Why Panchang depends on location

A Panchang depends on location because sunrise and sunset determine its daily reference moment and many of its time windows.

Two cities can share a timezone but have different sunrise times. Latitude, longitude and season matter, so selecting a timezone alone is not enough to produce a city's Panchang.

What changes with the city

Sunrise, sunset, moonrise and moonset depend on the place. Rahu Kaal, Yamaganda, Gulika and Abhijit divide daylight; Choghadiya and Hora divide both daylight and night. Their clock ranges change accordingly.

The sunrise Tithi, Nakshatra, Yoga or Karana can differ if a transition falls between the two cities' sunrise moments.

What remains the same moment

With the same astronomical conventions, the geocentric Sun and Moon positions give one transition moment worldwide for each of these four parts. That moment is written differently on clocks in different timezones.

For example, if a tithi ends at 10:15 IST, that same instant is 04:45 UTC. This is a clock conversion, not a second tithi transition. Whether either city's sunrise falls before or after it determines that city's sunrise value.

City selection and clock display

Selecting a different city changes the Panchang location. The city time / Local time switch changes only how the selected city's times are displayed. It does not turn a Delhi Panchang into a London Panchang.

Date labels, including “tomorrow,” remain relative to the selected city's calendar date. City time is the clearest setting for comparing a page with its dated examples.

At high latitudes, some dates have no sunrise or sunset. The site explains when the required sunrise-to-sunset day is unavailable instead of supplying ordinary daily windows.

See the reading guide, or choose the required city on the home page.