Choghadiya explained: good and bad times of the day

Choghadiya is the quickest way to pick a good time for everyday tasks: leaving on a trip, opening the shop, making a payment or starting a small puja. It is especially popular in Gujarat, Rajasthan and Maharashtra, where many families check it before stepping out for anything important.

How Choghadiya is worked out

The day, from sunrise to sunset, is divided into eight equal parts. The night, from sunset to the next sunrise, is divided into another eight. Each part is one choghadiya. The name means "four ghadis": a ghadi is 24 minutes, so on a 12-hour day each choghadiya lasts 96 minutes, about an hour and a half.

Like Rahu Kaal, choghadiya follows your local sunrise and sunset. In summer the day choghadiyas are longer and the night ones shorter; in winter it is the other way round. That is why a choghadiya table printed for one city or season can be wrong for you by many minutes.

The seven types of Choghadiya

There are seven choghadiyas, each linked with one of the seven visible planets:

• Amrit (Moon): the best of all; good for any auspicious work.
• Shubh (Jupiter): auspicious; ceremonies, weddings, study and spiritual work.
• Labh (Mercury): gain; business, trade, education and financial matters.
• Char (Venus): movement; good for travel and vehicles, neutral for other things.
• Udveg (Sun): restlessness; avoided for new work, though some consider it acceptable for dealing with government offices.
• Rog (Mars): illness and quarrels; avoided.
• Kaal (Saturn): loss; avoided for new beginnings.

So Amrit, Shubh and Labh are the good ones, Char is neutral, and Udveg, Rog and Kaal are best avoided for anything new.

The order through the day

The first choghadiya of the day belongs to the planet that rules the weekday:

• Sunday starts with Udveg (Sun)
• Monday starts with Amrit (Moon)
• Tuesday starts with Rog (Mars)
• Wednesday starts with Labh (Mercury)
• Thursday starts with Shubh (Jupiter)
• Friday starts with Char (Venus)
• Saturday starts with Kaal (Saturn)

After that, the day follows the planetary order Sun, Venus, Mercury, Moon, Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, and the eighth choghadiya repeats the first. On a Monday, for example, the day runs Amrit, Kaal, Shubh, Rog, Udveg, Char, Labh and Amrit again. The night has its own sequence, starting from a different planet, so always read the night list separately.

Choghadiya and Rahu Kaal together

Rahu Kaal is calculated separately and can fall inside a good choghadiya. Many people treat Rahu Kaal as the stronger signal: if a Shubh or Labh choghadiya overlaps Rahu Kaal, they use the part that lies outside it.

How to use Choghadiya well

• Travel: Char, Amrit, Shubh or Labh.
• Opening a shop, a deal or a payment: Labh, Amrit or Shubh.
• Puja, naming or a small ceremony: Shubh or Amrit.
• Medical treatment: many prefer Amrit.

Choghadiya is meant for everyday decisions. For a wedding, griha pravesh or the start of a large business, a complete muhurat that also looks at tithi, nakshatra and the people's own charts is the better guide.

Common questions

Is Choghadiya the same everywhere in India? The names and order are the same, but the clock times are not, because they follow each city's sunrise and sunset.

Can I start something in Char? Yes for travel and vehicles. For other work, Char is treated as neutral: acceptable when no better window is available.

Does Choghadiya replace Rahu Kaal? No. They are separate checks, and many people look at both.

See today's Choghadiya for your city

Every Vedic Drishti Panchang page lists the day and night choghadiyas worked out from your city's real sunrise and sunset, next to Rahu Kaal. For example: Ahmedabad, Jaipur or Pune. For a ready answer to "when should I do this?", use the Shubh Muhurat finder.