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Panchang

The five ang of the panchang

Tithi, vaar, nakshatra, yoga, karana — what each one measures.

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Panchang literally means five limbs. Every printed panchang, and every panchang band on this site, is those same five measurements taken for one day and one place.

Tithi

The lunar day — the angular distance between Surya and Chandra, divided into 30 parts of 12° each. A tithi is not 24 hours; it can run anywhere from about 19 to 26 hours, which is why a panchang always states the time it ends.

Vaar

The weekday, measured sunrise to sunrise rather than midnight to midnight. This is why a Tuesday in a panchang starts at Tuesday's sunrise, not at 00:00.

Nakshatra

Which of the 27 lunar mansions Chandra occupies, and until when. This is the ang most muhurat rules are built on.

Yoga

The sum of the longitudes of Surya and Chandra, divided into 27 parts. Despite the name it has nothing to do with the yoga formed by graha in a birth chart — a genuinely confusing collision of terms.

Karana

Half a tithi. There are eleven of them, seven repeating and four fixed, so each tithi contains two karana.

All five depend on your location, because all five depend on sunrise. A panchang without a place on it is incomplete.

See it on your own kundli

Work out your own dasha for free — the full timeline, from mahadasha down to pratyantar.

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