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Timing · 5 min read

Panchang Basics — the five limbs of the Vedic day

The panchang is the Vedic almanac: pancha-anga, "five limbs", together describing the quality of a single day. Vara, tithi, nakshatra, yoga, and karana — weekday, lunar day, Moon's mansion, Sun–Moon combination, and half-tithi. Every festival date and every muhurta rests on this layer.

Updated Jul 2026
Meaning
Pancha-anga — five limbs
The limbs
Vara·Tithi·Nakshatra·Yoga·Karana
One tithi
12° of Sun–Moon gap
Feeds into
Festivals & muhurta

01Five clocks, one day

One date on the wall calendar is five things in the panchang: a weekday, a lunar day, a lunar mansion, a Sun–Moon yoga, and a half-tithi. All five run simultaneously, each on its own rhythm. Together they give the day its texture — which is why no two Tuesdays are quite the same day.

VARA WEEKDAY TITHI LUNAR DAY NAKSHATRA MOON'S MANSION YOGA SUN–MOON SUM KARANA HALF-TITHI PANCHA · ANGA — FIVE LIMBS OF THE DAY EVERY DAY HAS ALL FIVE
The five limbs — vara, tithi, nakshatra, yoga, karana — every day carries all five at once.

02The five limbs

What it isWhat it colours
VaraThe weekday, ruled by its planet — Monday is the Moon's day, Saturday is Saturn's.The day's baseline temperament.
TithiThe lunar day — one of 30, each spanning 12° of Sun–Moon separation.Auspiciousness of undertakings; the layer festivals are pinned to.
NakshatraThe Moon's mansion that day — one of 27.The day's emotional texture; the key limb for muhurta.
YogaOne of 27, computed from the sum of Sun and Moon longitudes in 13°20′ steps.A subtle quality — a few yogas are traditionally avoided for beginnings.
KaranaHalf a tithi — 11 types: 7 repeating "movable" and 4 fixed.Fine-grained timing for starting an act.
A clock tells you what time it is. The panchang tells you what kind of time it is.

03From panchang to muhurta

Muhurta — electional astrology — is panchang reading in reverse: instead of asking what today is like, you search for a day whose five limbs suit the act. A marriage wants one combination, a housewarming another. Rahu kaal, choghadiya, and abhijit muhurta are all cuts of this same five-limbed day.

Frequently asked

Is a panchang the same as a calendar?+
No. A calendar counts days; a panchang describes them. The civil date tells you where you are in the solar year — the panchang tells you the day's tithi, nakshatra, yoga, and karana, which is what festival timing and muhurta actually use.
Why do festival dates move every year?+
Because festivals are pinned to tithis and nakshatras, not to solar dates. Diwali falls on the amavasya tithi of Kartika, wherever that lands. The lunar layer slides against the solar year, so the civil date shifts — the tithi never does.
What is a tithi, exactly?+
One-thirtieth of the lunar month: the time the Moon takes to gain 12° on the Sun. Because the Moon's speed varies, a tithi runs anywhere from roughly 19 to 26 hours — which is why tithis begin and end at odd times of day, and why panchangs list those times.
Do I need to check the panchang daily?+
No. Daily checking is a discipline, not a duty. Most practitioners glance at tithi and nakshatra before beginnings that matter — a launch, a journey, a ceremony — and ignore the rest. The panchang is a tool for choosing moments, not a permission slip for living.

Keep going

◐︎Timing

Rahu Kaal & Choghadiya — the daily windows, explained

Rahu Kaal is one-eighth of the day's actual daylight, held inauspicious for starting new ventures.

5 min ✧︎Timing

Muhurat — how auspicious timing is actually chosen

A muhurta is a chosen moment — an electional chart cast so that an important act begins under a strong sky.

5 min ✦︎Planets & Signs

The 27 nakshatras of Vedic astrology — the full list

A nakshatra is a lunar mansion — one of 27 equal segments of 13°20′ that the Moon travels through in a sidereal month.

7 min

Your birth day had a panchang too.

Cast your free kundli to see the tithi, nakshatra, and yoga you were born under — and what they say about you.

Cast free kundli