Rahu kaal today
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Rahu kaal, Emagandam and Kuligai for your city, a week or a month ahead.
Work it out
Rahu kaal, Sun 18 Oct, Chennai
4:20 pm – 5:48 pm
Rahu kalam · part 8 of 8 of the daytime · 89 min
On Sun, 18 Oct 2026 in Chennai, Rahu kaal (Rahu kalam) is from 4:20 pm to 5:48 pm IST. Yamaganda is 11:54 am – 1:23 pm and Gulika 2:51 pm – 4:20 pm.
- Yamaganda
- 11:54 am – 1:23 pm
- Gulika
- 2:51 pm – 4:20 pm
- Abhijit
- 11:30 am – 12:18 pm
- Sunrise / sunset
- 6:00 am / 5:48 pm
6:00 am – 11:54 am is the longest daytime stretch clear of Rahu kaal, Yamaganda and Gulika.
What it is made of
Point at a part to see it on its own.
From your numbers
Worked out from what you entered. Try one.
- Abhijit muhurta, the midday good time, is 11:30 am – 12:18 pm.
- Your printed calendar may say 4:30 pm – 6:00 pm: it assumes a 6 am sunrise. Here today it is 4:20 pm – 5:48 pm.
- Travelling? Rahu kaal moves with the sun: a city to the west, like Madurai, gets it several minutes after Chennai.
Your day at a glance
Each period placed at its start, from sunrise to sunset. Tap a flag for its time.
- SunriseSunrise 6:00 am.
- AbhijitAbhijit muhurta 11:30 am – 12:18 pm.
- YamagandaYamaganda (Emagandam) 11:54 am – 1:23 pm.
- GulikaGulika (Kuligai) 2:51 pm – 4:20 pm.
- DurmuhurtamDurmuhurtam 4:14 pm – 5:01 pm.
- Rahu kaalRahu kaal (Rahu kalam) 4:20 pm – 5:48 pm.
- SunsetSunset 5:48 pm.
Rahu kaal for 7 days, Chennai (IST)
Always open, in full.
| Date | Day | Rahu kaal | Yamaganda | Gulika |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18 Oct | Sun | 4:20 pm – 5:48 pm | 11:54 am – 1:23 pm | 2:51 pm – 4:20 pm |
| 19 Oct | Mon | 7:28 am – 8:57 am | 10:25 am – 11:54 am | 1:22 pm – 2:51 pm |
| 20 Oct | Tue | 2:51 pm – 4:19 pm | 8:57 am – 10:25 am | 11:54 am – 1:22 pm |
| 21 Oct | Wed | 11:54 am – 1:22 pm | 7:28 am – 8:57 am | 10:25 am – 11:54 am |
| 22 Oct | Thu | 1:22 pm – 2:50 pm | 6:00 am – 7:29 am | 8:57 am – 10:25 am |
| 23 Oct | Fri | 10:25 am – 11:53 am | 2:50 pm – 4:18 pm | 7:29 am – 8:57 am |
| 24 Oct | Sat | 8:57 am – 10:25 am | 1:21 pm – 2:49 pm | 6:01 am – 7:29 am |
Full breakdown
- Yamaganda
- 11:54 am – 1:23 pm
- Gulika
- 2:51 pm – 4:20 pm
- Abhijit
- 11:30 am – 12:18 pm
- Sunrise / sunset
- 6:00 am / 5:48 pm
- Durmuhurtam
- 4:14 pm – 5:01 pm
Guide
Rahu kaal (Tamil: Rahu kalam) is a stretch of about an hour and a half every day that many families avoid for starting something new: opening a shop, signing papers, setting out on a journey, a first puja in a new house. Two other stretches sit beside it in every Tamil calendar: Emagandam (Yamaganda) and Kuligai (Gulika). This free tool works all three out from your own city’s sunrise and sunset, for any date from 1900 to 2100, and shows a week or a month ahead.
A shop opening in Salem
Karthik is opening his mobile phone shop on Cherry Road in Salem on Sunday, 8 November 2026. His uncle’s printed calendar says Rahu kaal is 4:30 to 6:00 pm, so the family plans the ribbon cutting for 4:15. Karthik checks the tool for Salem on that date: Rahu kaal starts at 4:23 pm, seven minutes before the printed time, because the sun sets early in November. The Your day at a glance card shows the whole morning, from sunrise to almost noon, clear of all three periods, so they move the opening to the morning and keep the evening for the family dinner.
How Rahu kaal is worked out
- Find sunrise and sunset for your city on that date. Sunrise is the moment the top edge of the sun meets the horizon, allowing 0.833° for air refraction and the sun’s size. The sun comes from the VSOP87 planetary theory, as set out in Jean Meeus’s Astronomical Algorithms (2nd edition, 1998).
