How to Read a Panchang by Its Five Limbs

Tithi is the lunar day. There are thirty in a lunar month, fifteen in shukla paksha and fifteen in krishna paksha. Each tithi is one thirtieth of the full separation between Moon and Sun. Rikta tithis, the 4th, 9th, and 14th, are set aside for many shubha starts. Vara is the weekday, and it runs from sunrise to the next sunrise, not from midnight. Sunday is the Sun, Monday the Moon, Tuesday Mars, Wednesday Mercury, Thursday Jupiter, Friday Venus, Saturday Saturn. A muhurta after sunset still belongs to the vara that began at that morning's sunrise.

Nakshatra is the Moon's star among the twenty-seven. It sets the Vimshottari lord if it is the birth star, and it sets the quality of a muhurta if it is the day's star. Marriage muhurta prefers a known set that includes Rohini, Hasta, Swati, Anuradha, and Revati, among others. Nitya yoga is one of twenty-seven sums of the Sun and Moon. Vyatipata and Vaidhriti are among the yogas muhurta practice avoids. Karana is half a tithi. Vishti karana is Bhadra, and Bhadra is avoided for weddings, house entry, and similar starts.

The five limbs choose the day. The lagna chooses the hour. For a marriage or a griha pravesh, a fixed lagna is preferred so the act is meant to stay. The city matters, because the zone offset, and daylight saving where it is observed, changes what is rising. A panchang printed for one longitude is slightly off for a city far away, which is why the birth city and the ceremony city are both inputs. Jyothish SI uses Asia/Kolkata for every Indian city, since India has one civil zone and no daylight saving.