The 8 Part Division of Time Cycle - Kala Vela, Gowri Panchanga, Choghadiya

'Time' is an essential component in the scheme of things when it comes to fixing an auspicious period for a Muhurat or for undertaking an important activity. One of the common bifurcations of time happens to be the splitting of day time and night time into 8 equal divisions each. Thus in essence there will be 16 time intervals in a day comprising of 8 each for sunrise and sunset with each of them running for a period of approx an hour and a half each depending upon the length of duration of sunrise and sunset. Each of these sub divisions are ruled by a said planet and said to connote a particular specification. Based on the methodology adopted, the computation differs taking an off shoot direction by adhering to certain principles and thus leading to a shift in the planetary sequence cabinet allotment. The 3 different types of 1/8th units of division of time (approx 90-96 minutes time frame) complied comprises of the following:

- Kala Vela
- Gowri Panchanga
- Choghadiya

Basic Concepts of Time and Day:
Before explaining the intricacies of how planetary time periods are allotted for these 3 metrics, it will be good to recall the over arching hierarchy of how time gets recorded in the vedic calendar. This is exclusively defined from one of the five elements of the Panchang titled the Vara or Day.

There are 7 Vara's obtained from the 7 week days and each of them are represented by a particular planet as seen below:
Sunday - Sun
Monday - Moon
Tuesday - Mars
Wednesday - Mercury
Thursday - Jupiter
Friday - Venus
Saturday - Saturn

Each day of the week comprises of the time beginning from sunrise and ends during the next day sunrise when the next day commences. Within this period of a whole day, we divide it into two portions viz sun rise (day time) and sun set (night time). The Sun rise or day time period runs from when the sun rises in the east till the time it sets in the west. Likewise the Sun set or night time period runs from when the sun sets in the west till the time it rises again in the east.

Now, the respective sun rise and sun set portions are bifurcated further into 8 equal parts each and that's where ruling planets are assigned to each one of them. The order of the sunrise period always begins from the order of the weekday and the sunset period begins from the 5th day of the weekday and follows a specific order. For instance Sunrise period on a Sunday always starts from Sun whereas the sunset period commences from Jupiter since it happens to be the lord of the 5th weekday from Sunday (Thursday is 5th day beginning from Sunday and it's ruler is Jupiter).

Kala Vela:
The Kala vela time periods signify that portion of time slots which are primarily ruled by each of the planets from Sun to Saturn in a particular weekday operating from sunrise to sunset and again from sunset to next day sunrise. It is through these 1/8th time zoned periods of sunrise and sunset that we account for inauspicious sub periods such as Yama Ghanta Kala and Gulika Kala.

The Kala time is said to be the shadowy portion of the planets and is mainly used for delineating the time frame ruled by each of the planets. In general parlance these are termed as Upagrahas or in essence the son's of the respective 7 planets Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus and Saturn.

As mentioned, there are 7 weekdays but 8 equal parts each for sunrise and sunset. Hence 7 of these parts will be assigned to a particular planet with the 8th being headless and given to Rahu. The sequence goes as Sun-Moon-Mars-Mercury-Jupiter-Venus-Saturn-Rahu. The order starts from the ruling planet of the particular weekday for sunrise and 5th day of weekday for sunset.

Let us go about computing the kala vela order for a Friday. Since the day is Friday, first part for sunrise is assigned to the lord of the weekday Friday which is Venus. After that it will be lord of Saturday Saturn in the 2nd part followed by headless portion Rahu taking charge in the 3rd part and after that Sunday Lord Sun ruling 4th part, Monday Lord Moon ruling 5th part, Tuesday Lord Mars ruling 6th, Wednesday Lord Mercury heading the 7th part and finally followed by Thursday Lord Jupiter ruling the 8th and final part of sunrise. For sunset, order will begin from the 5th day of the weekday which in this case will be Mars since Tuesday is the 5th weekday from Friday. Thus the sequence will be Mars-Mercury-Jupiter-Venus-Saturn-Rahu-Sun-Moon making up the 8 parts of sunset.

