Guides / Hindu calendar
What is Panchang?
Panchang means five limbs: Tithi, Vara, Nakshatra, Yoga, and Karana — the traditional daily almanac of Hindu astronomy.
Five limbs of the day
Panchang comes from Sanskrit for “five limbs.” The five are Tithi (lunar day), Vara (weekday), Nakshatra (the Moon’s mansion), Yoga (a combined Sun–Moon angle), and Karana (half of a Tithi). Together they describe the quality of a civil day in the traditional Hindu calendar.
Inner Light calculates those limbs for a date and place, along with sunrise, sunset, moonrise, moonset, and the electional windows that are counted from sunrise.
Why sunrise is the reference
A Tithi or Nakshatra can change in the middle of the afternoon. The name printed for “the day” is the limb in force at local sunrise. End times on the page tell you when that limb gives way to the next. That is why two cities on the same date can disagree: their sunrises are different clocks.
The rest of the page
Rahu Kala, Yamaganda, and Gulika are weekday portions of daylight, poor times to begin certain work. Abhijit Muhurta is the midday favorable window. Choghadiya then cuts the day and the night into eight named periods each.
Common questions
- Why does Panchang change from city to city?
- Sunrise, sunset, and the Moon’s position relative to the local horizon depend on longitude and latitude. The five limbs are usually named for the moment of local sunrise, so a different city can show a different Tithi or Nakshatra on the same civil date.
- How do I read a daily Panchang?
- Start with the five names in force at sunrise, then the end times if a limb changes during the day. Add sunrise and sunset, then the weekday windows such as Rahu Kala and Abhijit Muhurta. Choghadiya is the day/night division of those same sunrise and sunset points.