Panchang For Today, Daily Panchang

Panchang or Panchangam is a Hindu Calendar which is based on Indian Vedic Astrology. People do not perform any auspicious activity without consulting Panchang in Hinduism. It is also known as Almanac based on ancient Indian Vedic astrological calculation. It is a sanskrit word, which means “Five Limbs”.

Let’s understand how the year, months and days are being tabulated in Panchang

There are twelve months in Hindu Panchang and each month consists of two Pakshas: Shukla Paksha and Krishna Paksha. There are two Ayanas in a year and 27 Nakshatras visit these two Ayana’s Rashis or Signs every year. The calculation of months are based on the movement of Sun and Moon. The day when Sun enters into any sign is celebrated as Sankranti and position of Moon in any constellation on Poornima defines the Month of the Year.

Lunar Year is smaller than Solar Year by 11 days, 3 ghadi and 48 pals. Hence there is a need of extra month in every 3-year period. That month is known as Adhik Maas, Mal Maas or Purushottam Mahina. There are 30 days in a month. A month is divided into two pakshas based on the movement or speed of Moon. A day is known as Tithi which varies from 19 hours to 24 hours. 24 hours are divided into 8 pehers and one peher is approximately of 3 hours. 30 minutes of Peher is equivalent to one “Pal”. According to Hindu Astrology, a day or tithi comprises of 4 Pehers of Day and 4 Pehers of Night.

Five Limbs or Attributes of Panchang:

• Tithi: If Moon moves 120 that of Sun then it is known as one Tithi. There are 30 tithis in a Lunar Month. There are two Pakshas in a Lunar Month: Shukla Paksha and Krishna Paksha. Each paksha consists of 15 tithis. Tithis are classified into 5 types : Nanda, Bhadra, Jaya, Rikta and Poorna. Among all these tithis, Rikta is considered inauspicious.
• Vaar : The time difference between one sun rise to next sun rise is known as Vaar or day. These are seven in number viz: Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
• Nakshatra : The group of stars is called as Nakshatras. There are 27 Nakshatras in Universe. Every Nakshatra has 4 charans and 9 charans make one rashi or zodiac sign. These 27 Nakshatras are as follows: Ashwini, Bharani, Krittika, rohini, Mrigshira, Ardra, Punarvasu, Pushya, Ashlesha, Magha, Poorva Phalguni, Uttar Phalguni, Hasta, Chitra, Swati, Vishakha, Anuradha, Jyeshtha, Mula, Poorva Ashada, Uttar Ashada, Sravan, Dhanistha, Shatbisha, Poorva Bhadrapad, Uttar Bhadrapad and Revati.
• Yog : There are 27 yogas defined in Vedic Astrology. It is obtained through the sum of Longitude of Sun and Moon divided by 130 20I .
• Karan : Karan is half of one tithi. Hence there are 60 karans in a month as per Vedic Astrology. These are movable and fixed in nature, such as Baav, Balav, Kaulav, Taitilya, Gara, Vaanij, Vishti (Movable) Shakuni, Chatuspad, Naag, Kitughna (Fixed).

In conclusion, Panchang is very important to perform any day to day task. It determines an auspicious time to carry out any activity so as to draw positive results in near future.