Panchāṅga

Panchang (Sanskrit: pancha, five; anga, limb) is the traditional Hindu almanac that provides five key astronomical elements for each day. These are: Tithi (lunar day, calculated from the angular relationship between the sun and moon), Vara (weekday, each governed by a planet and deity), Nakshatra (the lunar mansion — one of 27 star clusters the moon passes through), Yoga (the combined longitude of the sun and moon, producing 27 yogas, some auspicious and some inauspicious), and Karana (half a Tithi, of which there are 11 types). Together, these five elements provide a complete picture of a day's cosmic quality.

A calendar date (like June 15) is a fixed solar unit. A Tithi is a lunar unit — the time required for the moon to move 12 degrees ahead of the sun. Tithis can be shorter or longer than 24 hours, and so a single calendar day may contain parts of two Tithis, or a Tithi may span two calendar days. This is why Hindu festivals, auspicious observances, and ritual timings are calculated from Tithi rather than calendar date.

Rahu Kalam (period of Rahu) and Yamaganda are two daily inauspicious time windows identified in the Panchang, considered unsuitable for starting new ventures, travel, or important rituals. Rahu Kalam lasts approximately 90 minutes and occurs at different times on each day of the week. Yamaganda is a similar 90-minute window associated with Yama, the deity of death. Gulika Kalam is a third such period. These windows are calculated based on the day's sunrise time and the day of the week.

A Muhurta (Sanskrit: moment) is a unit of time in the Hindu system — approximately 48 minutes. In common usage, 'finding a good Muhurta' means identifying an auspicious window of time for an important event such as a marriage, housewarming, business launch, or journey, based on the Panchang elements in effect at that moment. The Muhurta Finder tool helps identify windows when Tithi, Nakshatra, Vara, and Yoga combine favourably.