- Split the daytime into 8 equal parts. In Chennai each part is about 89 minutes in October; in Delhi in June it is about 105 minutes.
- Each weekday gives Rahu kaal, Yamaganda and Gulika a fixed part:
| Day | Rahu kaal | Yamaganda (Emagandam) | Gulika (Kuligai) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sunday | 8th | 5th | 7th |
| Monday | 2nd | 4th | 6th |
| Tuesday | 7th | 3rd | 5th |
| Wednesday | 5th | 2nd | 4th |
| Thursday | 6th | 1st | 3rd |
| Friday | 4th | 7th | 2nd |
| Saturday | 3rd | 6th | 1st |
A memory line many grandmothers teach for Rahu kaal: Monday 2, Saturday 3, Friday 4, Wednesday 5, Thursday 6, Tuesday 7, Sunday 8.
The tool also shows Abhijit muhurta, the 8th of the 15 muhurtas of the day, around local noon (by tradition there is none on Wednesday), and Durmuhurtam, the muhurtas avoided on each weekday, placed the way drikpanchang.com shows them (read 17 October 2026).
Printed times vs your city
Many printed calendars use one fixed list for the whole year and every town: Monday 7:30–9:00, Saturday 9:00–10:30, Friday 10:30–12:00, Wednesday 12:00–1:30, Thursday 1:30–3:00, Tuesday 3:00–4:30 and Sunday 4:30–6:00. That list is simply the same 8 parts on a pretend day from 6:00 am to 6:00 pm. Turn on Printed times to see how many minutes your city is off on the date. The gap is a few minutes in Chennai for much of the year, and in Delhi in June it can pass an hour for the evening periods, because the sun sets after 7 pm.
How accurate is it?
We checked the tool against drikpanchang.com in October 2026: Delhi on 21 June 2026 (Rahu kaal 5:37–7:22 pm, Yamaganda 12:23–2:08 pm, Gulika 3:52–5:37 pm: all to the minute), Chennai on 18–24 October 2026 and Madurai on 24 November 2026. Every time agreed to the minute or within one minute; Drik shows the minute that has started and we round to the nearest minute. Sunrise and sunset also match an independent check with the PyEphem astronomy library.
Common mistakes
- Using the printed list for every town. It can be half an hour off in Delhi or Srinagar in summer.
- Using another city’s times. Madurai’s Rahu kaal comes several minutes after Chennai’s; Mumbai’s about half an hour after.
- Applying it at night. Rahu kaal, Yamaganda and Gulika are parts of the daytime only.
- Ignoring it for routine work. By tradition it matters for new beginnings; ongoing work, office hours and daily chores carry on as usual.
Turn on Compare a city before a trip to see both places side by side, and switch the table to Next 30 days to plan a month.
Sources
Facts checked 18 Oct 2026BOOKAstronomical Algorithms, 2nd edition (Jean Meeus) · Willmann-Bell (catalogue record: Open Library)1998
Sun position (VSOP87 main terms) for sunrise and sunset, which set the eighth parts of the day. 1998
NOAASolar calculation details · NOAA Global Monitoring Laboratory2026
The sunrise and sunset method (from Meeus) with the sun 0.833° below the horizon at rise and set. checked 18 Oct 2026
DRIKDay Panchang · Drik Panchang (drikpanchang.com)2026
Secondary: the timings the tool was compared with (Delhi, Chennai, Madurai, 2026), and the placement of durmuhurtam. checked 18 Oct 2026
Questions
What is Rahu kaal today?
The answer at the top is today’s Rahu kaal for your city, from its real sunrise and sunset, in IST. It changes a little every day and by a few minutes from city to city.
What is nalla neram?
Nalla neram (good time) in Tamil calendars comes from the Gowri panchangam, which splits the day and night into 8 parts each with good and bad names. We are still checking its weekday table against a printed panchangam, so for now the tool shows Abhijit muhurta as the day’s good time.
Does Rahu kaal apply at night?
No. Rahu kaal, Emagandam and Kuligai are eighths of the daytime, from sunrise to sunset. Night has its own divisions in other systems, such as the night choghadiya.
Why is Sunday’s Rahu kaal in the evening?
On Sunday Rahu kaal is the 8th and last part of the daytime, so it ends at sunset: about 4:20 to 5:50 pm in Chennai in October. That is why Sunday evening functions are often planned after sunset.
What are Emagandam and Kuligai?
Emagandam is Yamaganda and Kuligai is Gulika (Gulika kalam). Emagandam is avoided like Rahu kaal; Kuligai is avoided for some ceremonies but taken for work people want repeated. Each has its own fixed part for each weekday.
Why does my calendar show 7:30 to 9:00 on Monday?
Many printed lists assume a 6 am sunrise and 6 pm sunset every day. The tool uses the real sunrise and sunset for your city, which is how current panchangs work it out. Turn on Printed times to see both.