Hindu Panchang

What is Panchang?

The Panchang (literally “five limbs”) is the traditional Hindu calendar combining lunar and solar reckoning. Every Vedic ritual, vrata, festival date and muhurta is fixed by reference to it. The five limbs:

• Tithi (lunar day, 1–30): the angular separation between the Sun and Moon, in 12° steps. Tithis advance with the Moon's motion, so they vary in length from about 19 to 26 hours.
• Nakshatra (lunar mansion, 1–27): which of the 27 fixed-star asterisms the Moon currently occupies. Each nakshatra spans 13°20' of the zodiac.
• Yoga (sun + moon combination, 1–27): the sum of Sun and Moon longitudes divided into 27 equal parts. Auspicious for some events, inauspicious for others.
• Karana (half-tithi, 1–11): each tithi is divided into two karanas. Vishti karana is considered inauspicious; Bava, Kaulava and the others have specific associations.
• Vara (weekday, 1–7): Sunday through Saturday, each ruled by a planet.

Why Lahiri ayanamsa

Western astrology uses the tropical zodiac (fixed to the equinox). Vedic / Indian astrology uses the sidereal zodiac (fixed to the stars), which differs because of the precession of equinoxes. The Lahiri ayanamsa, adopted by the Calendar Reform Committee under Prof. N. C. Lahiri in 1955, is the standard sidereal correction the Government of India publishes through the Rashtriya Panchang. Our tool uses it throughout.

Panchang vs almanac vs jyotish chart

• Panchang — the daily five-limb summary. What this tool computes. Good for picking auspicious days or simply tracking tithi.
• Almanac (Drik, Kalnirnay, Vishuddha) — published yearly with rahu kalam, yamaganda, varjyam, abhijit muhurta and festival dates. Goes beyond the five limbs.
• Jyotish chart — a birth-time horoscope (rashi kundli, navamsa, dasha periods). Used for personal predictions, not daily routine. For numerology pairings with a birth date, see the numerology calculator.

A note on accuracy

Our calculation uses simplified astronomical formulas accurate to about an hour for tithi changes and about 30 minutes for nakshatra changes. That's good enough for casual reference, vrat planning and festival check-ins. For wedding muhurtas, exact tithi sankraman times, or any decision a priest would normally compute by hand, use a published almanac (Drik or Kalnirnay) or consult a panchang-expert. The tool also does not factor your specific city's longitude — sunrise / sunset times shift the start-of-tithi by a few minutes between Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai.