Auspicious timings depend on local sunrise and sunset.
Muhurat: The Science of Auspicious Timing
How Vedic muhurat selection works, what the Panchang's five limbs mean, and how TaraMitra finds the best windows for your occasion.
What Is a Muhurat?
A muhurat is a window of time considered auspicious for beginning an important activity — a wedding, business launch, travel, property purchase, naming ceremony or new venture. The word comes from Sanskrit and means 'good moment'. Traditional muhurat selection combines the five elements of the Panchang with the positions of the Sun, Moon and other planets.
The Five Elements (Panchang)
- Tithi: the lunar day — which of the 30 divisions of the synodic month is active.
- Vara: the weekday — each day is ruled by a planet with associated qualities.
- Nakshatra: the lunar mansion the Moon occupies at a given moment.
- Yoga: the luni-solar combination — one of 27 named combinations of Sun + Moon longitude.
- Karana: half a tithi — one of eleven named half-days.
What Astavya Checks
For each day in the Muhurat finder, Astavya checks the weekday, tithi, nakshatra, yoga and karana against traditional rules for the selected purpose. It then removes windows that overlap with:
- Rahu Kaal — the inauspicious 1/8 of daytime fixed by weekday
- Yamaganda — another inauspicious 1/8 period
- Gulika — third inauspicious segment
- Bhadra (Vishti karana) when the Moon is on earth
- Rikta tithis (4th, 9th, 14th) for most purposes
- Amavasya (new Moon) for most new ventures
- For weddings: Kharmas and combust Jupiter or Venus
Surviving windows of at least 48 minutes (one muhurta) are scored and ranked. The full Muhurat finder is available free without an account.
Chandra Bala and Tara Bala
If you add your birth profile, the Muhurat finder also computes Chandra Bala (Moon's position counted from your birth Moon sign) and Tara Bala (day's nakshatra counted from your birth nakshatra). Both are personal adjustments that refine which windows are most supportive for you specifically.
A Note on Tradition
Muhurat selection is a tradition, not a guarantee. A good muhurat creates a supportive environment for beginning something; the outcome depends on effort, skill and circumstance. Astavya shows the analysis transparently so you can understand the basis of every recommendation.