Guides / Electional time
What is Choghadiya?
Choghadiya divides daylight and night into eight named periods each, used in the traditional muhurta system for choosing a time to begin.
Eight watches of day, eight of night
Choghadiya is an electional clock. “Cho” points to four; a ghati is 24 minutes; four ghatis are 96 minutes — the approximate length of one period when day and night are equal. When the day is longer, each daytime period stretches; when the night is longer, each nighttime period stretches.
That is why the same named period starts at different clock times in Delhi and in London, and why summer tables do not match winter tables.
The seven names
The periods are named Amrit, Shubh, Labh, Chal, Rog, Kaal, and Udveg. Amrit, Shubh, and Labh are favorable for beginning work; Rog, Kaal, and Udveg are times for caution; Chal is mixed, used for movement. These are classifications inside a muhurta system, not scientific findings.
Why the weekday changes the order
Each weekday has a ruling planet, and that planet determines which name starts the daytime sequence. Night starts from a different name. The seven names then cycle, so the eighth period repeats the first. The Choghadiya page on Inner Light shows the resulting table for the date and place you enter.
Common questions
- Why are there eight periods in the day and eight at night?
- Each half of the nychthemeron — sunrise to sunset, then sunset to the next sunrise — is cut into eight equal parts. A choghadiya is four ghatis, and eight of them fill the day (or the night) as day length changes.
- How is Choghadiya calculated?
- Local sunrise and sunset are calculated for the place. Daylight is divided into eight, night into eight. The weekday chooses which of the seven names begins the sequence; the names then cycle, and the first name repeats as the eighth period.