Choghadiya Muhurat

Muhurta or Muhurat is a unit of time recognized in the ancient Hindu calendar. However, in due course, the terminology started assuming the meaning of auspicious time.

It is a traditional belief prevalent among the people that any important event should ideally be started at an auspicious time, and that can ensure the success of the activity and give the desired result. Hence, people were particular in knowing about such auspicious periods on any day for beginning any of their activities of significance. Choghadiya is a system for finding such a propitious moment and hence is commonly known as the Choghadiya Muhurat.

Choghadiya Muhurat remains a simple, easy-to-use, and effective system for people to identify the auspicious durations of time on any day for them to undertake an important activity.

Choghadiya, An Analysis

This is a Sanskrit word consisting of 2 terms, Cho and Ghadiya. ‘Cho’ stands for the number 4, and ‘Ghadiya’ refers to the moment or the time span. Ghadiya is mainly called Ghati, a unit of time practiced in the olden days. Hence, Choghadiya carries the meaning – 4 Ghatis.

The ‘hour’ is one of the units of time used now, and 24 such hours make up a day. In those bygone days, such a measure was Ghati. 60 Ghatis added up to a day, and so, 60 such Ghatis were equivalent to 24 hours.

Though Choghadiya means 4 Ghatis, a Choghadiya actually consists of only 3.75 Ghatis. The term Choghadiya evolved by rounding off this 3.75 to 4. So, one Ghati equals 24 minutes, and one Choghadiya, 90 minutes. As the day consists of 60 Ghatis, the number of Choghadiyas that make up a day works out to 16. These 16 Choghadiyas of a day are divided equally between the daytime and night, with each consisting of 8.

Further, a day begins at midnight for us now and continues till the following day’s midnight. But in ancient times, the day began at Sunrise and continued till the next Sunrise. So, on such a day, there are 8 Choghadiyas during the daytime, that is, from Sunrise to Sunset, and 8, during the night, from Sunset to the Sunrise, the next day. While the Choghadiyas of the daytime are referred to as the Day Choghadiyas, the night ones remain the night Choghadiyas.

Choghadiya Classifications

Choghadiyas can be classified into 7. These are unique and fall under both the auspicious and inauspicious categories. These are Amrut, Shub, Labh, Chal, Udveg, Kaal, and Rog. While the first 3, that is, Amrut, Shub, and Labh, are regarded as auspicious Choghadiyas, the last 3 – Udveg, Kaal, and Rog are held inauspicious. Chal is taken as neutral.

So, it is ideal that important events or activities are begun or performed in the Amrut, Shub, and Labh Choghadiya durations, with the Udveg, Kaal, and Rog periods avoided for all matters of auspiciousness or significance.

Choghadiya Calculation

As the duration of the daytime from Sunrise to Sunset may differ from day to day and season to season, a Choghadiya need not extend consistently for 90 minutes right through. But as there are 8 Choghadiyas during the daytime and 8 in the night, the duration between the Sunrise and Sunset on any day can be divided by 8, and the result will be the Choghadiya period for that day time. The calculation for the night, too, can be done similarly.

Further, the Choghadiyas pattern of the different weekdays also remains different. For instance, in the daytime of Sunday, the Choghadiyas occur in the following order – Udveg, Chal, Labh, Amrut, Kaal, Shub, Rog, and Udveg. And the order of Sunday night Choghadiyas is – Shub, Amrut, Chal, Rog, Kaal, Labh, Udveg, and Shub.

Likewise, the pattern for the other weekdays remains unique and different.

How is Choghadiya Used?

While Choghadiya was worked out as an auspicious duration for performing any important task, it was initially meant only to start a journey. But the Choghadiya Muhurat didn’t remain confined to travel alone and soon began to be applied for other acts of significance, too. These included writing an application, applying for a job, seeking Visa for travel abroad, launching a business, starting a new venture, etc. These timings were also referred to for performing auspicious events or religious functions in the family.

As said in the beginning, it is firmly believed that any activity started or done at an appropriate Choghadiya can proceed and end successfully, be fruitful, and get for people what they desire.