Rahu Kalam Timing
Rahu Kaal on 10 October 2026
New Delhi · Saturday, 10 October 2026
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More From the Panchang
Each one for your own city, on any date.
Rahu Kalam
What Rahu Kaal Is, and Why It Moves Every Day
Rahu has no body of his own, only a head, and no weekday of his own either. What he is given is a slice of every day, and that slice is Rahu Kaal.
The rule is simple. Take the time from your sunrise to your sunset and cut it into eight equal parts. On each weekday Rahu rules one of them, always the same one for that weekday. Since the length of the day changes through the year and from city to city, each part is rarely exactly ninety minutes, and Rahu Kaal in Chennai and in Delhi falls at different clock times on the same date.
In Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala, Rahu Kalam is checked as routinely as the weather. Nobody signs a lease, starts a journey or opens a shop in it. In the North the same rule is followed more quietly, but it is in every printed panchang.
Which Part of the Day Rahu Rules
Counting the eight parts of the day from sunrise, Rahu takes the second on Monday, the seventh on Tuesday, the fifth on Wednesday, the sixth on Thursday, the fourth on Friday, the third on Saturday and the eighth on Sunday. Many people remember the order with the line "Mother Saw Father Wearing The Turban on Sunday": Monday, Saturday, Friday, Wednesday, Thursday, Tuesday, Sunday, in the order the slots fall through the day.
Rahu Kaal on a 6 AM to 6 PM Day
A rough guide only. Your own times are at the top of this page.
- Monday7:30 – 9:00 AM
- Tuesday3:00 – 4:30 PM
- Wednesday12:00 – 1:30 PM
- Thursday1:30 – 3:00 PM
- Friday10:30 AM – 12:00 PM
- Saturday9:00 – 10:30 AM
- Sunday4:30 – 6:00 PM
In Practice
What to Avoid in Rahu Kaal, and What You Need Not Worry About
Rahu Kaal is about beginnings. A new business, a property deal, a vehicle purchase, an interview, the first day of a job, setting out on a journey, a griha pravesh: these are the things people hold back until it passes. Work you are already doing carries on as usual, and so does ordinary life.
I tell people not to let Rahu Kaal frighten them. It is ninety minutes in a day, and the panchang gives you the rest of the day free. When I fix a time for my own work, I strike Rahu Kaal out first, then Yamaganda, and choose from what is left, usually Abhijit Muhurat or a good Choghadiya. That habit costs nothing and saves the one thing a muhurat is meant to protect: a clean start.
Avoid Starting
New ventures, purchases, journeys, agreements, interviews and ceremonies.
Carry On
Work already in hand, daily duties and anything begun before Rahu Kaal started.
Good for Worship
Durga puja and Rahu shanti are traditionally done in Rahu Kaal itself.
Your Own City
Times change with your sunrise. Set your city at the top of the page.
Questions
Rahu Kaal: Common Questions
A period of about an hour and a half each day that belongs to Rahu. The time from sunrise to sunset is divided into eight equal parts, and on each weekday Rahu rules a fixed one of them. Nothing new is begun in that part: no venture, purchase, journey, agreement or ceremony.
For two reasons. The part Rahu rules changes with the weekday: the second part on Monday, the eighth on Sunday, and so on. And the length of each part depends on how long the day is, which changes with the season and your city. That is why Rahu Kaal has to be worked out for your own sunrise and sunset.
A journey already begun does not stop for Rahu Kaal. The rule is about starting. If you must leave in Rahu Kaal, the old practice is to set out symbolically before it begins: step out of the house with your bag, or send it ahead, and complete the journey later.
Rahu Kaal is reckoned for the daytime, from sunrise to sunset, and that is the period everyone follows. A few traditions divide the night the same way, but the night portion is rarely observed.
Everything already in hand: your job, your studies, daily chores. Worship of Durga and of Rahu himself is considered especially fruitful in Rahu Kaal, which is why many South Indian temples hold Rahu Kaal pujas, often on Tuesdays and Fridays.
All three are one eighth of the day, each at its own slot for the weekday. Rahu Kaal is the one to avoid most for new beginnings. Yamaganda is avoided especially for travel. Gulika Kaal is said to make what begins in it repeat, so it is avoided for anything you would not want twice, such as a loan or a funeral rite.
