Before a journey, a signature or a new beginning, many families first ask one question: is it Rahu kaal right now? Here is what Rahu kaal is, and how it is found.
One eighth of the day
The daytime — from sunrise to sunset — is divided into eight equal parts. Rahu kaal is one of these parts. Which one depends on the weekday:
- Monday: the 2nd part
- Saturday: the 3rd part
- Friday: the 4th part
- Wednesday: the 5th part
- Thursday: the 6th part
- Tuesday: the 7th part
- Sunday: the 8th part
On a day with exactly twelve hours of daylight, each part is ninety minutes long. That is where the familiar times come from — Monday 7:30 to 9:00, Sunday 4:30 to 6:00.
Why the printed times are often wrong
Those familiar times assume that the Sun rises at 6:00 and sets at 18:00. It rarely does.
- In December, Delhi has about ten and a half hours of daylight; in June, about fourteen. Each eighth is then about 80 or 105 minutes, not 90.
- Sunrise in the east of India comes much earlier than in the west. On the same morning, Rahu kaal in Kolkata and in Mumbai can be more than an hour apart on the clock.
So a correct Rahu kaal needs your own sunrise and sunset, for your own date.
Yamaganda and Gulika
Two more periods are found the same way, each one eighth of the day, each fixed to the weekday:
- Yamaganda — like Rahu kaal, avoided for new beginnings.
- Gulika kaal — traditionally avoided for beginnings whose result you want to last, though some traditions treat it differently.
Rahu kaal, Yamaganda and Gulika never overlap on the same day.
What is avoided, and what is not
By tradition, Rahu kaal is avoided for starting something new: a journey, a purchase, a ceremony, a business. Work already under way simply continues; nothing needs to stop when Rahu kaal begins. Many families also use it for prayer to Rahu or Durga, which is considered suitable.
In short
- Rahu kaal is one eighth of the daytime; the weekday decides which eighth.
- It must be worked out from your own sunrise and sunset, not read from a fixed table.
- It matters for beginnings, not for work already in progress.