What is a Karana?
A Karana is half of a Tithi. A Tithi corresponds to 12° of Sun–Moon angular separation (see
Tithi & Paksha); a Karana corresponds to 6° — exactly half. Because every Tithi is made of two Karanas, and a lunar month has 30 Tithis, a full lunar month contains 60 Karanas.
Karana divides each Tithi into two equal 6° portions of that angular separation. Because Tithi durations vary in clock time (Tithis run anywhere from about 19 to 26 hours), the two Karanas within a given Tithi aren’t necessarily equal to each other in clock-time length, even though they’re always equal in angle.
Karana is one of Panchang’s five core elements, alongside Vaar, Tithi, Nakshatra, and Yoga.
How Karana Relates to Tithi
Every Tithi splits into a first-half Karana and a second-half Karana. Tracking Karana alongside Tithi gives a finer-grained view of exactly where the lunar day currently stands, rather than only knowing which of the 30 Tithis is active.
The 11 Karanas
There are only 11 distinct Karana names, but 60 Karana occurrences per lunar month — because the Karanas fall into two categories:
| Category |
Karana Names |
Occurrences per month |
| Movable (Chara), repeats |
Bava, Balava, Kaulava, Taitila, Garaja, Vanija, Vishti (Bhadra) |
8 times each (56 total) |
| Fixed (Sthira), once each |
Shakuni, Chatushpada, Naga, Kimstughna |
Once each (4 total) |
56 + 4 = 60, matching the 60 half-Tithi divisions of the month.
How Karana Is Shown in the VedicDisha Panchang
The date-detail popup shows the current Karana name, along with an “until” time and the name of the next Karana — the same Upto/Next mechanism described on the
Tithi & Paksha page. Since a Karana covers half of a Tithi’s angular span, it changes roughly twice as often as Tithi does.
Practical Takeaway
Karana gives a more precise reading of where the current Tithi stands, since the Karana boundary marks the exact angular midpoint of the current Tithi — useful for anyone tracking Panchang timing more closely than the day’s Tithi alone allows.
Related Panchang Concepts
