In the vast tapestry of Hindu timekeeping traditions, few systems offer as practical a guide to daily living as Choghadiya. This ancient Vedic method of dividing the day and night into auspicious and inauspicious time periods continues to influence millions of people across India and the Hindu diaspora, guiding important decisions from starting new ventures to planning travel.

As a practitioner who has studied Vedic astrology for over a decade, I’ve witnessed firsthand how understanding Choghadiya can transform everyday decision-making. Whether you’re planning an important meeting, scheduling a journey, or simply trying to align your daily activities with cosmic rhythms, knowing the favorable Choghadiya periods can significantly enhance your chances of success.

What is Choghadiya?

Choghadiya (also spelled as Chogadia or Chaughadia) is a traditional Hindu timekeeping system that divides day and night into eight time periods each, creating a total of sixteen periods over 24 hours. The word “Choghadiya” is derived from the Sanskrit term “Chaugh,” meaning one-fourth, as each period originally spanned approximately one-fourth of a prahar (a traditional time unit where day and night are each divided into four equal parts).

Each Choghadiya period is ruled by a specific planetary influence and is categorized as either auspicious (shubh), inauspicious (ashubh), or mixed (madhyam). This categorization helps practitioners determine the most favorable times for various activities.

According to ancient Hindu texts, the Choghadiya system was developed by sages who observed patterns between cosmic influences and earthly events, creating a practical guide for aligning human activities with auspicious planetary energies.

The Seven Types of Choghadiya

The Choghadiya system classifies time periods into seven distinct types, each with unique characteristics and suitable activities:

1. Udvegh (Anxiety): Generally considered inauspicious, especially for beginning new ventures
2. Chal (Movement): Favorable for travel and transportation-related activities
3. Laabh (Profit): Highly auspicious for financial matters and business initiatives
4. Amrit (Nectar): The most auspicious period, favorable for all significant activities
5. Kaal (Death): Considered highly inauspicious and best avoided for important beginnings
6. Shubh (Auspicious): Favorable for auspicious ceremonies and important beginnings
7. Rog (Disease): Inauspicious, especially for health-related matters

Understanding the nature of each Choghadiya is crucial for making informed decisions about when to schedule various activities.

Day and Night Choghadiya Schedule

The Choghadiya schedule varies depending on the day of the week, with specific periods assigned different qualities. The day Choghadiya begins at sunrise and ends at sunset, while the night Choghadiya runs from sunset to sunrise the following day.

Day Choghadiya Pattern:

The fixed sequence for daytime Choghadiya is:

• Udvegh (Anxiety)
• Chal (Movement)
• Laabh (Profit)
• Amrit (Nectar)
• Kaal (Death)
• Shubh (Auspicious)
• Rog (Disease)
• Udvegh (Anxiety)

However, the starting Choghadiya for each day varies based on the weekday:

• Sunday: Starts with Udvegh
• Monday: Starts with Amrit
• Tuesday: Starts with Rog
• Wednesday: Starts with Laabh
• Thursday: Starts with Udvegh
• Friday: Starts with Chal
• Saturday: Starts with Laabh

Night Choghadiya Pattern:

The sequence for nighttime Choghadiya follows a different pattern:

• Shubh (Auspicious)
• Amrit (Nectar)
• Chal (Movement)
• Rog (Disease)
• Kaal (Death)
• Laabh (Profit)
• Udvegh (Anxiety)
• Shubh (Auspicious)

The starting Choghadiya for each night also varies by weekday:

• Sunday night: Starts with Shubh
• Monday night: Starts with Chal
• Tuesday night: Starts with Laabh
• Wednesday night: Starts with Udvegh
• Thursday night: Starts with Shubh
• Friday night: Starts with Amrit
• Saturday night: Starts with Kaal

This intricate system ensures that each day has a unique pattern of favorable and unfavorable periods, requiring careful calculation based on sunrise and sunset times for accurate determination.

Calculating Choghadiya

The calculation of Choghadiya periods requires three primary steps:

1. Determine the exact sunrise and sunset times for your specific location and date
2. Calculate the duration of daylight and night hours
3. Divide each into eight equal parts and apply the appropriate sequence based on the day of the week

For example, if sunrise is at 6:00 AM and sunset is at 6:00 PM on a Sunday, the day duration is 12 hours or 720 minutes. Dividing by 8 gives us Choghadiya periods of 90 minutes each. The first period (Udvegh on Sunday) would be from 6:00 AM to 7:30 AM, the second (Chal) from 7:30 AM to 9:00 AM, and so on.

The calculation for night Choghadiya follows the same principle but uses the night duration (from sunset to the following sunrise) divided into eight parts.

Modern practitioners often use specialized Panchang (Hindu almanac) services or mobile applications to determine accurate Choghadiya periods without manual calculations.