The Five Parts of Panchanga: Tithi, Vara, Nakshatra, Yoga and Karana
Learn what each Panchanga element measures, why transitions differ from midnight, and how to use a calendar for your own city.
Panchanga is more than a date
Panchanga literally refers to five limbs of the traditional Indian almanac. These are Vara (weekday), Tithi (lunar elongation), Nakshatra (Moon’s sidereal sector), Nitya Yoga (sum of the sidereal longitudes of Sun and Moon) and Karana (half a tithi). They form different views of the same day; none is a substitute for the others.
A Panchanga display may also show sunrise, sunset, lunar phases, Rahu Kalam and Muhurta intervals. Those are useful additional computations, not extra members of the classical five. Local sunrise and the chosen traditional convention matter when a date is assigned to a festival or an observance.
What is actually calculated?
Tithi advances whenever the Moon–Sun longitude difference increases by another 12°. Each Karana covers 6°. A Nakshatra occupies 13°20′ of sidereal longitude, making 27 sectors around the full 360° circle. Nitya Yoga changes after each 13°20′ increment of the combined sidereal Sun and Moon longitudes. Vara follows the weekday rule used by the selected calendar tradition.
Because the Moon does not move at a fixed speed relative to the Sun, a tithi is not a fixed 24-hour civil day. A transition can happen in the afternoon or at night. An accurate interface should show the exact transition time and its local time zone instead of assigning every factor one label for the whole day.
A practical three-step reading
First select the city and date. Second inspect the active Tithi and Nakshatra together with their upcoming transitions. Third compare any suggested time window with the other relevant checks: weekday, sunrise-based intervals and the specific purpose of your activity. A favorable label for one factor does not certify every possible occasion.
Example: a tithi could switch at 15:40 local time while the nakshatra continues into the evening. If your activity depends on both, reading only the values shown at sunrise may miss the change. Use Galaxiora Panchanga to inspect actual city-based windows; do not transfer intervals from another city without recalculation.
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Sources and methodology
References for checking the astronomical and calendrical facts in this guide. Traditional interpretations are not astronomical measurements.