Free tool · No signup
Free Daily Panchang — Tithi, Nakshatra, Yoga, Karana, Rahu Kalam
Panchang — literally 'five limbs' — is the traditional Vedic almanac that describes a given day through five classical elements: tithi (lunar day), vāra (weekday), nakshatra (the Moon's lunar mansion for the day), yoga, and karana. This tool computes today's panchang for any city from the real, present-day positions of the Sun and Moon, rather than reading it off a printed calendar computed once a year in advance.
The five limbs, explained
Tithi is the lunar day — the time it takes the Moon to move 12 degrees away from the Sun, of which there are thirty in a lunar month, split into the waxing (Shukla) and waning (Krishna) paksha (fortnights). Vāra is simply the weekday, each ruled by a classical planet. Nakshatra here refers to which of the twenty-seven lunar mansions the Moon occupies that day. Yoga is a classical combination of the Sun's and Moon's longitudes, and karana is a half-tithi unit, of which there are eleven distinct types cycling through the lunar month. Together the five give a complete classical description of a day's astrological character.
Rahu Kalam and why it's city-specific
Rahu Kalam is a roughly 90-minute daily window, one of several inauspicious periods (alongside Yamaganda and Gulika Kalam) that tradition advises avoiding for auspicious new beginnings. Because it is defined as a fixed fraction of the interval between sunrise and sunset on a given weekday, its clock time shifts with sunrise and sunset — which is why it genuinely differs by city and by season, not just by a lookup table. This tool computes it from your city's real sunrise and sunset for the date you choose.
How panchang is used
Panchang underlies muhurta — the classical practice of selecting an auspicious time for significant undertakings (a wedding, a house-warming, starting a new venture). A muhurta reading typically checks the tithi, nakshatra, yoga, and inauspicious windows together rather than any single element alone; this tool gives you all five elements for any city and date so you can see the full picture, or simply understand what today's panchang says.
Auspicious and inauspicious tithis
Beyond Rahu Kalam, tradition also reads the tithi itself as carrying its own quality band — some tithis (like Purnima, the full-moon day, or Ekadashi, the eleventh day) are traditionally favoured for specific practices, while others (like Amavasya, the new-moon day, or Chaturthi in some contexts) are traditionally treated with more caution for new beginnings. This is a matter of custom and regional practice rather than a single universal rule, which is another reason a full muhurta reading weighs several of the five angas together rather than any one number in isolation.
What this tool does not do
This is a calculated daily almanac, not a source of personal predictions — it describes the day, not your day specifically. For how a given day's planetary weather interacts with your own birth chart, see the birth chart and dasha tools above, or start a full reading (free) that reads your chart against current transits.
Example output
Example for Delhi, 2026-01-15 — the tool below computes today's real panchang for any city.
| Vara (weekday) | Guruvara (Thursday) |
|---|---|
| Tithi | Dwadashi (Krishna Paksha) |
| Nakshatra | Jyeshtha |
| Yoga | Vriddhi |
| Karana | Taitila |
| Rahu Kalam | 13:48–15:06 |
| Sunrise / sunset | 07:19 / 17:42 |
Common questions
- What is panchang?
- Panchang ('five limbs') is the traditional Vedic almanac describing a day through five classical elements: tithi (lunar day), vāra (weekday), nakshatra (the Moon's lunar mansion that day), yoga, and karana. It is computed from the real positions of the Sun and Moon rather than fixed in advance.
- What are the five angas (limbs) of panchang?
- Tithi (the lunar day, thirty per lunar month), vāra (the weekday), nakshatra (the Moon's lunar mansion for the day), yoga (a Sun-Moon longitude combination), and karana (a half-tithi unit, eleven types cycling through the month). Together they give a complete classical description of the day.
- What is Rahu Kalam and why does it change by city?
- Rahu Kalam is a roughly 90-minute daily period tradition advises avoiding for auspicious new beginnings. It is defined as a fixed fraction of the sunrise-to-sunset interval for that weekday, so its clock time depends on your city's real sunrise and sunset — which shift with location and season — rather than being the same time everywhere.
- Is panchang the same everywhere in India on a given day?
- The tithi, nakshatra, yoga, and karana are essentially the same across India on a given day (they depend on Sun/Moon positions, not location). Sunrise-anchored details — Rahu Kalam, sunrise, and sunset themselves — genuinely differ by city, which is why this tool computes them per city rather than showing one national table.
- Is panchang used for choosing a wedding date (muhurta)?
- Yes — muhurta, the classical practice of selecting an auspicious time for significant events, is built on panchang. A proper muhurta reading typically weighs several of the five elements together with the specific event being planned, rather than any single element alone; this tool gives you the full panchang so you can see the complete picture.
Today's panchang, city by city
A dedicated, auto-updating page for each of these cities — true local sunrise/sunset and the rahu kālam window computed fresh, refreshed roughly every hour.
Sources: Classical panchang (five-limb almanac) computation; muhurta tradition; positions from NASA/JPL DE440s ephemeris.
Esha offers perspective for self-reflection — classical tendencies, not predictions, and not a substitute for professional medical, psychological, financial, or legal advice. Your decisions are your own.