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Each from its own sunriseRegional traditions differ on this table more than they do for Rahu Kaal, and widely reproduced versions give Monday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday a second window. The reference panchang this site is calibrated against lists none of them (one window on every weekday, checked across ten years of its published tables), and we follow the reference. If your family panchang shows a second window, that is the disagreement you are seeing, not an error in the arithmetic.
Frequently asked questions
How is it different from Rahu Kaal?
Different division and different length. Rahu Kaal is one of eight parts of the day, about 90 minutes; a dur muhurtam is one of fifteen, about 48. They are computed independently and can overlap.
Do any days have two Dur Muhurtam windows?
Not in the reckoning this site uses: there is exactly one on every weekday, including Monday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Widely reproduced tables do give those four days a second window, and if your family panchang shows one that is the disagreement you are looking at rather than an arithmetic error. The reference panchang this site calibrates against lists a single window on all seven days, checked across ten years of its published tables, and we follow the reference.
What should be avoided during Dur Muhurtam?
The same class of things as Rahu Kaal: beginnings. New ventures, journeys, ceremonies and signings. Because the window is short, moving the start by an hour is usually enough.
How long is Dur Muhurtam?
One fifteenth of the daylight, about 48 minutes when day and night are equal, a little longer in summer and shorter in winter. It is roughly half the length of Rahu Kaal, which takes an eighth of the same daylight, and that shortness is why it is usually the easiest of the avoidance windows to work around.
Does Dur Muhurtam apply at night?
No. It is a division of the daylight only, so it always falls between sunrise and sunset. Some regional traditions describe a night dur muhurtam as well; this site computes the daytime window its reference panchang publishes and does not invent the other.
Which weekday has Dur Muhurtam at sunrise?
Saturday, when it takes the very first of the fifteen muhurtas and so opens with the day itself. That is the earliest it can fall; the weekday table under “How Dur Muhurtam is calculated” shows where it sits on every other weekday.
Is it Dur Muhurtam, Durmuhurtham or Durmuhurtam?
The same window in different romanisations. Durmuhurtham is the usual South Indian spelling, Dur Muhurat and Durmuhurtam appear elsewhere, and the underlying term is simply the “bad muhurta”. This site keeps one spelling in the URL so the page is never split in two.
Is Dur Muhurtam worse than Rahu Kaal?
It is generally treated as less serious, and it is certainly shorter. Rahu Kaal is the window most people check and the one most likely to move a decision; dur muhurtam is checked alongside it, particularly when a muhurta is being chosen carefully rather than casually.
Can Dur Muhurtam overlap Rahu Kaal?
Yes, and often does. They are different divisions of the same daylight, fifteenths against eighths, computed independently, so nothing keeps them apart. A city’s page shows Rahu Kaal on a tile at the top, so an overlap is visible rather than something you have to work out. Where they do overlap, the usual reading is that the more restrictive applies.
What if Dur Muhurtam falls inside a good choghadiya?
The usual reading is that the restriction wins. An Amrit or Shubh choghadiya running at the same time as a dur muhurtam is still a dur muhurtam, and the practical response is the same as for Rahu Kaal: wait for the window to pass, which here means less than an hour.
Should Dur Muhurtam be avoided for a wedding?
It is one of the windows checked when a date is fixed, though for a ceremony of that size the muhurta is decided by a full panchang reading rather than by any single avoidance window. Dur Muhurtam rules out part of a day; it does not choose the day.
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Dur Muhurtam by city
Times shift with each city’s sunrise. Pick yours:
- Ahmedabad
- Surat
- Rajkot
- Vadodara
- Jaipur
- Jodhpur
- New Delhi
- Mumbai
- Bengaluru
- Hyderabad
- Chennai
- Kolkata
- Pune
- Lucknow
- Kanpur
- Nagpur
- Indore
- Patna
- Bhopal
- Varanasi
- Chandigarh
- Jalandhar
- Katihar
- Ludhiana
- Amritsar
- Agra
- Ranchi
- Udaipur
- Bhavnagar
- Coimbatore
- Dubai
- London
- New York
- Singapore
- Toronto
- Sydney
- Melbourne
- San Francisco
- Chicago
- Kuala Lumpur
- Doha
- Auckland
The other daily timings
- ChoghadiyaThe daily division of daylight and night into eight varying qualities.
- Rahu KaalavoidAn eighth of the daylight, about ninety minutes, when nothing new is started.
- Abhijit MuhuratbestThe muhurta astride solar noon, the safe default for a beginning.
- Brahma MuhurtagoodThe second-last muhurta of the night, the time tradition keeps for practice.
- YamagandaavoidThe second daily avoidance window, the one for health and paperwork.
- Gulika KaalThe window whose events are said to repeat, which cuts both ways.
- HoraThe planetary ruler of each hour, and what that hour is for.