The five limbs of a day
Panchang is a Sanskrit word meaning five limbs. It is the traditional Hindu almanac, and it describes a day through five elements: the Tithi, the Vara, the Nakshatra, the Yoga and the Karana. Taken together they describe the lunar and solar qualities of the day and are used to choose times for festivals, ceremonies, travel and new ventures.
Every Panchang also gives sunrise and sunset, the Moon phase and several daily time windows, such as Rahu Kala and Abhijit Muhurta. Because the day in this system starts at sunrise, the Panchang depends on the place. The same date can have a different Tithi in New York and in Mumbai, so a good Panchang asks for your location.
The five limbs
Tithi, the lunar day. A Tithi is the time the Moon takes to gain 12 degrees on the Sun. There are 30 Tithis in a lunar month, 15 in the bright half and 15 in the dark half. They vary in length from about 19 to 26 hours. See What is Tithi?.
Vara, the weekday. The days are named after the same seven bodies as in the West, Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus and Saturn. Each day carries the quality of its ruler. Sunday is linked with the Sun, Monday with the Moon and so on.
Nakshatra, the lunar mansion. The Moon passes through one of the 27 Nakshatras each day, and the one it occupies is part of the daily record. See the 27 Nakshatras.
Yoga, the luni-solar combination. A Yoga is found by adding the positions of the Sun and Moon and dividing the total into 27 parts of 13 degrees 20 minutes. Each Yoga has a name and a character, such as Siddhi or Vyatipata. See What is Yoga in Panchang?.
Karana, the half Tithi. A Karana is half of a Tithi, so there are about 60 in a month. There are 11 Karanas, with seven that repeat and four that are fixed. See What is Karana?.
Other items in a Panchang
Sunrise and sunset. Used to start the Vedic day and to calculate the time windows.
Moonrise and moonset. Needed for fasts such as Karwa Chauth, where the fast is broken after the Moon is seen.
Rahu Kala. A period of about 90 minutes each day, ruled by the node Rahu, that many people avoid for starting new work. See What is Rahu Kala?.
Choghadiya. A system that divides the day and night into eight parts each, labeled good, neutral or poor. See What is Choghadiya?.
Abhijit Muhurta. A short midday window, about 48 minutes around local noon, considered favorable for many tasks.
Festival and fasting days. Panchang lists the dates of Diwali, Navratri, Ekadashi and other observances, found from the Tithi and the lunar month.
The lunar calendar
The Hindu calendar is luni-solar. Months follow the Moon, and leap months are added to keep them in step with the seasons. Two systems exist for starting a month. In the Amanta system, used in much of western and southern India, the month ends at the new Moon. In the Purnimanta system, used in the north, it ends at the full Moon. This is why the same festival may fall in a different named month in different regions, though on the same day.
How a Panchang is calculated
The calculation needs only the positions of the Sun and Moon and the location of the observer. A computer finds the angle between the Sun and Moon, which gives the Tithi and Karana, the Moon position, which gives the Nakshatra, and the sum of the two, which gives the Yoga. It then notes which of these is active at local sunrise. This method gives exact times that match any traditional printed almanac, apart from small differences due to the ayanamsha used.
How people use the Panchang
Many families in India check the Panchang before any important event. A wedding date, a housewarming, the naming of a child or the start of a business may be set for an auspicious window called a Muhurta. Fasting days and festivals follow the Tithi. For people outside that tradition, the Panchang is a useful guide to the Moon cycle, to the dates of festivals, and to cultural timing that friends or colleagues may follow.
Some people also use the daily Panchang as a simple routine. They note the Moon phase, check the Tithi and plan quieter or busier days around it, much as some Western users follow Moon phases. Scientific studies have not shown that these timings change outcomes, so it is best used as part of a cultural or personal practice and not as a reason to delay important decisions.
Panchang and the chart
The Panchang describes the sky today. Your Kundli describes the sky at birth. Astrologers often compare the two, for example to see whether the Nakshatra of the day matches the birth Nakshatra, or to find the Moon transit over a natal planet. See transits.