the Moon takes approximately one day to pass through
each nakshatra.
General purpose good Nakshatras: Ashwini, Rohini, Mrigashirsha, Punarvasu, Pushya, U.Phalguni, Hasta, Chitra,
Swati, Anuradha, U.Shadha, Shravan, Dhanishtha, Shatabhisha, U.Bhadrapada, Revati. Please avoid your janma-
nakshatra for all good works.
Good Nakshatras for Wedding: Rohini, Mrigashirsha, Magha (Avoid 1st quarter), U.Phalguni, Hasta, Swati,
Anuradha, Mula, U.Shadha, U.Bhadrapada, Revati (Avoid last quarter).
Good Nakshatras for Grahapravesha: Rohini, Mrigashirsha, Pushya, U.Phalguni, Hasta, Chitra, Swati, Anuradha,
U.Shadha, Shravana, Dhanishta, Shatabhisha, U.Bhadrapada, Revati.
Good Nakshatras for Buying a New Vehicle: Ashwini, Rohini, Punarvasu, Magha, U.Phalguni, Hasta, Chitra,
Swati, Anuradha, U.Shadha, Shravana, U.Bhadra, Revati in the Shubha lagna (Ascendant) of Mithuna, Karka,
Simha, Kanya, Vrischika, Dhanu, and Mina lagnam (Please refer to our lagna table to find these lagna, and
panchanga to find nakshatra timings).
Good Nakshatras for Starting a New Job: Vaar: Sunday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Nakshatra: Rohini,
U.Phalguni, U.Shadha, Dhanistha, Shatabhisha, U.Bhadrapada, Revati. In the muhurtha chart in the 1st, 10th or
11th house Sun and Mars. (Please refer to our lagna table to find these lagna, and panchanga to find nakshatra
timings).
Tara bala: To find a day is suitable for your muhurtha tarabalam is required. Count from your birth nakshatra to
 nakshatra of the muhurtha day you are seeking. Please avoid 1-3-5-7-10-12-14-16-19-21-23-25 nakshatra counting
from your birth nakshatra. For example: If your birth nakshatra is swati, and today's nakshatra is aswhini, now
counting from swati to ashwini it gives us the count of 14th Which is not a good tarabalam. Hence till ashwini
nakshatra prevails that time is bad.

Please visit Tarabalam Chakra ready reckoner table to calculate your daily tarabalam and muhurtha. Please visit
nakshatra table to find list of nakshatra and their mappings in Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam.

• The next line is Yoga. The Yoga name is followed by Y: The time next to the Yoga indicates when it is going to
end. The same rules for tithi timings applies to Yoga as well. (Ganda 08:31:32). Unlike other online panchangam,
all times presented in our panchangam have been adjusted for daylight saving time for North American/Candaian
Panchangam. Please manually adjust for other places in the world where daylight saving time applies.
Good Yoga: Please avoid Vyatipata, Vaidriti, Parigha, Vishkumbha, Vajra, Shoola, Atiganda, Vyagata.

• The next two lines are Karana. Karana name is indicated by K: There are two karanas per thithi hence there are two
lines for karana, where the time next to the karana indicates when it is going to end. The same rules for tithi timings
applies to karana as well. (Balav 08:32:33). Please try to avoid vishti (Bhadra) karana in all auspicious ceremonies.
Unlike other online panchangam, all times presented in our panchangam have been adjusted for daylight saving
time for North American/Candaian Panchangam. Please manually adjust for other places in the world where
daylight saving time applies.
Good Karana: Please avoid Vishti (Bhadra) Karana.

• The next line if sun changes the sign or rasi that day it will have a line SN: which means sun and the rasi after that
is the rasi sun is changing to the time is the time when sun will enter that rasi or sign on that day. (SN: Makara
4:36). This is also known as samkranti. For example: Makara samkaranti is when sun enters makara rashi (This also
becomes Thai(Makara mase) month for tamil calendar). Likewise the same rule applies to the other samkrantis.
Sun's rasi names can be also names for hindu solar month names. For example: Tamil calendar uses sun's rasi
names as their solar months. The Tamil calendar is a derivative of the old Hindu solar calendar and is based on the
sidereal year. Tamil solar month names are Chiththirai (Mesha), Vaikasi (Vrishabha), Aani (Mithuna), Aadi
(Karka), Aavani (Simha), Purattasi (Kanya), Aippasi (Tula), Karthikai (Vrishika), Markazhi (Dhanu), Thai
(Makara), Maasi (Kumbha), Panguni (Mina).
Note for Muhurtha: Please avoid day of eclipse and the six hours before and after from the time of samkranti for
any good work / muhurtha. However this samkranti time is good for donation, satyanaraya puja but not good for
Weddings, Graha Pravesha etc.

