Guide

A panchangam is the traditional calendar. It describes each day by five things: tithi (the lunar day), vara (weekday), nakshatra (the Moon’s star), yoga and karana. It is the same for everyone in one place.

A jathakam is a birth chart: a map of the sky at the moment and place you were born. It is personal, and it never changes.

Calendar shows one month for the place you have chosen. The line under the month names the samvatsara and the masa, or two masas when the month crosses from one into the next. Dates can differ by place, so check the place button at the top.

In the box	Means
Large number	The date
S 5	The 5th tithi of Shukla paksha, the bright half
K 5	The 5th tithi of Krishna paksha, the dark half
Full / New	Pournami / Amavasya
Red dot	A festival
Yellow dot	Ekadashi, Pournami, Amavasya or Sankranti
Red number	A festival or a Sunday
Bold red number	Today
Red outline	The day you selected

On a wider screen, each box also shows the star and the name of the festival or marked day.

Tap a day and a card below the month shows its tithi, star, sunrise, sunset, Rahu kalam, Durmuhurtham and Varjyam. Open this day takes you to the full panchangam for that date.

Further down, Important days this month lists the marked days by date, and Print this month prints the month.

This app draws the South Indian chart. Think of it as twelve boxes around a square. Each box is one rashi, and the boxes never move: Mesha is always second from the left on the top row, and the signs run clockwise from there. Only the planets inside change from person to person.

Under the chart, each planet has a line such as Tula 16°42′ · Swati · pada 4:

• Tula is the rashi it is in.
• 16°42′ is how far into that rashi it has gone: 16 degrees and 42 minutes. Each rashi is 30 degrees, and a degree has 60 minutes.
• Swati is the nakshatra it is in.
• pada 4 is the quarter of that nakshatra.
• Retrograde or (R) means the planet appears to move backward from Earth at that time.

The sky’s circle is divided two ways: into 12 rashis of 30 degrees, and into 27 nakshatras of 13°20′. Each nakshatra has four padas of 3°20′.

Your janma nakshatra and janma rashi are where the Moon was at your birth. They are different from your lagna, which is the rising sign. The Moon moves fast, about 13 degrees a day, so the star can change on the day you were born. That is why the app asks which star your family knows if the birth time is unknown.

Navamsa is a second chart. Each rashi is cut into nine parts of 3°20′, and each part maps to a sign. It is read beside the main chart as a finer view. Because the parts are small, it depends closely on the birth time.

Vimshottari dasha is a 120-year timeline of nine planetary periods, set by your birth star. Each maha dasha lasts years, and each is divided into nine antar periods. In the app, the current ones are marked Now. A period’s name tells you which planet is in focus in tradition; the app shows dates only.

A panchangam’s good day is the same for everyone. My day adds two personal checks.

• Tarabalam counts from your birth star to today’s star. Some counts are favourable and some are traditionally avoided.
• Chandrabalam counts from your janma rashi to the Moon’s rashi today, and the 1st, 3rd, 6th, 7th, 10th and 11th are favourable.

Look at both. If the app shows a change time, the answer is different after it. These matter when you are starting something; ordinary work goes on as usual.

Saturn takes about 2½ years in each sign. Counting from your janma rashi:

• Sade sati is Saturn in the 12th, 1st and 2nd signs, about 7½ years, in three phases.
• Ardhashtama is Saturn in the 4th sign.
• Ashtama is Saturn in the 8th sign.

Sometimes Saturn slips back over a boundary for a few months. The app shows this as a note on the phase, so the dates stay honest. It tells you what each position means, and it does not say what will happen.

The quickest way is the Plan tab in Jathakam: choose what you are planning and a month, and it marks suitable days with times. The order below is what it checks, so you can follow the reasoning.

1. Choose a window. If the date can move, look at the whole month first.
2. Check your own two measures. Tarabalam and Chandrabalam should both be favourable.
3. Check the tithi. Muhurta practice avoids the Rikta tithis: the 4th, 9th and 14th of each paksha.
4. Check the star for the job. See below.
5. Pick the time. On the panchangam, stay clear of Rahu kalam, Yamagandam, Durmuhurtham, Varjyam and Vishti karana.

Buying

Brihat Samhita lists sales and buying a carriage under the light stars, Ashwini, Pushya and Hasta (98.9), and buying clothes and making or wearing ornaments under the soft stars, Mrigashira, Chitra, Anuradha and Revati (98.10). So those days are marked for a vehicle, clothes, jewellery and similar purchases.

Starting work

For something meant to last, such as a new job or business, the text lists “acts of permanent effects” under the stable stars, Rohini, Uttara, Uttarashadha and Uttarabhadra (98.6). The light stars cover sales, learning and skilled work (98.9).

Travel

For a journey, Hasta, Swati, Shravanam, Dhanishtha and Shatabhisham are the stars for “works of a moving character” (98.11). Some families have further customs, such as which direction to avoid on a weekday, so ask at home.

Why does another site or my printed jathakam differ?

Small differences are normal. Sites can use a different ayanamsa or node, and printed panchangams may use older calculation methods. A few minutes in a planet’s degree or a day in a dasha date is expected. A different rashi or lagna is worth checking: first check the birth time and the time zone.

I don’t know my birth time.

You can still use My day, Shani and Plan, because they need only the star and rashi. You won’t get a lagna, navamsa or dasha, as those need the time.

Why is my rashi different from my Western sun sign?

Your rashi here is the Moon’s sign, not the Sun’s, and it uses the sidereal zodiac, about 24 degrees from the Western one.

Why does a festival differ by a day from my calendar?

A tithi can begin mid-day, so its date depends on the place and on the time of day the festival is read at. Follow your family’s custom or local panchangam.