Vedic Mobile Calendar depends on the phases of the moon(chandramanam/ lunar). In it the day starts with local sunrise. In Vedic astrology, this Sanskrit word means 'five limbs' or 'five attributes' of the day:Thithi,Vara(weekday),Nakshatra,Yoga,And,Karana.
The starting and ending times of tithi for the day is displayed in 12 hours format and the name of the next Tithi is also mentioned.
Except Amavasya and Poornima the rest of the 14 Tithis carry the same name. Hence to differentiate people refer to them as Krishna Paksha Dwteeya or Bahula Dwteeya and Shukla Paksha Dwteeya or Suddha Dwteeya etc.
Traditionally the Tithi prevalent at Sunrise is taken as the Tithi of the day. Various Hindu festivals are based on Month and Tithi. However for some night based festivals like Deepavali etc. the Tithi present at the night is taken. Whenever a day is an auspicious Hindu festival our Panchanga will mention it.
The tithi which is present at the time of Sunrise on first day and it continues on the second day of sunrise is called Vridhi Tithi and considered very auspicious. The Tithi which starts after first sunrise and ends before second sun rise is called Kshaya Tithi and is considered inauspicious.
The Tithis have several attributes and positive or negative qualities and suitable for various types of undertakings. For example auspicious Tithis like Ekadasi is good for worship and fast etc but if you want to fight someone or start war, the Amavasya which is an inauspicious Tithi is the suitable one!
The phases of the moon are not just the light and shadow effects of sun and moon as taught in our modern schools. They go much deeper than that and from a spiritual perspective each and every breath we take has something to with these phases.
According to the scriptures, the Moon has 16 kalas, or phases. These 16 kalas are ruled by the 16 Nitya Devis. They are called Shodasa Nityas. Out of these 15 are visible to us and the 16th, which is Devi, is beyond our visibility. On Poornima or full moon day all the 15 Nityas are in the moon and the moon is strong, auspicious and shines brightly. On the 1st Thithi after the Poornima, i.e., Pratipada, one Nitya leaves the moon and goes to the sun and the moon is reduced slightly in size. On the next Dwiteeya Tithi another Nitya leaves the moon and goes to the sun and the moon is further reduced in size. This way they leave one by one till the moon becomes totally dark on the 15th day, which is called Amavasya or the new moon day when moon is at its weakest and is inauspicious.
Each Nitya Devi has her own yantra, mantra, Tantra and prayogas or ritual applications. In the olden days people used to worship the ruling Nitya Devi of the Tithis.
The 27 Nakshatrams are divided in to 3 groups of 9 each and these are classified as Deva Ganam, Manushya Ganam and Rakshasa Ganam groups. They are also classified as fixed, movable, gentle, cruel etc. The Nakshatrams also have various ruling deities and good and bad attributes etc. and hence are considered suitable or unsuitable for various kinds of auspicious or inauspicious work.
The yogams which are inauspicious for any good work are mentioned in the Yogam section. The other Yogams are auspicious.
Note :- That exact moon phase and astronomical events and transitions would happen for all locations simultaneously. But the timezone and longitude differences ensure that time shown on clocks differ, also their positions in the sky may also differ.
Most of the muhurtam scriptures agree on the timings of the above 3 but some scriptures give slightly different timings especially for Arudra, Hasta and Moola Nakshatrasm. We follow Kalaprakshika, a highly acclaimed Gochara scripture. Some other softwares may differ for these if they follow Kalavidhanpaddhati or Kumaraswamiyam etc..
Yama ganda kalam:- Yamaganda is the son of guru and he is also considered as inauspicious
Gulika kalam
Gulika is also called as MANDA KALAM (son of shanischara). His rising period is also not auspicious. Not only that, the rashi where he stands is not also used for auspicious functions. He rises twice a day. Once in day and other at night. However inauspicious time is given 1hours every day.
