On this page, “Yoga” refers to one of the five elements of the Hindu Panchang — a specific astronomical combination described below. It does not refer to physical yoga (asana, pranayama, meditation practice). The two share a name but are otherwise unrelated concepts.
What is a Yoga in Panchang?
Panchang Yoga is based on the
combined longitudinal positions of the Sun and Moon — their sum, not their difference (contrast this with Tithi, which is based on the difference between the two). That combined value is normalized to a single 0°–360° range (wrapped back into one circle once the sum exceeds 360°) and divided into 27 equal parts of 13°20′ each — the same size division used for Nakshatra.
The Yoga Cycle Is Shorter Than the Lunar Month
Because Yoga tracks the Sun and Moon’s
combined motion rather than their difference, its cycle doesn’t run in step with the roughly 29.5-day synodic lunar month that Tithi is built on. The full 27-Yoga cycle repeats in about 25 days and 10 hours — meaning the Yoga sequence and the Tithi/Paksha sequence drift relative to each other rather than starting over together each month. Each individual Yoga lasts roughly 16 to 24 hours, and — since a Yoga’s length rarely divides evenly into a calendar day — a single date can pass through two different Yogas.
The 27 Panchang Yogas
The Panchang traditionally recognizes 27 Nitya Yogas, in this standard sequence:
| # |
Yoga |
# |
Yoga |
# |
Yoga |
| 1 |
Vishkambha |
10 |
Ganda |
19 |
Parigha |
| 2 |
Priti |
11 |
Vriddhi |
20 |
Shiva |
| 3 |
Ayushman |
12 |
Dhruva |
21 |
Siddha |
| 4 |
Saubhagya |
13 |
Vyaghata |
22 |
Sadhya |
| 5 |
Shobhana |
14 |
Harshana |
23 |
Shubha |
| 6 |
Atiganda |
15 |
Vajra |
24 |
Shukla |
| 7 |
Sukarma |
16 |
Siddhi |
25 |
Brahma |
| 8 |
Dhriti |
17 |
Vyatipata |
26 |
Indra |
| 9 |
Shoola |
18 |
Variyan |
27 |
Vaidhriti |
Names may appear with slightly different English transliterations across sources (e.g. “Variyan”/”Variyana,” “Vishkambha”/”Vishkumbha”) — this is a spelling note, not a claim that the underlying 27-name sequence is disputed.
How Panchang Yoga Is Shown in the VedicDisha Panchang
The date-detail popup shows the current Yoga name, with an “until” time and the name of the next Yoga — the same Upto/Next mechanism described on the
Tithi & Paksha page.
Why Panchang Yoga Is Different From Other Uses of the Word “Yoga”
The word “yoga” is used in several distinct contexts in Indian tradition: the physical/meditative discipline most people associate with the word in everyday English; a general Sanskrit term meaning “union” or “combination” used across many contexts including this Panchang element; and, separately, the word “yoga” is also sometimes used in astrology to describe planetary combinations in a birth chart — a different, chart-based usage from the daily Panchang element this page covers.
Practical Takeaway
When the VedicDisha Panchang shows a Yoga for the day, it’s naming which of the 27 Sun-Moon combination periods is currently active — a distinct measurement from Tithi (Sun-Moon difference) and Nakshatra (Moon’s position alone), with its own faster-repeating cycle and its own exact transition time.
Related Panchang Concepts