The Kala Vela classifications with the names of the planet's son or upagraha is described below:
Sun - Kala
Moon - Paridhi
Mars - Mrityu
Mercury - Ardhaprahara
Jupiter - Yamaghanta
Venus - Indrachapa
Saturn - Gulika

Gowri Panchanga:
In the traditional sense, Gowri Panchanga is used to check auspicious time to start a new activity and avoid inauspicious time. From a religious perspective it is mainly used to decipher the right time for the purpose of a Muhurat.

The computation of time slot for Gowri Panchanga works through the following premise. As mentioned above the sunrise and sunset time are split into 8 equal parts and are assigned a planet each beginning from the weekday for sun rise (day time) and 5th day of the weekday for sun set (night time).

The only difference between the time periods of Gowri Panchanga and Kala Vela is due to the special timezone factoring of Rahu which causes changes to the planetary sequence. The Rahu period is always assigned a particular time slot for each day of the week on both sunrise and sunset and when that period arises, Rahu is always given precedence and the next planet succeeds the time period after Rahu and the similar weekday order follows. The parts assigned to Rahu for every day beginning from Sunday to Saturday during sunrise period happens to be 8th, 2nd, 7th, 5th, 6th, 4th and 3rd. During sunset period the parts assigned for every day beginning from Sunday to Saturday are 4th, 5th, 3rd, 8th, 2nd, 7th, 6th. It should however be noted that Rahu never rules the 1st part on any day whether it's a sunrise or sunset.

Rahu Kaala time is said to be associated with ultra violet rays falling on the earth that are not visible to the naked eyes. It is specifically noted that ultra violet particles fall on those portions of time assigned to Rahu on every day of the week during both sunrise and sunset and this is the main reasons that the time order of planets get impacted in order to factor this phenomenon.

To understand the concept in a simple manner, let us see how to go about computing the time slots for a Wednesday. Since the day is Wednesday, for sunrise first part is assigned to the lord of the weekday Wednesday which is Mercury. After that it will be lord of Thursday Jupiter followed by Friday lord Venus, Saturday Lord Saturn, Sunday Lord Sun, Monday Lord Moon and Tuesday Lord Mars. So we have the order of Mercury-Jupiter-Venus-Saturn-Sun-Moon-Mars. Now we have 7 planets but 8 parts need to be filled. On Wednesday during sunrise period Rahu occupies the 5th part. Hence order from Mercury-Jupiter-Venus-Saturn will remain the same and after this Rahu will come in 5th part pushing the Sun to 6th, Moon in to the 7th and Mars will finally own the 8th spot. For sunset first part is assigned to the 5th day of the weekday which is Sun (Sunday is 5th day from Wednesday). Also we know that Rahu rules the 8th part in sunset. Hence the order will be Sun-Moon-Mars-Mercury-Jupiter-Venus-Saturn-Rahu.

The Gowri Panchanga classification of planets along with the meanings indicated are listed below:
Sun - Uthi (Plan)
Moon - Amirtha (Sweet)
Mars - Rogam (Evil)
Mercury - Laabam (Gain)
Jupiter - Dhanam (Wealth)
Venus - Sugam (Comfort)
Saturn - Soram (Bad)
Rahu - Visham (Poison)

Choghadiya:
Choghadiya is again a measurement of time very similar to Gowri Panchanga and used for determining muhurat and establishing most suitable time frames to perform auspicious activities. It is more prevalent in the North of India as opposed to its counterpart Gowri Panchang which is followed predominantly in the South. They both work in a like for like vein and also tend to connote similar descriptions of the time calendar.

