Jyotish Academy
Learn the concepts behind the computation.
Every timing Bela shows is a rule from the classical texts, computed — not a generated horoscope. These six guides explain the machinery the way the classics do: what a muhurat actually is, the five limbs of the panchang, the daily inauspicious windows, choghadiya, and the Abhijit fallback. Each cites its sources.
The definitive guides
What is a muhurat?
Electional astrology, properly: the two layers (universal and personal), the rules a pandit checks, and how an engine applies them.
The five limbs of the panchang
Tithi, vara, nakshatra, yoga and karana — what each measures, how many there are, and the role each plays in an election.
Rahu Kaal, Yamaganda and Gulika
The three daily inauspicious windows: how they are computed, the weekday table, and what is actually prohibited in them.
Choghadiya, explained
The 16 daily slots of Amrit to Rog — the quickest classical way to pick a good hour, and its limits.
Abhijit Muhurat
The ~48 minutes around local noon that the classics call universally auspicious — the honest fallback window.
Muhurat vs choghadiya
When a quick choghadiya slot is enough and when you need the full election — a decision guide with a comparison table.
Reference
Core concepts, in one line each
- Tithi
- The lunar day — one 12° segment of the Moon's elongation from the Sun. Thirty tithis make a lunar month; the 4th, 9th and 14th (rikta) and Amavasya are classically avoided for new beginnings.
- Nakshatra
- One of 27 lunar mansions, each 13°20′ of the ecliptic. Muhurta matches the day's nakshatra to the activity via the seven-fold (Saptadha) classification — fixed, movable, fierce, mixed, swift, tender, sharp.
- Yoga
- One of 27 luni-solar combinations from the sum of solar and lunar longitudes. Vyatipata and Vaidhriti are universally shunned for auspicious starts.
- Karana
- Half a tithi — 11 karanas cycle through the lunar month. Vishti (Bhadra) is the one to avoid for important work.
- Rahu Kaal
- A ~90-minute inauspicious window each day, computed by dividing daylight into eight parts; its position depends on the weekday and the local sunrise. Avoid starting new ventures in it.
- Choghadiya
- Day and night each split into 8 slots ruled by the seven choghadiya types — Amrit, Shubh, Laabha and Chara are auspicious; Udveg, Kaala and Rog are not.
- Abhijit Muhurat
- The ~48 minutes around solar noon, universally auspicious — the classical fallback when no other window can be found.
- Panchaka
- A five-source check (varjya additions of tithi, vaara, nakshatra, lagna, Moon) flagging Mrityu, Agni, Raja, Chora and Roga panchakas to avoid; a 'Panchaka-rahita' moment is clear of all five.
- Tara Bala
- The day's nakshatra counted from your birth nakshatra — the personal layer no generic muhurat list can apply. Checked per-profile in the Bela app.
- Rashi
- A 30° sign of the sidereal zodiac. Your Janma Rashi is the sign the Moon occupied at your birth — the anchor of Chandra Bala.
- Chaturmas
- The four monsoon months from Devashayani to Prabodhini Ekadashi, when marriage and griha pravesh are traditionally suspended.