Panchang: The Five Limbs Of The Day

The word Panchang means "five limbs". It is the traditional Hindu almanac, and it describes each day through five elements.

1. Tithi (lunar day)

A tithi is the time the Moon takes to gain 12° on the Sun. There are 30 tithis in a lunar month: 15 in the bright half (Shukla paksha) ending at the full Moon (Purnima), and 15 in the dark half (Krishna paksha) ending at the new Moon (Amavasya). Festivals and fasts are mostly fixed by tithi.

2. Vara (weekday)

The seven weekdays are named after the Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus and Saturn. In the Panchang the day begins at sunrise, not at midnight.

3. Nakshatra

The nakshatra the Moon is passing through. There are 27, and the Moon spends about a day in each.

4. Yoga

The sum of the Sun's and the Moon's longitudes, divided into 27 parts. Each yoga has a name and a nature; some, such as Vyatipata and Vaidhriti, are avoided for new beginnings.

5. Karana

Half of a tithi. There are 11 karanas; one of them, Vishti (also called Bhadra), is avoided for auspicious work.

Why the place matters

Sunrise, sunset and the moments when tithis and nakshatras change depend on your location. A tithi may end before sunrise in one city and after it in another, which can move a festival by a day. That is why TRAC's Panchang is worked out for the place you choose.

A worked example of reading a day

Suppose the Panchang for a day shows: Shukla Panchami until 2:40 p.m., then Shashthi; Thursday; Hasta nakshatra; Siddhi yoga; Bava karana in the morning.

• The tithi at sunrise is Panchami, so the day is called Panchami even though Shashthi begins in the afternoon.
• Thursday is Jupiter's day — good for learning, teaching and worship of the guru.
• Hasta is a swift (kshipra) nakshatra — good for trade, crafts and quick tasks.
• Siddhi is an auspicious yoga.
• Bava is a favourable karana.

Such a day is generally pleasant for new learning or small business beginnings. For a big event like marriage, the full muhurta rules would still be checked.

Other items in a full Panchang

Modern Panchangs also show sunrise and sunset, moonrise and moonset, Rahu Kaal, Yamaganda, Gulika Kaal, Abhijit muhurta (the auspicious period around midday), the Sun's and Moon's signs, the month and year names, the season (ritu) and the day's festivals and vrats.

Lunar months

The Hindu lunar month is named after the nakshatra near which the full Moon falls — Chaitra, Vaishakha, Jyeshtha and so on. Some regions count the month from new Moon to new Moon (amanta), others from full Moon to full Moon (purnimanta), which is why the same festival can fall in "different months" in North and South India while being on the same day.

Frequently asked questions

Why does my Panchang differ from a printed calendar? The calendar may be calculated for another city, or follow a different tradition for festivals. Use a Panchang for your own place.

What is Adhik Maas? An extra lunar month added about every 32 months so that the lunar calendar keeps pace with the solar year.