Abhijit Muhurtam is the 8th Muhurtam out of 15 Muhurtams which prevail between the sunrise and the sunset. The time interval between the sunrise and the sunset is divided into 15 equal parts and the middle portion of fifteen parts is known as Abhijit Muhurtam.
If the sunrise occurs at 6 a.m. and the sunset occurs at 6 p.m. for a particular location then Abhijit Muhurtam would start exactly 24 minutes before midday and would end after 24 minutes of midday. In other words Abhijit Muhurtam for such a location would be between 11:40 a.m. to 12:20 p.m. of the day. Due to seasonal change of sunrise and sunset timings, the exact time and duration of Abhijit Muhurtam is not fixed.
It is believed that Lord Shiva killed demon Tripurasura during Abhijit Muhurtam. Further, Abhijit Muhurtam has blessing of Lord Vishnu who destroys innumerable Doshas with His Sudarshan Chakram during the currency of this Muhurtam.
Abhijit Muhurtam is also known as Abhijin Muhurtam, Chaturtha Lagna, Kutub Muhurat, and Swami Tithiyansha Muhurat. Muhurtam is also spelled as Muhurta. The counter part of Abhijit Muhurtam is Nishita Kalam which prevails during midnight.
It should be noted that Abhijit Muhurtam is not suitable on Wednesday as it forms a malefic Muhurtam on this weekday. Abhijit Muhurtam is also not suitable for Manglik activities like marriage and Upanayana ceremonies.
TITHI
The phases of the moon are called Tithis. Tithi is every 12 degrees difference between Sun & Moon. The formula to calculate is (Moon – Sun Long)/12 = Tithis over.The starting and ending times of tithi for the day is displayed in 12 hours format and the name of the next Tithi is also mentioned.
Except Amavasya and Poornima the rest of the 14 Tithis carry the same name. Hence to differentiate people refer to them as Krishna Paksha Dwteeya or Bahula Dwteeya and Shukla Paksha Dwteeya or Suddha Dwteeya etc.
Traditionally the Tithi prevalent at Sunrise is taken as the Tithi of the day. Various Hindu festivals are based on Month and Tithi. However for some night based festivals like Deepavali etc. the Tithi present at the night is taken. Whenever a day is an auspicious Hindu festival our Panchanga will mention it.
The tithi which is present at the time of Sunrise on first day and it continues on the second day of sunrise is called Vridhi Tithi and considered very auspicious. The Tithi which starts after first sunrise and ends before second sun rise is called Kshaya Tithi and is considered inauspicious.
The Tithis have several attributes and positive or negative qualities and suitable for various types of undertakings. For example auspicious Tithis like Ekadasi is good for worship and fast etc but if you want to fight someone or start war, the Amavasya which is an inauspicious Tithi is the suitable one!
The phases of the moon are not just the light and shadow effects of sun and moon as taught in our modern schools. They go much deeper than that and from a spiritual perspective each and every breath we take has something to with these phases.
According to the scriptures, the Moon has 16 kalas, or phases. These 16 kalas are ruled by the 16 Nitya Devis. They are called Shodasa Nityas. Out of these 15 are visible to us and the 16th, which is Devi, is beyond our visibility. On Poornima or full moon day all the 15 Nityas are in the moon and the moon is strong, auspicious and shines brightly. On the 1st Thithi after the Poornima, i.e., Pratipada, one Nitya leaves the moon and goes to the sun and the moon is reduced slightly in size. On the next Dwiteeya Tithi another Nitya leaves the moon and goes to the sun and the moon is further reduced in size. This way they leave one by one till the moon becomes totally dark on the 15th day, which is called Amavasya or the new moon day when moon is at its weakest and is inauspicious.
Each Nitya Devi has her own yantra, mantra, Tantra and prayogas or ritual applications. In the olden days people used to worship the ruling Nitya Devi of the Tithis.
