Date & location
Rahu Kalam & Kala Times
Today's Rahu Kaal, Yamagandam and Gulika Kalam for your city - plus the auspicious Abhijit and Brahma muhurta and the full day/night Choghadiya. No login.
Free with a Sivayan account — sign up takes under a minute.
Rahu Kalam, Yamagandam and Gulika Kalam are the three inauspicious daily windows of Vedic timekeeping. They are not fixed clock times - they are computed from the local sunrise and sunset, so they shift with your city and the date. Avoiding them for new or important undertakings is one of the most widely followed timing practices across India.
Sivayan computes them from precise sunrise/sunset (Swiss Ephemeris) for any place and date, alongside the auspicious Abhijit and Brahma muhurta and the eight-fold Choghadiya - so you can plan around them at a glance.
How Rahu Kalam is calculated
The time between local sunrise and sunset is divided into eight equal parts. Rahu Kalam is one of those eight parts, and which one depends on the weekday. With a 6:00 am sunrise and 6:00 pm sunset each part lasts 90 minutes, but in summer or winter, or in a northern city, the parts are longer or shorter.
- Monday: 2nd part (about 7:30 to 9:00 am on a 6 to 6 day)
- Tuesday: 7th part (about 3:00 to 4:30 pm)
- Wednesday: 5th part (about 12:00 to 1:30 pm)
- Thursday: 6th part (about 1:30 to 3:00 pm)
- Friday: 4th part (about 10:30 am to 12:00 pm)
- Saturday: 3rd part (about 9:00 to 10:30 am)
- Sunday: 8th part (about 4:30 to 6:00 pm)
These example times only illustrate the pattern; use the calculator above for your own city and date, since a one-hour sunrise difference moves every window.
Rahu Kalam, Yamagandam and Gulika: the difference
All three are eighth-of-the-day windows, each assigned a different part by weekday. Rahu Kalam is the one most widely observed, especially in South India. Yamagandam is linked to Yama, the lord of death, and Gulika to Saturn’s son, and traditions differ in how strictly each is applied. When they overlap, many people simply choose a different time for important starts.
Using it sensibly
Rahu Kalam is a traditional timing practice, not a scientific or guaranteed prediction. Many people treat it as a gentle scheduling preference for things like signing a contract, starting a journey, or beginning a new business, while ongoing work carries on as usual. Never delay medical care, emergency travel, or legal deadlines because of it.
What you get
Rahu Kalam
The ~90-minute Rahu window for your date and city, from local sunrise/sunset.
Yamagandam
The Yama daily inauspicious window - avoid for new beginnings.
Gulika Kalam
The Gulika (Mandi) window; some traditions consider acts begun here recur.
Abhijit Muhurta
The most auspicious daily window around solar noon.
Brahma Muhurta
The pre-dawn spiritual window, ideal for practice and study.
Choghadiya
The eight day and eight night segments - Amrit, Shubh, Labh and the rest.
Common questions
No. It is derived from sunrise and sunset, which vary by date and location, so the exact clock time changes day to day and city to city.
Roughly an eighth of the daytime - about 90 minutes when day and night are equal, varying with the length of daylight.
Traditionally, starting important new ventures, journeys, or auspicious ceremonies. Routine and ongoing work is considered unaffected.
A division of day and night into eight parts each, labelled Amrit, Shubh, Labh, Char, Udveg, Rog and Kaal - used to pick favourable windows.
Tradition advises starting a journey or a new undertaking outside Rahu Kalam where possible. It is a preference, not a rule, and an exam or interview at a fixed time should simply go ahead.
Yes. Because it is derived from local sunrise and sunset, the same weekday gives different clock times in Hyderabad, Delhi or London. Pick your city in the calculator for an accurate window.
They are separate systems. Rahu Kalam marks a window to avoid, while Choghadiya grades every part of the day and night. Many people avoid Rahu Kalam first and then choose among the Amrit, Shubh or Labh slots.
Abhijit is a short auspicious window around local solar noon, about 48 minutes long, which tradition regards as a favourable time for starting important work. Practices vary by region, so treat it as a guide.