Choghadiya (चौघड़िया) is a Vedic system for dividing the day and night into short time windows, each marked as auspicious, neutral, or inauspicious. People consult it before beginning anything important — a journey, a purchase, a ceremony, or a new venture.
The word comes from chau (four) and ghadi (an old unit of time of about 24 minutes). Four ghadis make up roughly one and a half hours, which is the length of a single Choghadiya slot. Because slot length is tied to the actual sunrise and sunset for your location, the windows shift slightly every day and differ from city to city.
The period from sunrise to sunset (the day) is split into eight equal slots. The period from sunset to the next sunrise (the night) is split into eight more. That gives sixteen slots across a full day. Each slot carries one of seven names, and the sequence of names follows a fixed table based on the weekday — it is not calculated on the fly.
| Name | Ruling planet | Verdict | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amrit (अमृत) | Moon | Good | Everything — the most favourable slot |
| Shubh (शुभ) | Jupiter | Good | Marriage, ceremonies, religious rituals |
| Labh (लाभ) | Mercury | Good | Business, money matters, education |
| Chal (चल) | Venus | Neutral | Travel and movement |
| Udveg (उद्वेग) | Sun | Bad | Avoid new beginnings |
| Rog (रोग) | Mars | Bad | Avoid health-related matters |
| Kaal (काल) | Saturn | Bad | Avoid important work |
In short: Amrit, Shubh and Labh are considered good, Chal is neutral (fine for travel), and Udveg, Rog and Kaal are best avoided for anything important.
The two halves use different name sequences. A slot that is Amrit during the day will not fall at the same clock time or carry the same name at night. This is why it helps to look at a live chart for the exact date rather than memorising fixed times — sunrise and sunset move through the year, and the slots move with them.
Choghadiya is a quick, everyday guide rather than a full horoscope. For major events, many people combine it with a detailed Panchang and, if they wish, an astrologer's advice.
AuspiciousTime computes sunrise and sunset for your chosen city using the NOAA solar algorithm, entirely on your device — no internet lookup is needed once the page has loaded. It then splits the day and night into the sixteen slots and labels each one from the standard weekday tables. The results have been checked against DrikPanchang and match to within a few seconds.