What Is Choghadiya? How to Read the Day and Night Table — Shubh, Labh, Amrit, Kaal Explained

2026-09-26

Choghadiya splits the day and the night into 8 equal parts of roughly an hour and a half, each named Amrit, Shubh, Labh, Char, Rog, Kaal or Udveg. Tradition favours the first four for new beginnings and holds fresh starts during the last three.

Choghadiya is a panchang (Hindu almanac) method that divides the day and the night into eight equal parts each. Every part lasts about an hour and a half and carries one of seven names: Amrit, Shubh, Labh, Char, Rog, Kaal or Udveg. By tradition, Amrit, Shubh, Labh and Char are chosen for starting something new or setting out on a journey; Rog, Kaal and Udveg are set aside for fresh starts.

To read the table you need only two things: your city's sunrise and sunset, and the day of the week. This guide covers what most panchang apps skip: how the cycle actually runs, and how to build the table yourself with pen and paper for any day and any city. The worked example is Delhi on Monday, 14 September 2026.

What does the word choghadiya mean?

Choghadiya comes from "chau" (four) and "ghadi". A ghadi is an old Indian unit of time, roughly 24 minutes. Four ghadis make about 96 minutes, which is why a choghadiya is loosely described as an hour and a half.

In practice it is not exactly 96 minutes. A daytime choghadiya is the time from sunrise to sunset divided by 8; a night choghadiya is the time from sunset to the next sunrise divided by 8. In summer the day is longer, so each daytime part stretches and each night part shrinks; in winter it is the reverse. Change the city and the sunrise and sunset change, so the choghadiya times move too.

How does the choghadiya cycle work?

There are seven names but eight parts. So in every day (and every night) one name appears twice: the first and the eighth part always carry the same name.

The order of the names never changes:

Udveg → Char → Labh → Amrit → Kaal → Shubh → Rog → (then back to Udveg)

Only the starting point changes. The first daytime part takes the name linked to the planet that rules that weekday: Monday (Moon) begins with Amrit, Thursday (Jupiter) with Shubh, Saturday (Saturn) with Kaal. Once you know the first name, the other seven follow from the order above. The night uses the same cycle but starts from a different point.

Which choghadiya comes first on each weekday?

Memorise this table; everything else follows from it.

Example: Wednesday's first daytime choghadiya is Labh. In the cycle, Labh is followed by Amrit, Kaal, Shubh, Rog, Udveg, Char, and the eighth is Labh again. That is Wednesday's eight daytime names done.

How do you read the daytime table? Delhi, Monday 14 September 2026

According to our panchang engine, on Monday 14 September 2026 Delhi has sunrise at 06:06 and sunset at 18:26. At sunrise the tithi (lunar day) is Shukla Tritiya, running until 07:08; the nakshatra (lunar mansion) is Chitra; and the engine labels the day Hartalika Teej · Ganesh Chaturthi, a day when many people look for a favourable choghadiya.

The working goes like this:

• Day length = 06:06 to 18:26 = 12 hours 20 minutes = 740 minutes
• One choghadiya = 740 ÷ 8 = 92.5 minutes (about an hour and a half)
• Monday's day begins with Amrit, so the order is Amrit, Kaal, Shubh, Rog, Udveg, Char, Labh, Amrit

Times are rounded to the nearest minute; each part is 92.5 minutes long, so some boundaries fall on a half minute. This table is for Delhi only. Mumbai, Kolkata or Jaipur have different sunrise and sunset times, so every row shifts a little.

Reading it is simple. Find the row that contains the time you want to begin. At 10 in the morning it is Shubh. At 1 in the afternoon it is Udveg, so people who follow the tradition prefer to begin after 13:48, in Char.

How do you build the table for your own city?

1. Note your city's sunrise and sunset for that day.
2. Work out the minutes between them and divide by 8. That is the length of one choghadiya.
3. Look up the first daytime name in the weekday table above.
4. Starting from that name, write eight names following the cycle (Udveg → Char → Labh → Amrit → Kaal → Shubh → Rog).
5. Begin at sunrise and add one choghadiya length for each name. The eighth part should end exactly at sunset; that is your check.

How do you work out the night choghadiya?

The method is the same; only the window changes. Take the time from sunset to the next day's sunrise and divide by 8. Take the starting name from the night column of the weekday table. Monday night begins with Char, so the eight names for the night of 14 September 2026 are Char, Labh, Amrit, Kaal, Shubh, Rog, Udveg, Char. To attach times you need the sunrise for 15 September, which your panchang will give you.

What do Shubh, Labh, Amrit, Char, Rog, Kaal and Udveg mean?

The seven names describe what kind of work tradition assigns to that stretch of time. No choghadiya is meant to stop ordinary daily activity; it is only about choosing a moment to begin something.

Four names are favourable, three are not, and the first and eighth parts share a name. So every day offers at least four or five favourable windows; there is never a shortage of time, only a small shift forward or back.

How is choghadiya different from Rahu Kaal and Abhijit Muhurat?

They are three separate systems, and none is derived from another.

• Choghadiya divides the whole day and the whole night into 8 parts each, every part with a name.
• Rahu Kaal is one separate stretch of the day, worked out by an entirely different rule from choghadiya, and set aside by tradition for new beginnings. Because the rules differ, Rahu Kaal can land in the middle of a Shubh or Labh choghadiya. The full method is here: Rahu Kaal: why it matters and how to calculate it.
• Abhijit Muhurat is a short window around the middle of the day (madhyahna), which tradition treats as good for general work. It is not part of the choghadiya cycle and can sit on top of a choghadiya of any name.

In practice people pick a favourable window from the choghadiya first, then check that Rahu Kaal does not fall inside it. And because all three rest on sunrise and sunset, the times differ from city to city; a Delhi table will not work in Mumbai.

Common questions about choghadiya

Is choghadiya different in every city?

Yes. The order of names is the same across India, but the times rest on your city's sunrise and sunset. Always use your own city's panchang.

Is the night choghadiya also used?

Yes, especially for night travel or late-evening work. The night cycle starts at sunset and its first name differs from the daytime one; see the night column of the weekday table above.

What if Rahu Kaal falls inside a Shubh choghadiya?

Check the two separately. Tradition picks a time that is favourable in the choghadiya and also outside Rahu Kaal. A day has several such windows.

Should nothing be done during Rog, Kaal or Udveg?

No. These names only help in choosing a moment to begin something new. Office, study, housework all carry on as usual. People who follow the tradition simply wait for the next favourable choghadiya before starting a new task.

How many minutes is one choghadiya?

There is no fixed number. It is one eighth of the day (or night): 92.5 minutes in Delhi on 14 September 2026, longer in summer and shorter in winter. "An hour and a half" is only a rough figure for remembering.

If you would rather not do the arithmetic every day, our daily panchang shows today's choghadiya for your city, day and night, alongside sunrise and sunset.