The main difference between the two happens to be the non factoring of the Rahu time zone for Choghadiya. Thus, it makes use of only 7 planets sans Rahu with the 8th slot being partaken by the planet that began proceedings of the 8 part sequence. The other tilt in the time computation takes place in the sequence followed which is that of the Hora order based on the distance of planets or the order of decreasing speed of planets with respect to the earth. Saturn being the farthest comes first in the order followed by Jupiter, next Mars, then Sun followed by Venus, Mercury and finally the Moon. The sequence of this order however always begins with the planet owning the weekday for sun rise day time and 5th day from the weekday for sunset night time.

Let's understand the order flow of Choghadiya with an illustration of how it is arrived at for a Thursday. Since the day is Thursday, for sunrise portion, first part is assigned to the lord of the weekday Thursday which is Jupiter. From here it will follow the order of decreasing speed of planets with the second part given to Mars (faster in speed to Jupiter), 3rd part to Sun (faster to Mars) followed by 4th part to Venus (faster than Sun) with 5th part to Mercury (being faster than Venus), 6th part to Moon (being fastest planet of them all) followed again by 7th part to Saturn (slowest planet of all) and finally 8th part aligned back to Jupiter which started the sequence. For sunset also similar process follows but starting from the 5th day of the weekday which in this case will be Moon being the 5th weekday from Thursday. Thus the 1st part will be Moon, followed by Saturn, then Jupiter, after that Mars and toeing along will be Sun, Venus, Mercury and the final 8th part will be ruled by Moon again.

The Choghadiya classification of planets along with the meanings indicated are listed below:
Sun - Udyoga (Administrative)
Moon - Amrita (Nectar)
Mars - Roga (Fight)
Mercury - Labha (Profit)
Jupiter - Shubha (Favorable)
Venus - Chala (Movement)
Saturn - Kaala (Unfavorable)

Conclusion:
From a panoptic view each of the measures of Kala Vela, Gowri Panchanga and Chogadiya all tailor towards the 8 divisions of cycles of time and look inherently similar to one another but however they all have their own individual significance and tend to branch out when it comes to assigning planetary time periods. Kala Vela follows the weekday order and has a portion which is blank given to Rahu. Gowri Panchanga on the other hand also follows the weekday order but the planetary sequence gets entangled due to the dichotomy of Rahu which is specially carved out to configure the Rahu Kaalam time. Chogadiya on the other hand does not consider Rahu into picture at all and allocates the portions only to the 7 embodied planets but however it follows the hora order course of action. Hence each of these metrics form an integral part within the time landscape and they all are conventionally similar yet eerily different from each other

Nutshell:
Kala Vela:
7 planets plus one headless portion for Rahu and follows weekday sequence order beginning from lord of the weekday for sunrise and lord of the 5th weekday for sunset.

Gowri Panchanga:
8 planets including Rahu and follows weekday sequence order beginning from lord of the weekday for sunrise and lord of the 5th weekday for sunset. Exclusively factors Rahu time period causing a tweak to the regular weekday planetary order.

Chogadiya:
7 planets excluding Rahu and follows hora sequence order beginning from lord of the weekday for sunrise and lord of the 5th weekday for sunset.

Snapshot:
Sharing below a snapshot of the ruling planets of Kala Vela, Gowri Panchanga and Choghadiya considering sunrise and sunset as 6AM and 6PM respectively. If the sunrise or sunset time happens to be earlier or later than clock time of 6, it needs to be adjusted accordingly. This roster however provides a summarized view of the exact sequence of planetary order ruling the 8 parts each in both the sunrise and sunset time framework.

Timing Events using Gowri Panchanga and Hora!

There are two main metrics of time normally employed in the Hindu calendar. These times are also used astrologically in order to take a call regarding making some important decisions. At times there can be a overlap of one over another and hence these times need to be used judicially before arriving at a decision of figuring out the right time. The two methods in vogue happen to be the 'Gowri Panchanga' and 'Hora'. The Gowri Panchanga is used mainly for muhurat purpose comprising of time slots generally of one and half hours each that indicates favorable and unfavorable time periods during different times of the day. The Hora on the other hand occurs usually at a one hour bracket frame which also indicates zones of time suitable or unsuitable for carrying out a particular task. Ideally combining the two is the best bet to ensure timing your slots accordingly. Explained below is an outline on the methodology of both Gowri Panchanga and Hora.

