Rāhu Kālam
Rāhu Kālam, Yamagaṇḍa and Gulika Kālam each occupy a weekday-specific eighth of daylight. Their clock times depend on local sunrise and sunset. Mạghā calculates all three for your city and date, free and without an account.
Daylight from sunrise at 06:12 to sunset at 18:19 splits into eight parts of 1 hour 31 minutes. Gulika Kālam runs from 06:12 to 07:43, Rāhu Kālam from 09:14 to 10:44 and Yamagaṇḍa from 13:46 to 15:17, as Mạghā lists them.
Sunrise · 06:12:09Sunset · 18:19:37
- Daylight
- 1 · Gulika, 06:12–07:43
- 3 · Rāhu, 09:14–10:44
- 6 · Yamagaṇḍa, 13:46–15:17
Each window is one eighth of the time from sunrise to sunset
All three windows start from the same arithmetic. Take the daylight from local sunrise to local sunset, divide it into eight equal parts and number them from sunrise. Each window fills one part, so it lasts exactly 90 minutes only when the day is 12 hours long. In a long summer day the parts stretch, and in winter they shrink.
On Saturday 12 September 2026 in Bengaluru, Mạghā puts sunrise at 06:12 and sunset at 18:19. That is 12 hours 7 minutes of daylight, so each part lasts 1 hour 31 minutes. Saturday gives Gulika Kālam the first part (06:12 to 07:43), Rāhu Kālam the third (09:14 to 10:44) and Yamagaṇḍa the sixth (13:46 to 15:17). The diagram marks all three on that day's eight parts.
The weekday sequence
Counting daylight eighths from sunrise, Rāhu Kālam falls in part 2 on Monday, 3 Saturday, 4 Friday, 5 Wednesday, 6 Thursday, 7 Tuesday and 8 Sunday. It never occupies the first part.
Mạghā uses this common yāmārdha method with actual local sunrise and sunset. Printed 90-minute slots assume 06:00–18:00 daylight. Parāśara’s separate planetary-part scheme does not assign a part to Rāhu.
Yamagaṇḍa and Gulika Kālam are Jupiter's and Saturn's parts of the day
Parāśara assigns seven daylight eighths to planets in weekday order from the day's lord, leaving the eighth unruled. Saturn's portion is Gulika; Jupiter's is Yamaghaṇṭaka. Sunday-to-Saturday Gulika indices are 7/6/5/4/3/2/1; Yamagaṇḍa indices are 5/4/3/2/1/7/6. Some published tables move Friday and Saturday Yamagaṇḍa later. Mạghā uses the stated sequence, retaining the unruled eighth.
Gulika Kālam is a time of day, while Gulika is a point in your chart
Saturn's part gives two different things. Gulika Kālam is the whole part: a window of time, the same for everyone in one place on one day. Gulika is a single degree of the zodiac in a birth chart. Parāśara takes its longitude from the degree rising at the start of Saturn's part and judges its effects from that point.
Mạghā follows that rule. For a daytime birth, Gulika is the degree on the eastern horizon at the moment that day's Gulika Kālam begins. For a night birth, Mạghā uses Saturn's part of the night, which has no window on the Pañchāṅga page. Māndi sits at the middle of the same part. Authors differ on whether Gulika marks the start or the middle, so check which convention a text follows. The Gulika and Māndi page covers both chart points.
Rāhu Kālam carries the most weight in South India
South Indian practice gives Rāhu Kālam the greatest weight when choosing a muhūrta, and almanacs from Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana print all three windows for every day. Many families there wait for Rāhu Kālam to pass before setting out on a journey, making a purchase or holding a ceremony. Tamil almanacs call Gulika Kālam Kuḷikai.
In North and West India, people more often consult the Choghaḍiyā, which cuts the same daylight into eight parts but names them differently, so the two systems overlap. Almanac practice also weighs the three windows differently: Rāhu Kālam is usually treated as the strictest, and Gulika Kālam as less severe than Rāhu Kālam. None of them is personal. They are the same for everyone in one place on one day, whatever their birth chart.
Mạghā lists every window to avoid in the order it occurs
Muhurta schedule → Avoid windows lists Rāhu Kālam, Yamagaṇḍa, Gulika, Durmuhūrta, Varjyam and active restrictions in time order. Rows show start/end times, highlight NOW and dim ended windows. Date controls change the complete day.
Mạghā uses the Sun's centre at the horizon without refraction. Upper-edge, refracted almanacs such as Drik Panchang start September Bengaluru's day about 3½ minutes earlier, causing corresponding differences in window times.
Questions about today's Rāhu Kālam
What is Rāhu Kālam today?
It depends on where you are. Rāhu Kālam is a fraction of local daylight, so it starts at a different clock time in each city and shifts a little from day to day. Choose your city on Mạghā's Pañchāṅga page to see today's window. On Saturday 12 September 2026, Bengaluru's ran from 09:14 to 10:44.
Is there a Rāhu Kālam at night?
Not in the eighth-part method that most almanacs follow: Rāhu Kālam, Yamagaṇḍa and Gulika Kālam are daytime windows, all of them over by sunset. Some detailed almanacs also divide the night, from sunset to the next sunrise, into eight parts and print night windows. Mạghā gives these three for the daytime only; for the night it lists the eight night Choghaḍiyās and the night Horās.
How can I remember the Rāhu Kālam order?
A common English mnemonic is “Mother Saw Father Wearing The Turban Suddenly”. Its initials stand for Monday, Saturday, Friday, Wednesday, Thursday, Tuesday and Sunday, which take the second to the eighth parts of the day in turn. With a 06:00 sunrise and an 18:00 sunset, Monday's Rāhu Kālam runs from 07:30 to 09:00, and each later word moves it 90 minutes on.
Is Gulika Kālam good or bad?
Most almanacs list it with Rāhu Kālam and Yamagaṇḍa as a time to avoid for new beginnings, often as less severe than Rāhu Kālam. Mạghā lists it under “Avoid windows”, and its activity planner never recommends a time inside it, whatever the activity. Do not confuse it with Gulika in a birth chart, a point read for one person.
Check today's Rāhu Kālam for your city
Bengaluru, India · Asia/Kolkata
Check your date and city free. The fixed Bengaluru demo's Varjyam, Amṛta Kālam and Vijaya rows can differ from almanacs by hours; Rāhu Kālam, Yamagaṇḍa and Gulika Kālam are unaffected.
See today's Rāhu Kālam