How to read a panchang
Open any traditional Indian calendar and you will find, for every date, a dense block of Sanskrit terms — the panchang. The word means "five limbs" (pancha-anga), and that is exactly what it is: five measurements of the sky that together describe the astrological quality of a day. Once you know the five, the block stops being mysterious.
1. Tithi — the lunar day
A tithi is one-thirtieth of the Moon's cycle: the time the Moon takes to move 12 degrees ahead of the Sun. Fifteen tithis wax from new moon to full (Shukla paksha, the bright fortnight), fifteen wane back (Krishna paksha, the dark fortnight). Tithis are the backbone of the festival calendar — Diwali, Ekadashi fasts, and most observances are fixed by tithi, not by Gregorian date, which is why festival dates shift each year.
2. Vara — the weekday
The familiar seven-day week, each day ruled by a graha: Somavara (Monday) by the Moon, Mangalavara (Tuesday) by Mars, through Shanivara (Saturday) by Saturn. The vara's ruler gives the day its baseline flavour and is one of the oldest continuously used pieces of astrology in daily life.
3. Nakshatra — the Moon's mansion
Which of the 27 lunar mansions the Moon occupies today. Each nakshatra spans 13°20′ of the zodiac and carries its own temperament — the day inherits it. This is the same system that anchors your birth chart's dasha timeline (see our mahadasha guide).
4. Yoga — the Sun–Moon sum
The combined longitude of Sun and Moon, divided into 27 named yogas. Some are considered supportive, a few (like Vyatipata) are traditionally handled with care. Yoga is the limb most people skip — it is the astronomer's limb, subtle but part of the full picture.
5. Karana — the half-tithi
Each tithi splits into two karanas, giving eleven names that repeat through the month. Karanas matter mainly in muhurta — the art of choosing a good moment to begin something.
Reading the day as a whole
No single limb makes a day "good" or "bad." A traditional reading weighs all five together, and then — crucially — against your own chart: a nakshatra that is neutral in general may be significant for you because of where your Moon sits. That last step is what a printed almanac cannot do for you.
ManasAstro computes aaj ka panchang live — today's tithi and nakshatra are on our daily rashifal page right now — and its readings weigh the day against your own kundli, in plain English or Hindi.