Rahu Kaal Today

Find today’s Rahu Kaal, Gulika Kaal, and Yamaganda Kaal for your city. Sunrise-based timings with the canonical Vedic weekday assignments.

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28.6139°, 77.2090° · Asia/Kolkata

Showing Delhi until you choose a city

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Quick facts

Calculation methodSunrise to sunset divided into 8 equal periods
Period length~90 minutes (varies by date and latitude)
Weekday assignmentSun 8, Mon 2, Tue 7, Wed 5, Thu 6, Fri 4, Sat 3
Related windowsGulika Kaal, Yamaganda Kaal (separate assignments)
Location dependencyYes - varies with local sunrise and sunset
Default locationDelhi until you choose a city
Sunrise algorithmMeeus/NOAA-style (Meeus 1998 ch. 15), ~1 minute precision
PrivacyYour city/date calculation is client-side; major-cities table is server-rendered. No personal data sent.

What is Rahu Kaal?

Rahu Kaal (also spelt Rahu Kalam or Rahukalam, and known in Hinglish as Aaj Ka Rahu Kaal) is a roughly 90-minute window in each day considered inauspicious in Vedic astrology. It is one of eight equal segments that divide the daytime span between sunrise and sunset. Each weekday is traditionally assigned a specific segment as Rahu Kaal, named after the lunar north node Rahu.

In Indian cultural practice, Rahu Kaal is treated as unsuitable for initiating new activities, particularly marriage rituals, vehicle and property purchases, business launches, signing contracts, and beginning long journeys. It is not, however, considered a window during which to halt routine work or delay urgent matters.

How is Rahu Kaal calculated?

The math is simple. Take the local sunrise and sunset for your date and city. Divide the interval between them into 8 equal parts. Then look up which part is assigned to today’s weekday. That part is Rahu Kaal.

A worked example for Delhi on a Saturday with sunrise at 05:24 IST and sunset at 19:13 IST: the day length is 13 hours 49 minutes, so each of the 8 periods is about 1 hour 44 minutes. Saturday is assigned period 3 for Rahu Kaal, so Rahu Kaal runs from about 08:52 to 10:36 IST. The same day also has Gulika Kaal (period 1, at sunrise) and Yamaganda Kaal (period 6, in mid-afternoon).

Sunrise and sunset themselves are computed using a Meeus-style algorithm (after the standard astronomical reference, Jean Meeus, Astronomical Algorithms, 2nd ed., 1998, chapter 15) with the standard 50′ atmospheric-refraction convention. Typical precision is around 1 minute for Indian latitudes.

Rahu Kaal by day of the week

These are the canonical Vedic period assignments for each weekday. Period 1 starts at sunrise; period 8 ends at sunset. Each period is one-eighth of the day length.

WeekdayRahu Kaal periodGulika Kaal periodYamaganda Kaal period
Sunday875
Monday264
Tuesday753
Wednesday542
Thursday631
Friday427
Saturday316

Gulika Kaal and Yamaganda Kaal

Gulika Kaal is the segment ruled by Gulika (in some traditions identified with Mandi, Saturn’s son). It uses a different weekday assignment from Rahu Kaal: Sunday segment 7, Monday segment 6, Tuesday segment 5, Wednesday segment 4, Thursday segment 3, Friday segment 2, Saturday segment 1. On Saturday Gulika Kaal starts at sunrise.

Yamaganda Kaal (also spelt Yamagandam or Yamaghanta) is the segment associated with Yama, the deity of time and death. Its weekday assignment is: Sunday segment 5, Monday segment 4, Tuesday segment 3, Wednesday segment 2, Thursday segment 1, Friday segment 7, Saturday segment 6. The three windows together occupy three of the eight daily segments, leaving five segments as neutral or favourable depending on tradition.

Activities to avoid during Rahu Kaal

Rahu Kaal is traditionally avoided for starting marriage rituals, Griha Pravesh (house-warming), vehicle, property and gold purchases, business launches, signing contracts, and beginning long journeys. Routine work and urgent matters - medical, legal, or unavoidable travel - should not be delayed; cultural practice treats Rahu Kaal as inauspicious for initiating major undertakings, not for continuing already-underway activities.

People often also check Abhijit Muhurta (the auspicious midday window) when planning around Rahu Kaal. Abhijit Muhurta is not included in this v1 tool.

Rahu Kaal in major Indian cities today

Times for Saturday, 30 May 2026 (Asia/Kolkata). All values use the locked Vedic weekday assignments per the canonical Drik Panchang convention.

