Rahu kaal (Rahu kalam in South India) is a daily period of about 90 minutes that many families avoid for starting anything new: signing a deal, leaving for an interview, taking delivery of a car, a puja for a new venture. Unlike a festival date, it comes every single day - which is why "Rahu kaal today" is one of the most searched panchang questions in India.
The rule in one line
Divide the day from sunrise to sunset into eight equal parts. Rahu kaal is one of those parts, chosen by the weekday:
| Weekday | Part of the day | At a 6:00 sunrise and 18:00 sunset |
|---|---|---|
| Sunday | 8th | 16:30 - 18:00 |
| Monday | 2nd | 07:30 - 09:00 |
| Tuesday | 7th | 15:00 - 16:30 |
| Wednesday | 5th | 12:00 - 13:30 |
| Thursday | 6th | 13:30 - 15:00 |
| Friday | 4th | 10:30 - 12:00 |
| Saturday | 3rd | 09:00 - 10:30 |
A popular memory line is "Mother Saw Father Wearing The Turban Sunday" - Monday, Saturday, Friday, Wednesday, Thursday, Tuesday, Sunday for parts 2 to 8.
Why your Rahu kaal is not the printed time
The "07:30 - 09:00 on Monday" you see on calendars assumes sunrise at exactly 6:00. Real sunrise moves:
- In Delhi, sunrise ranges from about 05:23 in June to 07:15 in January, and the day is about 4 hours longer in summer than in winter. Rahu kaal shifts by more than half an hour across the year.
- Mumbai and Chennai have a smaller seasonal swing but a later sunrise than Kolkata, because India uses a single time zone across 30° of longitude. Kolkata's sunrise is roughly an hour earlier than Ahmedabad's on the same day.
- Abroad - New Jersey, London, Dubai - you need the times for your own sunrise, not India's.
That is why our free panchang calculates Rahu kaal from your city's actual sunrise and sunset.
Yamaganda and Gulika
Two more eighths of the day are watched in South India:
- Yamaganda: 5th part on Sunday, 4th Monday, 3rd Tuesday, 2nd Wednesday, 1st Thursday, 7th Friday, 6th Saturday. Avoided for auspicious starts.
- Gulika kaal: 7th part on Sunday, 6th Monday, 5th Tuesday, 4th Wednesday, 3rd Thursday, 2nd Friday, 1st Saturday. Traditionally, whatever is started in Gulika tends to repeat - so it is avoided for funerals and debts, and some use it for things they want repeated.
What people avoid in Rahu kaal - and what is fine
Commonly avoided: starting a journey, a new business or job, a puja for a new purchase, property or vehicle deals, an important meeting you can schedule.
Fine during Rahu kaal: routine work, things already started, worship of Rahu or Durga (some temples do special Rahu kaal pujas, especially on Tuesdays and Fridays), and anything that can't be moved, like a flight or an exam.
Rahu kaal is a matter of tradition, not a rule of law or science. If a time can't be changed, most pandits suggest a short prayer and going ahead calmly.
Rahu kaal vs Abhijit muhurat
When the day's tithi and nakshatra are ordinary and you need a good time, Abhijit muhurat - the 8th of 15 daytime muhurtas, centred on local noon and about 48 minutes long - is the classic fallback. Many traditions don't use it on Wednesdays. Our panchang shows both, along with the full day and night choghadiya.