Dinacharya & Panchang (Daily Rhythm & Lunar Almanac)

Brahmamuhurta (The Pre-Dawn Hour of Meditation)

Brahmamuhurta, the “hour of Brahman”, is the muhurta of 48 minutes that begins 96 minutes before sunrise and ends 48 minutes before it. The mind is naturally quiet and the world still, which is why the scriptures and saints recommend it above all other times for meditation. Because it follows the sun, it moves through the year: earlier in summer, later in winter.

Tithis and pakshas (Lunar Days & Lunar Fortnights)

A tithi (Lunar Day)i is the lunar day: the time the moon takes to move 12° farther from the sun. Thirty tithis make a lunar month, in two fortnights: Shukla paksha, the bright half from new moon to Purnima (full moon), and Krishna paksha, the dark half from full moon to Amavasya (new moon). A tithi can begin at any hour, so a calendar day takes the name of the tithi that is current at sunrise.

The panchang’s other lunar measure is the nakshatra (lunar mansion): the Moon passes through 27 of them, roughly one a day, in its 27.3-day circuit of the stars, and each is named after a group of stars.

Ekadashi fasting

Ekadashi, the eleventh tithi of each fortnight, comes about twice a month. Devotees keep it with fasting or simple sattvic (pure, light) food, more japa (repeated prayer), meditation and satsang (Spiritual Gathering & Discourse)i. The fast is broken (parana) on the next day after sunrise. Traditions differ in how they settle a tithi that spans two sunrises or none, so for the day you observe, follow your ashram’s calendar.

🌙 Aarogya fasting tracker Lyric Sanctuary

How these times are worked out

Everything is calculated in your browser from standard astronomical formulas: sunrise and sunset with the NOAA solar method, and the moon’s position from Jean Meeus’ Astronomical Algorithms. Times are usually within a minute or two of a printed panchang. “Use my location” asks your browser once; the rounded position is kept only on your device and is never sent to us.