VASARAM
Vasaram is a week day. Sunday to Saturday are named Banuvasaram, Induvasaram, Bhoumavasaram, Sowmyavasaram, Bruhaspativasaram, Bhruguvasaram and Sthiravasaram respectively and are ruled by Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus and Saturn of these seven. Sunday, Tuesday and Saturday are considered bad for any auspicious work. These days have certain attributes and are suitable or not suitable for certain types of work.NAKSHATRAM
Vedic astrology divides the 360 degrees of the zodiac space in to 27 Nakshatrams or star constellations. Each Nakshatram has a span of 13 degrees and 20 minutes. Each Nakshatram span is further subdivided in to 4 Padams or quarters of 3 degrees and 20 minutes. On the day in question the Nakshatram in which Moon is placed is the prevailing Nakshatram. While the span of the Nakshtrams is constant the speed of Moon is not constant. Hence a Nakshatram may be in operation for more than a day or less than a day. Panchangam gives the starting and ending time of the nakshtram in operation and the name of the next Nakshatram wherever applicable.The 27 Nakshatrams are divided in to 3 groups of 9 each and these are classified as Deva Ganam, Manushya Ganam and Rakshasa Ganam groups. They are also classified as fixed, movable, gentle, cruel etc. The Nakshatrams also have various ruling deities and good and bad attributes etc. and hence are considered suitable or unsuitable for various kinds of auspicious or inauspicious work.
YOGAM
Yogam is a time period prevalent in a day and is calculated by adding the longitudes of Sun and moon and dividing it into 27 equal parts.The yogams which are inauspicious for any good work are mentioned in the Yogam section. The other Yogams are auspicious.
KARANAM
A Karanam has half the span of the Tithi so there are 2 Karanams during a Tithi. There are total 11 Karanams. The Karanam sequence changes according to Shuklapakshm or Krishnapaksham and the 1st half or 2nd half of the tithi. The Karanams too have good and bad attributes and are suitable for various good or bad undertakings.Special Yogams
On certain days when the Tithi, Nakshatra & Karana are all auspicious, that length of time is called Shubha Yogam or auspicious time – like Sarvartha Siddhi Yogam or Amrita Siddhi Yogam etc. Similarly several bad combinations are called Asubha Yogam or inauspicious time like Mrityu Yogam, Randhra Yogam etc.Calendar Types
There are many types of calendars used in India. Mostly they follow Lunar Calendar. Although there are some who follow Luni-Solar System. An attempt to cover a large portion of those has been made, and will continue.Years Types
- There are several types of year numbering systems. Three of those implemented are :
- Vikram Samvatsaram -(New Year from Chaitra).
- Vikarm Samvatsaram (Kartak) - (New Year from Kartik). Used in Gujarat and other places, new year just after diwali.
- Shaka - Indian National Calendar.
Month Types
There are two types of calendars. Amavasyant and Purnimant. All other things remain the same in these two, only the month change is on amavasya and purnima respectively. This information is collected from the internet. If you have any corrections please contact me.Location
Panchangam of the day is defined at the sunrise. The location plays a very very important role. The latitude, longitude and the timezone of a place determine the time of the sunrise and sunset. For most of India the location of Ujjain can be considered as a crude approximation. For other countries the changes in panchangm would be significant. The same principle used in India can be used to find panchangm for any location on the earth.Note :- That exact moon phase and astronomical events and transitions would happen for all locations simultaneously. But the timezone and longitude differences ensure that time shown on clocks differ, also their positions in the sky may also differ.
Sunrise Sunset Timings
Depending on the location and timezone of a place the sunrise and sunset of a place can be calculated. The sunrise is defined to take place when the upper edge of sun rises from the horizon, similarly for sunset is defined when the trailing edge of the sun's disk disappears. Atmospheric Refraction is also taken into account as at rise/set the actual position of sun is slightly different from apparent position. But in Hindu Calendar the sunrise/sunset is taken to be the point when the middle of the disk of the sun crosses the horizon. The time difference due to this can be a couple of minutes. This affects the Jyotisha, muhurtum calculations.Vedic Times
- Ghati, Pal ( Vighati, Kala) and Vipal (Lipta, Vikala) are Vedic Times (Hindu Units of Times).