• The next line is MN: which means moon sign changes, which means moon and the rasi after that is the rasi moon is
changing to the time is the time when moon will enter that rasi or sign on that day. if moon occupies that rasi for
whole day you'll observe (full) right after the rasi name. (MN: Mithuna 20:38)
A Note on chandra bala in muhurtha: Chandra Balam is important in weddings, and other rituals. Tarabalam is
more subtle. Counting from your moon rashi (Hindu rashi) to the day's chandra rashi if the count is 1,3,6,7,10,11
then that day will be good for you.

• The RK: means the Rahu kalam (Tamizh: Raghu kalam). The rising period of Rahu is considered inauspicious in
the South as he is considered a malefic for auspicious functions. The time frame indicates rahu kalam duration.
(RK:09:03-10:06). Please avoid this time for your muhurtha.

• The YM: means the Yamagandam kalam. Yamaganda is the son of Guru and he is also considered inauspicious.
The time frame indicates yama kalam duration. (YM:11:09-12:12). Please avoid this time for your muhurtha.

• The GK: means the Gulika kalam (Gulikai). Gulika is also called Mandi (i. e. the son of Manda alias Shani). His
rising period is also not auspicious. The time frame indicates Gulika kalam duration. (GK:09:03-10:06). Please
avoid this time for your muhurtha. Rahu kalam, Yama kalam, Gulika (Kulika) needs to be avoided as they are
inauspicious times.

• The AJ: means Abhijit Muhurtha (AJ: 12:30- 13:18). It is Sri Hari Vishnu's time. When you don't have any
muhurtham you can use this time if its not overlapped by rahu kalam or durmuhurtham, or varjyam. On Wednesday
abhijit muhurtham is bad as its the same time as durmuhurtham, hence we gave only durmuhurtham time on
wednesday not the abhijit muhurtha time. For other days please check rahu kalam as well.

• The DM: means Durmuhurtha (DM:: 10:34- 11:22, 15:22- 16:10) means first Durmuhurtham starts at 10:34 AM
till 11:22 AM and the next one starts at 15:22 PM to 16:10 PM. These times should be avoided for any good
ceremonies.

• The V:: means Varjyam or Vishagatika (V:30:00-31:37) means varjyam starts at 6:00 AM of following day and
lasts till 7:37 AM of following day. There could be more than one varjyam line. This time is not a good time.
 Please avoid in all muhurthams. Please donot perform annaprasana samskara in this time as this this visha-gatika
time.

• The AK:: means Amritkala (AK: 15:13- 16:53) means Amrita kala starts at 3:13 PM till 16:53 period. This is a
good time. There could be more than one Amrit kala line. This time is good for annaprasanam samskara as well as
other rituals.

• About Rahu Kalam, Yamagandam and Gulika Kalam: What most online panchangam, and other panchangam give
rahukalam which is fixed for every day of the week, for example Sunday 4.30 - 6.00, Monday 7.30 - 9.00, Tuesday
15.00- 16.30, Wed. 12.00 - 13.30, Thursday 13.30 - 15.00, Friday 10.30-12.00, Saturday 9.00-10.30. These times
are given based on assumption that sun rises and set at 6:00 AM/PM. Which is completely wrong as the sun doesn't
rise at 6:00AM and sets at 6:00PM for most part of the world every day. People who live in North America,
Europe, Australia and other places where in summer sun rises at 4:00 AM (with the daylight time added 5:00 AM)
and sets at 8:00 PM, and in winter sun rises at 8:00 PM and sets at 3:45 PM this rahu kalam time given above is off
by hours then minutes (as one of my learned friend argued the world is not going to change if rahukalam is off by
minutes, we are not talking about minutes but hours. For example in winter in certain places (America, Europe,
Australia, etc..) if sun rises at 8:10AM and rahukalam duration is 7:30AM to 9:00 AM, sunrise doesn't happen till
8:10AM , so you are off by 40 minutes here (not some minutes, and it will not at at 9:00 could very well end just
after 9:00AM).

Now on Thursdays, Yamagadam is from 6:00AM to 7:30AM(According to the fix calculations assuming sun rises
at 6:00 AM), and being winter sunrises at 8:10 AM, so your yamagandam has already passed before sunrise? aren't
you off by one and half hour?. Rahukalam, Yamaganadam doesn't start till sunrise. Even in India if you live further
north, the sun will rise earlier than 6 AM in summer and will set after 6 PM. Check the sunrise and sunset time of
your local newspapers and if not look into our panchangam you'll notice that in 99% of the world sun will never
rise at 6:00 AM and will set at 6:00 PM most of time (99% of time). You be the judge which rahukalam needs to be
taken, precise or fix rahu kalam. Its your muhurtham, so you be the judge. Even if you took the fix one the world is
not going to end but if you want to follow rahukalam why not the precise one?

