Panchang and muhurta, computed for the exact moment.
A panchang that gives one tithi per day cannot tell your user what is true at 3 PM, and a muhurta is about a specific minute, not a whole day. LifeAstroAPI computes every element from the actual positions of the Sun and Moon, so each answer carries its exact start and end time, and muhurta is checked for the very moment you ask about.
One day, as the API sees it
New Delhi, 15 January 2027, from /v1/panchang/advanced. Every element changes during the day, and the response says exactly when.
| Element | At sunrise | Later the same day |
|---|---|---|
| Tithi | Shukla Saptami until 14:13:59 | then Ashtami until 13:43:30 next day |
| Nakshatra | Revati until 23:50:58 | then Ashwini until 23:38:39 next day |
| Yoga | Shiva until 16:17:40 | then Siddha until 14:38:17 next day |
| Karana | Vanija until 14:13:59 | then Vishti (Bhadra) until 02:04:31 next day |
| Rahu Kaal | 11:11:35 – 12:30:31 | from this city’s own sunrise and sunset |
| Sunrise / Moonrise | 07:14:47 / 11:16:49 | to the second |
A user who opens your app at 3 PM is already in Ashtami, and from 2:13 PM the day is inside Bhadra (Vishti karana), which many families avoid for auspicious work. With only the sunrise values, the app would show Saptami and miss Bhadra entirely.
Muhurta scored for the minute you ask about
The muhurta endpoints (vivah, griha pravesh, naamkaran, vyapar, yatra and more) take a date and time and evaluate that exact moment:
| Tithi | the lunar day current at that exact moment, not at sunrise |
|---|---|
| Nakshatra | the Moon’s nakshatra at that moment |
| Vara | the weekday, with the day starting at local sunrise |
| Sun’s sign | for the solar-month restrictions of each ceremony |
| Rahu Kaal, Yamaganda, Durmuhurta | whether the moment falls inside one of them |
| Panchaka | whether the Moon is in the five Panchaka nakshatras at that moment |
| Tara Bala, Chandra Bala | against the person’s birth nakshatra and Moon sign, when a birth date is given |
Each factor comes back with its own score and a list of warnings, so you can show users why a time is good or not. To find the time rather than check one, /v1/muhurta/best-time evaluates every hour of daylight across a window of up to 31 days and returns the best windows, ranked.
Day windows from your city's own sunrise and sunset
Rahu Kaal, Yamaganda, Gulika, Abhijit Muhurat, Brahma Muhurat, all 16 Choghadiyas, all 24 Horas, Durmuhurta, Varjyam and Amrit Kalam are computed from the real sunrise and sunset at the latitude and longitude you pass, to the second, with daylight saving handled through IANA timezones. Rahu Kaal in London in June and in Delhi in December are different lengths, and the API reflects that.
Days that are not ordinary
- Kshaya tithi: when a tithi begins and ends between two sunrises, it never names a day. The API still returns it as the next element of that day, with its own start and end time. Example: in New Delhi on 19 January 2027, Dwadashi runs from 07:50 to 04:41 the next morning and never touches a sunrise.
- Vriddhi tithi: when one tithi covers two sunrises, both days carry it, and festival rules decide which day observes it.
- The printable month:
/v1/panchang/monthly?include=sheetlists every tithi, nakshatra and Moon sign of each civil day with end times, using the printed-panchang “27:07+” notation for times after midnight.
Choices you control
- Ayanamsa: Lahiri by default; Raman, Krishnamurti (KP), Fagan-Bradley, Yukteshwar and True Chitrapaksha on request.
- Month convention: purnimanta (North India) or amanta (South, West and East India) month names.
- Language:
locale=hiand other supported locales for localised names. - Any place, any year: latitude, longitude, timezone, 1800–2200.
Frequently asked questions
Is the tithi computed at sunrise or at the current time?
Both, for different purposes. Following the classical rule, the tithi that names a civil day is the one current at local sunrise, and the panchang endpoints return it together with the exact time it ends and the tithi that follows. Muhurta endpoints evaluate the exact moment you pass, so a check at 3 PM uses the tithi and nakshatra current at 3 PM.
How precise are the transition times?
Times are computed from Swiss Ephemeris positions and returned to the second. Against printed panchang calendars of 14 cities, tithi and nakshatra end times agree to the printed minute in 92% of cells and within one minute in the rest.
Does it work outside India?
Yes. Sunrise, sunset, every muhurta window and every element are computed for the latitude, longitude and timezone you send, including daylight saving.
See also: the Hindu festival and vrat engine, how accuracy is verified and the free monthly panchang for 22 cities.
Building an astrology app? 1,500 free API credits a month, no card
Try it for your city
The full day above, with Choghadiya, Hora and every muhurta window, in one call:
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $LIFEASTRO_API_KEY" \
"https://api.lifeastroapi.com/v1/panchang/advanced?date=2027-01-15&time=06:00&tz=Asia/Kolkata&lat=28.6139&lon=77.209"