- They are similar to Hour: Minute : Seconds and are also called Ishta Kala.
- Hindu Day starts at sunrise instead of 12:00 in the night.
- A day is divided into 60 Ghatis, each ghati 24 minutes long.
- A ghati has 60 pal and a pal has 60 vipala.
- Two ghatis make a Muhurta.
About The Kalams
Rahukalam, Yamagandamkalam & Gulikakalam
These periods are not suitable for any auspicious undertaking. They differ from place to place depending on Sun-rise & Sun-set time.Varjyam, Durmuhurtam & Amrita Kalam
When a Nakshatram is in operation certain portions of time periods are considered auspicious or inauspicious. This varies from Nakshatram to Nakshatram and also on the duration of the Nakshatram. The calculation rules are complicated. Varjyam & Durmuhurtam are inauspicious periods and not suitable for any auspicious undertaking. Amrita Kalam is an auspicious period.Most of the muhurtam scriptures agree on the timings of the above 3 but some scriptures give slightly different timings especially for Arudra, Hasta and Moola Nakshatrasm. We follow Kalaprakshika, a highly acclaimed Gochara scripture. Some other softwares may differ for these if they follow Kalavidhanpaddhati or Kumaraswamiyam etc..
Tarabalam
To calculate tarabalam one must calculate position of daily nakshatram from ones Janma nakshatram (both nakshatram inclusive). Divide that by 9. If the reminder is 2,4,6,8,9 or 0 then it’s good otherwise it’s bad, ie, 3,5,7 to be avoided. The specific auspicious or inauspicious details are displayed in Panchangam.Chandrabalam
Chandrabalam means the strength of the moon. On the day in question if the zodiac sign in which Moon is placed happens to be 6th, 8th or 12th counted from your Janmarashi, the Chandrabalam is bad. 8th is the worst. All other 9 signs the Chandrabalam is strong.Hora
The Hora is approximately one hour duration in a day, ruled by a particular planet. The time can vary depending on Sunrise time and day/night duration. In a day starting from the sunrise there are 24 horas ruled by the seven planets. Depending on the ruling planet the horas are either suitable or inimical for various undertakings. This can be used to select a suitable time for an undertaking depending on which planet Hora it is.Muhurtams
There are 30 Muhurtas in a day. It is approximately 48 minutes but can vary slightly depending on the day/night duration. Out of the 30 Muhurtams, Rudra, Ahi, Pitru, Puruhuta, Naktanchara, Bhaga, Girisa, Ajipada, Yama & Agni are inauspicious Muhurtams.Lagnams
The lagnam is the zodiac sign rising on the eastern horizon at any given time and place. In a day there are 12 lagnasm of approximately 2 hours duration but they vary a bit depending on date, time, month and place. Lagnam plays an important role in selecting the Muhurtam. The lagnam timings in a day are displayed in Panchangm(In Future Updates).Chougadia Pravesham
Chaugadia table used to check the auspicious time to start any good work – especially for travel. Amruta, Shubha, Labha and Chala are the 4 good muhurtams and Roga, kala and Udyoga are the 3 bad ones. The actual day duration or night duration are taken from sunrise and sun set timings of the place and divided by 8 an each portion is a Chaugadia.About Rahu Kalam
According to Vedic astrology Rahu is an inauspicious planet. During transition of planets the time under the influence of Rahu should be avoided to do any auspicious work. Doing Puja, Hawanam or Yagnam to propitiate auspicious planets during this time is interfered by Rahu due to its malefic nature. If one does Puja, Hawanam or Yagyam during Rahu Kalam then desired results are not achieved. Hence it is important to consider Rahu Kalam before starting any new work. By doing so, possibility of achieving desired results is increased.