Gowri Panchanga:
In the traditional sense, Gowri Panchanga is used to check auspicious time to start a new activity and avoid inauspicious time. From a religious perspective it is mainly used to decipher the right time for the purpose of a Muhurat.

The computation of time slot works through the following premise. Each day of the week comprises of the time beginning from sunrise and ends during the next day sunrise when the next day commences. The day essentially has two halves viz sunrise time and the sunset time. Both the sunrise time as well as sunset times are further split into 8 equal parts and assigned to 8 planets - Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn and Rahu. The order of the sunrise period always begins from the order of the weekday and the sunset period begins from the 5th day of the weekday and follows the sequential order. For instance Sunrise period on a Sunday always starts from Sun followed by Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn and finally Rahu. The sunset time for Sunday however begins from Jupiter because it happens to be the lord of the 5th weekday from Sunday (Thursday is 5th day beginning from Sunday and it's ruler is Jupiter).

 However there is a twist to the tale and breaks tend to happen in the order largely because of Rahu. The Rahu period is always assigned a particular time slot for each day of the week on both sunrise and sunset and when that period arises, Rahu is always given precedence and the next planet succeeds the time period after Rahu and the similar weekday order follows. The parts assigned to Rahu for every day beginning from Sunday to Saturday during sunrise period happens to be 8th, 2nd, 7th, 5th, 6th, 4th and 3rd. During sunset period the parts assigned for every day beginning from Sunday to Saturday are 4th, 5th, 3rd, 8th, 2nd, 7th, 6th. It should however be noted that Rahu never rules the 1st part on any day whether it's a sunrise or sunset.

To understand the concept in a simple manner, let us see how to go about computing the time slots during sunrise period for a Wednesday and for sake of clarity let's say Sunrise starts at 6 AM and sunset begins at 6 PM. Since the day is Wednesday, first part is assigned to the lord of the weekday Wednesday which is Mercury. After that it will be lord of Thursday Jupiter followed by Friday lord Venus, Saturday Lord Saturn, Sunday Lord Sun, Monday Lord Moon and Tuesday Lord Mars. So we have the order of Mercury-Jupiter-Venus-Saturn-Sun-Moon-Mars. Now we have 7 planets but 8 parts need to be filled. On Wednesday during sunrise period Rahu occupies the 5th part. Hence order from Mercury-Jupiter-Venus-Saturn will remain the same and after this Rahu will come in 5th part pushing the Sun to 6th, Moon in to the 7th and Mars will finally own the 8th spot.

As per tradition, it is usually said that period assigned to Mars, Saturn and Rahu are not good. Rahu especially is considered highly inauspicious because the Rahu Kaalam time is said to be associated with ultra violet rays falling on the earth that are not visible to the naked eyes. It is specifically noted that ultra violet particles fall on those portions of time assigned to Rahu on every day of the week during both sunrise and sunset and that could also be one of the main reasons that the time order of planets get impacted in order to factor this phenomenon. The period of time ruled by Sun is considered good on certain occasions and the best of the lot are reserved for Moon, Mercury, Jupiter and Venus. In the Tamil calendar, you would usually associate meanings associated to each of the planets as seen below:
Sun - Uthi (Plan)
Moon - Amirtha (Sweet)
Mars - Rogam (Evil)
Mercury - Laabam (Gain)
Jupiter - Dhanam (Wealth)
Venus - Sugam (Comfort)
Saturn - Soram (Bad)
Rahu - Visham (Poison)

These results should not be however taken verbatim as on occasions the so called periods of planets ruled by malefics also can be considered based on the situation prevailing and also based on the position of planets in one's individual horoscope. For instance an event relating to a competition, Mars time period can also surely be zeroed in as it is known to be a competitive planet and at the same time if in a horoscope Saturn happens to be a favorable lord it can also be factored in for events where discipline and hard work is a prerequisite.

