What is Rahu Kaal?

Rahu Kaal (राहु काल) is a daily period traditionally set aside from the start of new activities.

On panchang.now, it occupies one of eight equal parts of the time from sunrise to sunset. The weekday selects the part. A 12-hour day gives a 90-minute window; a different day length gives a different duration.

The weekday pattern

Weekday	Part of daylight
Sunday	8th
Monday	2nd
Tuesday	7th
Wednesday	5th
Thursday	6th
Friday	4th
Saturday	3rd

These are positions within daylight, not fixed clock times. A printed weekly schedule based on a 06:00 sunrise and 18:00 sunset is only an approximation for other places and dates.

A worked example

On Friday, 2 October 2026 in Delhi, sunrise is 06:14 and sunset is 18:06. Friday's fourth daylight part gives Rahu Kaal from 10:41 to 12:10, as displayed on the dashboard.

Moving to another city changes sunrise and sunset, so the corresponding clock range must be read from that city's page.

How it affects Now

When Rahu Kaal is active, the Now label reads Avoid. This takes priority over a Good Choghadiya and over Abhijit if they overlap. Yamaganda and Gulika have the same priority in the site's convention, but occupy different daylight parts.

Avoid describes a traditional preference about new beginnings. It does not predict an accident or mean that ordinary activities must stop. The verdict guide explains the rule order.

See how to understand the Panchang, or today's Rahu Kaal on the Delhi dashboard.