However any work related to Rahu gives good results during this period. Hawanam, Yagnam, etc. to propitiate Rahu can be done during this time.
People, especially in South Indians, give utmost importance to Rahu Kalam. Auspicious activities like marriage rituals, engagement, Gruha Pravesham, any purchase of stocks, shares, gold, home, car and starting new business or trade are avoided during this time. Rahu Kalam is considered only for undertaking any new work and already started work can be continued during Rahu Kalam.
Rahu Kalam is a certain amount of time every day which lasts approximately for one and half hour. Rahu Kalam is one of the eight segments of the day between sunrise and sunset. Eight segments of the day are calculated by taking the total time between sunrise and sunset at a given place and then dividing this time duration by eight.
Rahu Kalam timings and duration are not same for any two locations due to difference in local timings of sunrise and sunset. Even for one location Rahu Kalam timing and duration are not same for all days as sunrise and sunset timings keep changing throughout the year. In other words Rahu Kalam varies from place to place and from day to day. Hence Rahu Kalam should be looked at for each day.
After sunrise first period (out of eight division of time between sunrise and sunset) which approximately lasts for one and half hour is always auspicious as this duration of the day is always free from malefic effects of Rahu. On Monday Rahu Kalam falls on the 2nd period, Saturday on the 3rd period, Friday on the 4th period, Wednesday on the 5th period, Thursday on the 6th period, Tuesday on the 7th period and Sunday on the 8th period.
Few people consider Rahu Kalam for night duration also which is less popular as most important and auspicious work are started during day time. However Rahu Kaal during night can also be calculated by dividing duration between sunset and next day sunrise by eight. According to some Rahu Kalam on Tuesday, Friday and Sunday has more malefic effects than those of other weekdays.
Yama ganda kalam:- Yamaganda is the son of guru and he is also considered as inauspiciousGulika kalam
Gulika is also called as MANDA KALAM (son of shanischara). His rising period is also not auspicious. Not only that, the rashi where he stands is not also used for auspicious functions. He rises twice a day. Once in day and other at night. However inauspicious time is given 1hours every day.
About Abhijit Muhurtam
Abhijit Muhurtam is auspicious time during midday which approximately lasts for 48 minutes. Abhijit Muhurtam is capable of destroying innumerable Doshas and it is considered one of the best Muhurats to start all sort of auspicious works. Abhijit Muhurtam is a powerful election and can be chosen for day-to-day life activities without going into intricacies of finding a suitable Muhurtam for the day.Abhijit Muhurtam is the 8th Muhurtam out of 15 Muhurtams which prevail between the sunrise and the sunset. The time interval between the sunrise and the sunset is divided into 15 equal parts and the middle portion of fifteen parts is known as Abhijit Muhurtam.
If the sunrise occurs at 6 a.m. and the sunset occurs at 6 p.m. for a particular location then Abhijit Muhurtam would start exactly 24 minutes before midday and would end after 24 minutes of midday. In other words Abhijit Muhurtam for such a location would be between 11:40 a.m. to 12:20 p.m. of the day. Due to seasonal change of sunrise and sunset timings, the exact time and duration of Abhijit Muhurtam is not fixed.
It is believed that Lord Shiva killed demon Tripurasura during Abhijit Muhurtam. Further, Abhijit Muhurtam has blessing of Lord Vishnu who destroys innumerable Doshas with His Sudarshan Chakram during the currency of this Muhurtam.
Abhijit Muhurtam is also known as Abhijin Muhurtam, Chaturtha Lagna, Kutub Muhurat, and Swami Tithiyansha Muhurat. Muhurtam is also spelled as Muhurta. The counter part of Abhijit Muhurtam is Nishita Kalam which prevails during midnight.
It should be noted that Abhijit Muhurtam is not suitable on Wednesday as it forms a malefic Muhurtam on this weekday. Abhijit Muhurtam is also not suitable for Manglik activities like marriage and Upanayana ceremonies.