Hora:
Hora happens to be a unit of time comprising usually one hour time frame which is suitable for performing specific actions. It also describes the state of mind of a person depending on the hora that is operating.

Hora is computed based on the distance of planets or in essence the order of decreasing speed of planets with respect to the earth. Saturn being the farthest comes first in the order followed by Jupiter, next Mars, then Sun followed by Venus, Mercury and finally the Moon. This is looking at it from a geo centric view. Even considering the Helio-centric position, the distance of planets furthest from the Sun works out as Saturn-Jupiter-Mars-Earth-Venus-Mercury-Moon. Since Earth is where we live and not taken as a planet we replace the Earth with the Sun to derive the order. The sequence of this order always begins with the planet owning the weekday. The hora running order always starts from the beginning of sunrise and runs till the beginning of the next day sunrise with sunset not coming into play with regard to the calculations. Also the nodes Rahu or Ketu are not considered in the equation on being shadow planets derived in essence from the earth and moon.

For instance in order to derive the hora order for a Sunday, the first planet in the sequence is always the Sun since it rules the weekday of Sunday followed by Venus, Mercury, Moon, Saturn, Jupiter and Mars. It again begins with Sun and the order keeps getting repeated. The first hour of the day will always by default arrive to be the planet ruling the weekday and that's how it always works. In the same example of Sunday beginning with the Sun, you would figure that the 24th and last hour happens to always be Mercury passing on the baton to Moon to start the first hour of Monday which happens to be the weekday lord. Likewise the 24th hour on Monday ends with Jupiter meaning the next planet to start the weekday of Tuesday happens to be Mars which also lords the weekday. This sequence works in the same orderly manner for every single weekday.

From a traditional angle, it is generally believed that the Hora time of benefic planets are proved to be favorable and malefic planets time period in general is said to be avoided. They are also said to work based on the natural significations which the planets connote. Choosing Sun Hora is said to be good for dealing with Government, royal and political honours etc, Venus Hora for those denoting to marriage, fine arts, pleasure. Mercury deals with intelligence, learning et al, Moon for music, travel, good deeds, Saturn for labour, profession etc, Jupiter for in general well being and Mars for properties, competition and the like. Thus it is seen that Hora gives results largely from the default signifiers. However one can also time Hora to its advantage by looking at the placement of planets in one's natal horoscope.

Summary:
Given below is a brief nutshell of both Gowri Panchanga and Hora:

Gowri Panchanga:
- Time Period: Generally 1 and half hours duration allotted per planet
- Sunrise/Sunset: A day comprises of two parts with first part beginning from Sunrise to Sunset and 2nd part operating from Sunset to next day Sunrise
- No. of Parts: Totally 16 parts divided into 2 parts of 8 each for Sunrise and Sunset
- No. of Planets: 8 planets including Rahu but no Ketu
- Sequence: Based on the order of the weekday factoring in by giving precedence to Rahu time period. For sunrise the order begins from the lord of the weekday and for sunset the order begins from the lord of the 5th weekday from the prevailing weekday

Hora:
- Time Period: Generally 1 hour duration allotted per planet
- Sunrise/Sunset: A day begins from Sunrise and ends at commencement of  next day sunrise. Sunset time is not considered for Hora calculation.
- No. of Parts: Totally 24 parts with each Hora being approx an hour each
- No. of Planets: 7 planets with Rahu/Ketu not being considered
- Sequence: Based on the increasing distance of planets from Earth with the first hora always also being the lord of the weekday.

Sharing below a snapshot of the ruling period of Gowri Panchanga and Hora considering sunrise and sunset at 6AM and 6PM respectively. If the sunrise or sunset time happens to be earlier or later than clock time of 6, it needs to be adjusted accordingly. This roster will however give a summarized view of the sequence of planets as well as a rough estimate of the ruling planet in operation for Gowri Panchanga and Hora.