Yamaganda, Gulika Kaal and Dur Muhurtam

Rahu Kaal is the best-known period to avoid, but traditional almanacs list several more. Knowing what each one means helps you decide how strictly to follow them.

Yamaganda

Yamaganda is ruled by Yama, the lord of death in Hindu tradition. Like Rahu Kaal, it is one of the 8 equal parts of the day and lasts about 90 minutes. It is considered unfavourable for new beginnings, especially travel and health-related decisions.

Gulika Kaal (Mandi)

Gulika, also called Mandi, is linked to Saturn. Its meaning is unusual: whatever is started during Gulika is believed to repeat. That makes it bad for anything you would not want to happen again (such as a funeral rite or a loan), but some people deliberately use it for things they want to repeat, like buying gold or starting a savings plan. Most almanacs simply list it as inauspicious for new work.

Dur Muhurtam

The day is divided into 15 muhurtas of roughly 48 minutes each. On each weekday, one or two of them are called Dur Muhurtam (bad muhurta) and are avoided for auspicious work. Because they are short, they are easy to work around.

Bhadra (Vishti Karana)

Bhadra is not a fixed daily period. It occurs whenever the karana (half of a lunar day) is Vishti, which happens several times a month and can last around 12 hours. Ceremonies and festivals like Raksha Bandhan are timed to avoid it. See Yoga and Karana.

How strictly should you follow these?

A practical approach used by many families:

1. Always avoid Rahu Kaal for important starts.
2. Avoid Yamaganda and Dur Muhurtam where you easily can.
3. For ceremonies, also avoid Bhadra.
4. Treat Gulika as a mild caution.

Rekha's "best time" finder removes all of these automatically before suggesting a window.

Timing on each weekday

All three of Rahu Kaal, Yamaganda and Gulika come from the same 8 equal parts of the day:

With a 6 am sunrise and 6 pm sunset each part is 90 minutes, so the 1st part is 6:00 to 7:30 am, the 2nd 7:30 to 9:00 am, and so on. Your real times move with your local sunrise.