The five limbs of Panchanga
Tithi, Vara, Nakshatra, Yoga and Karana are distinct calendar dimensions.
- Tithi follows Sun–Moon angular separation.
- Nakshatra follows sidereal Moon longitude.
- Yoga uses the normalized sum of Sun and Moon sidereal longitudes; Karana is half a Tithi.
- A single Panchanga limb should not be treated as a complete good/bad verdict.
Panchanga means a five-limbed calendar framework. The five limbs are Tithi, Vara, Nakshatra, Yoga and Karana. They do not measure the same thing: each is derived from a different astronomical or calendrical relationship, and each can change at a different time during the day.
A useful daily Panchang therefore needs both astronomical calculations and a location-aware civil-day convention. AstroVedic360 anchors daily summaries to the selected location and exposes transition times instead of assuming that one value lasts from midnight to midnight.
The five limbs
Tithi is based on the angular separation between the Moon and Sun, divided into 30 lunar days. Nakshatra is based on the Moon's sidereal longitude across 27 equal sectors. Yoga uses the normalized sum of the sidereal Sun and Moon longitudes, while Karana is half of a Tithi. Vara is the weekday associated with the civil day and traditional day lord.
Because the quantities are different, their transition times are independent. A Tithi may end in the morning while the Nakshatra changes in the afternoon and Yoga changes later. A Panchang that only prints names without transition times hides useful context.
Why sunrise is important
Many traditional calendar decisions are evaluated at local sunrise rather than at midnight. That means longitude, latitude and timezone matter. A Tithi that begins after sunrise may belong differently to a festival rule than the same Tithi viewed only by Gregorian date.
Sunrise-based rules are especially important for Vrat and festival screening. Regional traditions can add additional rules, so a calculation engine should disclose whether it is showing an astronomical state, a sunrise state or a full festival-rule conclusion.
How to read daily timings
Rahu Kalam, Gulika and Yamaganda are traditional daytime segments calculated from the local sunrise-to-sunset interval and weekday sequence. They are not astronomical bodies. Abhijit and other windows are also convention-based time divisions.
Do not treat one Panchanga limb or one avoidance period as a complete good/bad-day verdict. Muhurta traditions usually combine Tithi, Nakshatra, Vara, Yoga, Karana, Lagna, personal factors and event-specific rules.
Worked example: a Tithi changes after sunrise
Imagine local sunrise occurs at 6:10 AM while a Tithi ends at 8:25 AM. The day's sunrise Panchang will correctly show the earlier Tithi, with a transition at 8:25 AM. A person checking at noon will see the next Tithi.
Both values are correct for their instants. A festival rule that asks which Tithi prevails at sunrise must use the sunrise state, while a Muhurta window later in the day should use the state active during that window.
AstroVedic360 calculates location-aware sunrise and Panchanga factors from astronomical positions, then applies separately disclosed traditional segmentation or festival rules where implemented.
Read the full AstroVedic360 methodology →