/v1/panchang/karana

Karana (half-tithi).

What this tells you

Karana is half a tithi: every 6° of Moon–Sun separation is one karana, so a lunar month has 60 karana slots. Seven movable karanas repeat eight times through the month, and four fixed karanas fall around Amavasya. Karanas are used in muhurta, mostly to avoid Vishti (Bhadra). This endpoint returns the karana running at local sunrise on `date` and the one after it, each with its end time.

`end_jd` values are Julian Days in UT. `end_local` values are local wall-clock time in the request `tz`, formatted "YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS" with no offset. The `time` parameter does not change the result. If the Sun does not rise on `date` (polar day or night) the API returns 422 `data_unavailable`.

Request

All requests require an Authorization header with your dv_live_* API key.

example request

curl "https://api.lifeastroapi.com/v1/panchang/karana?date=2027-01-15&tz=Asia%2FKolkata&lat=28.6139&lon=77.209" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"

Query parameters

Checked against the API: a parameter is marked required when the request fails without it.

Name	Required	Example	Description
`date`	yes	`2027-01-15`	Date (YYYY-MM-DD).
`tz`	yes	`Asia/Kolkata`	Timezone: IANA name (Asia/Kolkata) or UTC offset (+05:30).
`lat`	yes	`28.6139`	Latitude in decimal degrees.
`lon`	yes	`77.209`	Longitude in decimal degrees.

Response (200 OK)

The real response to the example request above, generated from the API itself. Long arrays are trimmed to their first two items. Field names are stable across versions.

200 response

{
  "date": "2027-01-15",
  "location": {
    "lat": 28.6139,
    "lon": 77.209,
    "alt": 0
  },
  "tz": "Asia/Kolkata",
  "slots": [
    {
      "index": 13,
      "name": "Vanija",
      "deity": "Lakshmi",
      "special": "Good for trade and commerce",
      "end_jd": 2461420.863881,
      "end_local": "2027-01-15 14:13:59"
    },
    {
      "index": 14,
      "name": "Vishti",
      "deity": "Yama",
      "special": "Very inauspicious; avoid all important works",
      "end_jd": 2461421.357302,
      "end_local": "2027-01-16 02:04:31"
    }
  ]
}

Field reference

Every field in the response, with its type, a real example, and what it means.

Field	Type	Meaning
date	string	Echo of the `date` parameter (local date). example: `"2027-01-15"`
location	object	Echo of `lat`, `lon` and `alt` (metres, default 0). example: `{ "lat": 28.6139, "lon": 77.209, "alt": 0 }`
tz	string	Echo of the `tz` parameter. `end_local` values are in this zone. example: `"Asia/Kolkata"`
slots	array	The karana running at sunrise on `date` (first item), then the karana that follows it (second item). example: `[{ "index": 48, "name": "Vanija", … }, { "index": 49, "name": "Vishti", … }]`
slots[].index	integer (0–59)	Karana slot in the lunar month: floor((Moon − Sun) / 6°). 0 = Kimstughna, 1–56 = the 7 movable karanas repeating, 57 = Shakuni, 58 = Chatushpada, 59 = Naga. example: `13` Jyotish: Each tithi holds two karanas: tithi index × 2 is its first karana slot and tithi index × 2 + 1 its second.
slots[].name	string	Karana name. example: `"Vanija"` Jyotish: Movable: Bava, Balava, Kaulava, Taitila, Garaja, Vanija, Vishti. Fixed: Shakuni, Chatushpada, Naga, Kimstughna. Vishti (also called Bhadra) is avoided for new work.
slots[].deity	string	Presiding deity of the karana. example: `"Lakshmi"`
slots[].special	string	Classical note on what the karana suits or should be avoided for. Always in English, even when `locale` is set. example: `"Good for trade and commerce"`
slots[].end_jd	number	When this karana ends, as a Julian Day in UT. example: `2461420.863881`
slots[].end_local	string (YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS)	When this karana ends, in local time (request `tz`), with no offset suffix. example: `"2027-01-15 14:13:59"`

Usage tips

How to use it

Vishti = warning badge
When a slot is Vishti, show a warning in muhurta and scheduling screens. The API names it "Vishti", never "Bhadra". If you pass `locale`, check `index` instead of the name: Vishti slots are 7, 14, 21, 28, 35, 42, 49 and 56.
Only two karanas are returned
The response holds the sunrise karana and the next one. A third karana can begin before the next sunrise; it is not included. It starts at the second slot's `end_local`.
Fixed karanas are rare
The four fixed karanas only run from the second half of Krishna Chaturdashi to the first half of Shukla Pratipada. On most days both slots are movable karanas.

Errors

Every error follows the same envelope. Use the error.code field (not the message) for conditional logic in your integration.

401 Unauthorized

{
  "error": {
    "code": "unauthorized",
    "message": "missing or invalid API key",
    "request_id": "req_01hqy7k8c3e7m1n"
  }
}

402 Payment Required

{
  "error": {
    "code": "trial_exhausted",
    "message": "your free trial credits are exhausted — pick a plan to continue",
    "top_up_url": "https://lifeastroapi.com/pricing",
    "request_id": "req_01hqy7k8c3e7m1n"
  }
}

429 Too Many Requests

{
  "error": {
    "code": "rate_limited",
    "message": "rate limit exceeded; retry after 12 seconds",
    "request_id": "req_01hqy7k8c3e7m1n"
  }
}

Try it

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