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.
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.
