It is an ancient Hindu tradition to set a day and time to do an event whether it is religious, traditional, cultural or otherwise which is called Muhurta/Muhurat. Hindus are always giving importance to Muhurtas as according to Vedic Astrology it is very important to find a day & time that suits a specific event and also that suits the person who performs the event.
There are daily Muhurtas to conduct daily activities, Muhurtas for important events like weddings, house warming, naming ceremony etc.
Let’s see what are daily Muhurtas/good times are and their importance.
Rahu Kaal, Abhijit Muhurat, Varjyam, Yamaganda, Durmuhurat, Amrit Kaal. These are the daily Muhurats that many of the traditional & orthodox Hindus still follow. We’ll be talking about one muhurta each week to understand the importance of why we should follow.
Rahu Kaal
According to Vedic astrology, Rahu is an inauspicious planet. During the transition of planets, the time under the influence of Rahu should be avoided to do any auspicious work such as Puja, Hawan or Yagya (यज्ञ) to propitiate auspicious planets during this time is interfered with by Rahu due to its malefic nature. If one does Puja, Hawan or Yagya during Rahu Kaal then desired results are not achieved. Hence it is important to consider Rahu Kaal before starting any new work. By doing so, the possibility of achieving desired results is increased.
However, any work related to Rahu gives good results during this period. Hawan, Yagya, etc. to propitiate Rahu can be done during this time.
In South India, the utmost importance is given to Rahu Kaal. Auspicious activities like weddings, Griha Pravesh, purchase of stocks, shares, gold, home, car, starting a new business or trading are avoided during this time.
Rahu Kaal, which is also spelled as Rahu Kala, Rahu Kal, Rahu Kalam and Rahu Kalaam, is a certain amount of time every day which lasts approximately one and half hours. Rahu Kaal is one of the eight segments of the day between sunrise and sunset. Eight segments of the day are calculated by taking the total time between sunrise and sunset at a given place and then dividing this time duration by eight.
Rahu Kaal timings and duration are not the same for any two locations due to differences in local timings of sunrise and sunset. Even for one location Rahu Kaal timing and duration are not the same for all days as sunrise and sunset timings keep changing throughout the year. In other words, Rahu Kaal varies from place to place and from day to day. Hence Rahu Kaal should be looked at each day.
The first period after the sunrise (out of eight divisions of time between sunrise and sunset) which approximately lasts for one and a half hours is always auspicious as this duration of the day is always free from the malefic effects of Rahu. On Monday Rahu Kaal falls on the 2nd period, Saturday on the 3rd period, Friday on the 4th period, Wednesday on the 5th period, Thursday on the 6th period, Tuesday on the 7th period and Sunday on the 8th period.
Few people consider Rahu Kaal for night duration also which is less popular as the most important and auspicious work is started during day time. However, Rahu Kaal during the night can also be calculated by dividing the duration between sunset and the next day’s sunrise by eight. According to some Rahu Kaal Tuesday, Friday and Sunday have more malefic effects than those other weekdays.