The fix rahu kalam is taken for ease of calculation, and simplicity. So it is important to calculate rahukalam and
other information by subtracting the sunset from sunrise and divide by 8 and then use that as a kalam interval. The
data provided here is based on actual precise method of arriving Rahu Kalam, Yama kalam (Yama Ganadam), and
Gulika Kalam.

• About Chogadia Table: Chogadia used for checking auspicious time to start new work. Traditionally chogadia is
used only for travel muhurthas only but due to simplicity it is used widely for any muhurtha. There are four good
chogadia to start auspicious work -- Amrit, Shubh, Labh and Chal. Three bad chaugadia are Rog, kaal, Udyog.
Mostly people calculate chogadia from 6:00 AM to 6:00 PM which is wrong as sun doesn't rise at 6:00 AM and
doesn't set at 6:00 PM. The actual way is to calculate dinamana and divide by 8 an each kala will be day chogadia's
kala and likewise divide ratrimana by 8 and each kala will be night's chogadia kala. We have provided link with the
chogadia table at the top of every panchangam presented here and they are calculated based on that places' sunrise,
and sunset.

• Lagna Table. Lagna is the rising sign on the eastern horizon at a given time and a given place. This changes from
place to place, Hence we need longitude and latitude of the place for correct lagna. That's the another reason why
indian muhurtham calculated for india can't be used outside of india, even after subtracting the time difference.
Lagna has very important role in muhurtham. Lagna shuddhi removes most evils and without lagna shuddhi it gives
all bad yogas. At the time of muhurtha There shouldn't be any evil grahas / planets in kendra sthana of muhurtha
kundli. That is Sun, Mars, Saturn, Rahu and Ketu. The good planets should be in kendra(1/4/7/10) and tikona
sthana (5/9) Mercury, Jupiter, and Venus. This lagna can be obtained by using lagna table calculated in our
panchangam for each place's panchang. This langna is the rasi in first house. For any place in the world, the Sun
will be always in the first house during the sunrise, during the midday sun will be in the 10th house, during the
evening sun will be in 7th house, and during the midnight sun will be in the 4th house. Some astrologers even
knowing this fact makes the same mistake of subtracting appropriate time differences from indian muhurtha and
give out wrong muhurtha (unknowingly).
Good Lagna for Grahapravesha: Vrishabha (2), Mithuna, Simha, Kanya, Vrischika, Dhanu, Kumbha, and Mina.

• Panchaka Rahita Vidhi for Muhurtha - Important ceremonies such as marriage, nuptials, entry into new houses,
etc., this should be carefully looked into. There are several methods by which panchaka is determined. The most
common method is to add following and divide by the number 9:
o The number of the lunar day (from the 1st of the month). For krishna paksha add 15 to the tithi. For
example, Krishna paksha prathama to be 16, and amavaysa to be 30. You can find the tithi in our
panchangam. It's marked with T:. The time after tithi is the time when the tithi ends.
 o The number of the weekday, Sunday 1, Monday 2, Tuesday 3. etc.). You can find the day in our
panchangam. It's the top most header of the column. For the night time muhurtha please don't change the
day. Indian day is from one sunrise to another sunrise.
o The number of the constellation (from Aswini 1, Bharani 2, etc..). You can find the nakshatra in our
panchangam. It's marked with N:. The time after the nakshatra is the time when the nakshatra ends.
o The number of the Lagna (from Aries/Mesha 1, Tauras/Vrishabha 2, etc...). You can find the lagna from
our lagna table for your city.

Now add these together and divide the total by 9. If the remainder is 1,2,4,6, or 8 then it indicate bad results as
follows:

o 1 (mrityu panchakam), it indicates danger.

o 2 (agni panchakam), risk from fire.
o 4 (raja panchakam), bad results.
o 6 (chora panchakam), evil happenings.
o 8 (roga panchakam), disease.

If the remainder is 3, 5, 7 or zero then it is good.

Example: Let's consider Tithi: Krishna Paksha Dwitiya(15+2=17), Saturday (7), Moola/Mula nakshatra(19), and
Kumbha(11) lagna. Let's add these together. This gives us total of 54. Now divide this total of 54 by 9 giving us the
reminder of zero hence it is good.