Panchang
Rahu kaal today, and the panchang explained
The panchang is the Hindu almanac of the day: five limbs that describe it, and the windows tradition keeps for beginnings or avoids. Pick your city for today’s timings, calculated the same way as in the app.
Today’s timings
Delhi · Sunday, 11 October 2026 · times in IST
| Sunrise | 06:23 | |
|---|---|---|
| Sunset | 17:52 | |
| Abhijit muhurta Good for important starts | 11:44–12:30 | GOOD |
| Rahu kaal Avoid new beginnings | 16:26–17:52 | AVOID |
| Yamaganda Avoid travel and new ventures | 12:07–13:33 | AVOID |
| Gulika kaal Avoid starting important work | 14:59–16:26 | AVOID |
| Durmuhurtam Avoid auspicious starts | 16:20–17:06 | AVOID |
Sunrise and sunset are when the centre of the Sun meets the horizon, without refraction, as in the app; almanacs that use the visible edge of the Sun will show times a few minutes earlier. Your location, if you share it, is used only in this page and never leaves your browser.
Rahu kaal, yamaganda and gulika by weekday
Each of the three is one eighth of the daytime. The weekday decides which eighth. On a day with sunrise at 06:00 and sunset at 18:00 they fall at these times; on any real day, scale them to your own sunrise and sunset, which is what the calculator above does.
| Weekday | Rahu kaal | Yamaganda | Gulika kaal |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sunday | 16:30–18:00 8th eighth | 12:00–13:30 5th eighth | 15:00–16:30 7th eighth |
| Monday | 07:30–09:00 2nd eighth | 10:30–12:00 4th eighth | 13:30–15:00 6th eighth |
| Tuesday | 15:00–16:30 7th eighth | 09:00–10:30 3rd eighth | 12:00–13:30 5th eighth |
| Wednesday | 12:00–13:30 5th eighth | 07:30–09:00 2nd eighth | 10:30–12:00 4th eighth |
| Thursday | 13:30–15:00 6th eighth | 06:00–07:30 1st eighth | 09:00–10:30 3rd eighth |
| Friday | 10:30–12:00 4th eighth | 15:00–16:30 7th eighth | 07:30–09:00 2nd eighth |
| Saturday | 09:00–10:30 3rd eighth | 13:30–15:00 6th eighth | 06:00–07:30 1st eighth |
A common way to remember Rahu kaal’s order from Monday’s 2nd eighth: Monday, Saturday, Friday, Wednesday, Thursday, Tuesday, Sunday.
What Rahu kaal is, and is not
Rahu kalam is a period of about 90 minutes each day, one-eighth of the time from sunrise to sunset, that is traditionally avoided for starting new ventures. Yamaganda and Gulika kalam are similar daily periods.
It belongs to muhurta, the practice of choosing a time to begin something. It is not a dangerous period, it does not undo work already under way, and it says nothing about a person born during it. Yamaganda and gulika kaal are read in the same spirit, and Abhijit muhurta, around local noon, is the window most traditions favour for important starts.
The five limbs of the panchang
The panchanga ("five limbs") describes a day by its tithi (lunar day), vara (weekday), nakshatra, yoga and karana, usually as in force at local sunrise, and lists daily periods such as Rahu kalam.
| Limb | What it is |
|---|---|
| Tithi | A tithi is the time it takes the Moon to gain 12 degrees on the Sun. There are 30 tithis in a lunar month, from Shukla Pratipada to Purnima (full Moon) and from Krishna Pratipada to Amavasya (new Moon). |
| Vara | The weekday, counted from sunrise to sunrise and ruled by one of the seven planets, from the Sun’s Sunday to Saturn’s Saturday. |
| Nakshatra | The Moon’s nakshatra at sunrise, one of 27 divisions of 13°20′. All 27 nakshatras. |
| Yoga | One of 27 yogas from the sum of the Sun’s and Moon’s longitudes, each 13°20′ of that sum. (Not the same as the yogas of a birth chart.) |
| Karana | A karana is half a tithi: the time the Moon takes to gain 6 degrees on the Sun, so each lunar day has two. There are eleven karanas: seven movable ones (Bava, Balava, Kaulava, Taitila, Garaja, Vanija and Vishti) that repeat eight times a month, and four fixed ones (Shakuni, Chatushpada, Naga and Kimstughna) around the new Moon. Vishti, also called Bhadra, is avoided for auspicious work. |
Panchang in the app
The Today screen shows the day’s tithi and nakshatra, the good and avoid times for where you are now (the app asks only for approximate location, rounded to about a kilometre), the festivals and vrats coming up, and which window you are in at this moment. The Panchang screen steps through any day with all five limbs. JyotishiVani does not yet pick or rank dates for an event (muhurta selection); it shows the day’s factors instead.
Questions about Rahu kaal and the panchang
What is Rahu kaal?
Rahu kaal (Rahu kalam) is one eighth of the daytime, from sunrise to sunset, that tradition avoids for beginning new things. Which eighth it is depends on the weekday: the 2nd on Monday, the 3rd on Saturday, the 4th on Friday, the 5th on Wednesday, the 6th on Thursday, the 7th on Tuesday and the 8th on Sunday. Because sunrise and sunset change with the date and the place, so do its clock times.
Is Rahu kaal bad?
It is a convention of muhurta, the choice of time to begin something. Tradition avoids starting new ventures, journeys or ceremonies in it; it does not make the period dangerous, and it says nothing about a person born during it. Work already under way can simply continue.
Why do Rahu kaal timings differ between apps?
Mostly because of sunrise. Some calculate it when the centre of the Sun meets the horizon without refraction, as the JyotishiVani app does; others use the first visible edge of the Sun with refraction, which in India is about three to four minutes earlier, and that difference carries into every timing. Shortcuts that assume a 06:00 to 18:00 day can be wrong by over an hour, and every degree of longitude moves the times by four minutes, so a city’s own sunrise matters.
Can I travel during Rahu kaal?
Tradition advises not to begin a journey in Rahu kaal or yamaganda when it can be avoided; a journey already begun, or a routine commute, is not what the rule is about. Treat it as one consideration among many, not a reason for anxiety.
What is Abhijit muhurta?
Abhijit muhurta is the eighth of the fifteen muhurtas of the daytime, the one around local noon. It is widely regarded as a good time for important starts. JyotishiVani calculates it from your actual sunrise and sunset.
What are the five limbs of the panchang?
Tithi (the lunar day), vara (the weekday), nakshatra (the Moon’s star), yoga (a combination of the Sun’s and Moon’s positions) and karana (half a tithi). In JyotishiVani they are the values in force at local sunrise.