CityRahu KaalGulika KaalYamaganda Kaal
Delhi, Delhi08:51 AM - 10:35 AM05:24 AM - 07:07 AM02:02 PM - 03:46 PM
Mumbai, Maharashtra09:18 AM - 10:57 AM06:00 AM - 07:39 AM02:15 PM - 03:53 PM
Bengaluru, Karnataka09:04 AM - 10:40 AM05:52 AM - 07:28 AM01:53 PM - 03:29 PM
Chennai, Tamil Nadu08:53 AM - 10:30 AM05:41 AM - 07:17 AM01:42 PM - 03:19 PM
Kolkata, West Bengal08:13 AM - 09:53 AM04:51 AM - 06:32 AM01:14 PM - 02:55 PM
Hyderabad, Telangana08:57 AM - 10:35 AM05:41 AM - 07:19 AM01:51 PM - 03:29 PM
Pune, Maharashtra09:14 AM - 10:53 AM05:57 AM - 07:36 AM02:10 PM - 03:49 PM
Ahmedabad, Gujarat09:15 AM - 10:56 AM05:54 AM - 07:35 AM02:18 PM - 03:58 PM
Jaipur, Rajasthan08:59 AM - 10:41 AM05:33 AM - 07:16 AM02:07 PM - 03:49 PM
Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh08:38 AM - 10:21 AM05:13 AM - 06:55 AM01:46 PM - 03:29 PM
Kochi, Kerala09:12 AM - 10:47 AM06:02 AM - 07:37 AM01:57 PM - 03:32 PM
Patna, Bihar08:22 AM - 10:05 AM04:58 AM - 06:40 AM01:29 PM - 03:11 PM

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Rahu Kaal?

Rahu Kaal is a roughly 90-minute window in Vedic astrology considered inauspicious for starting new activities. It is one of eight equal segments that divide the daytime from sunrise to sunset; each weekday is assigned a specific segment as Rahu Kaal, named after the lunar north node Rahu.

How is Rahu Kaal calculated?

Take the local sunrise and sunset for your date and city. Divide the interval between them into 8 equal parts. Then look up which part is assigned to today's weekday: Sunday is part 8, Monday part 2, Tuesday part 7, Wednesday part 5, Thursday part 6, Friday part 4, Saturday part 3. That part is Rahu Kaal.

Why does Rahu Kaal change with location?

Rahu Kaal is anchored to the local sunrise and sunset. Sunrise in Mumbai is roughly 36 minutes later than in Kolkata even on the same date, because Mumbai is further west. Both observe IST, so the clock-time of Rahu Kaal differs accordingly. Latitude also affects the length of daylight, especially in summer and winter.

What is the difference between Rahu Kaal, Gulika Kaal, and Yamaganda Kaal?

All three are inauspicious windows of equal length (one-eighth of the day), but they use different weekday assignments. Gulika Kaal is the segment ruled by Saturn's son Gulika, traditionally Saturday segment 1. Yamaganda Kaal is the segment associated with Yama. The three usually fall in different parts of the day; on Saturday, for example, Gulika is at sunrise, Rahu in mid-morning, and Yamaganda in mid-afternoon.

Why is Rahu Kaal considered inauspicious in Vedic astrology?

Classical texts attribute Rahu Kaal to the lunar node Rahu, considered a shadow grah with disruptive influence on new beginnings. The practical convention treats this window as unsuitable for initiating major undertakings such as marriage rituals, vehicle purchases, or business launches.

Can I work or eat during Rahu Kaal?

Yes. The tradition treats Rahu Kaal as inauspicious for initiating major activities, not for routine work, eating, sleeping, or continuing tasks already in progress. Urgent or medical matters should not be delayed.

Does Rahu Kaal apply at night?

The daytime Rahu Kaal calculated by this tool uses the sunrise-to-sunset interval and is the form most commonly referenced. Some traditions also recognise a separate Ratri Rahu Kaal (night Rahu Kaal) computed from sunset to next sunrise; this tool focuses on the daytime window.

How long is Rahu Kaal typically?

Rahu Kaal is always exactly one-eighth of the daytime span. In equatorial latitudes with a 12-hour day this is 90 minutes; in Indian metros it ranges from roughly 82 minutes (winter solstice in Kanyakumari) to 105 minutes (summer solstice in Srinagar).

What if my city is not in the list?

The interactive calculator above accepts any city in our autocomplete database (covering all Indian cities above 5,000 population plus global cities above 100,000). The table further down the page shows pre-computed times for twelve major metros as a quick reference.

Is Rahu Kaal observed in all parts of India?

Yes, with regional variations in convention. South Indian Tamil tradition often emphasises Rahu Kaal more than North Indian traditions, but the underlying calculation - daytime divided into 8 parts with a weekday-specific assignment - is the same across the major Panchang schools.

Want your full birth chart with planetary positions and Vimshottari Dasha? Free Kundli Generator computes Lahiri sidereal D1 and D9 charts with Mangal Dosha and Dasha timeline.

Planning matrimonial muhurta around Rahu Kaal? Free Kundli Matching (Ashtakoot Guna Milan) runs the 36-Guna compatibility analysis for two partners.

Sources

  • Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra (classical text; Santhanam translation, 1984) for the Vedic kaalachakra framing and the weekday-to-period assignments for Rahu, Gulika, and Yamaganda.
  • Muhurta Chintamani by Daivajna Ramacharya, c. 1600 CE, for muhurta and abhijit conventions.
  • Jean Meeus, Astronomical Algorithms, 2nd ed., Willmann-Bell, 1998. Chapter 15 (“Rising, Transit, and Setting”) for the sunrise / sunset algorithm.
  • NOAA Solar Calculator as a cross-validation reference. We use the Meeus formulation; this is distinct from NREL’s separate “Solar Position Algorithm” (Reda & Andreas, 2003).
  • Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA), Kavalur, for the IST reference frame (UTC+05:30).
Cultural / informational purposes only
Rahu Kaal and related timing windows are part of a cultural and traditional framework. They are for informational purposes only and not a substitute for professional advice in any matter. Last updated: May 2026.