Kalaprakasika (1917, ch. XIV, pp. 79–87) prefers Uttarayana for a wedding. Its best stars are Rohini, Mrigashira, Magha, Uttara Phalguni, Hasta, Swati, Anuradha, Moola, Uttara Ashadha, Uttara Bhadrapada, Revati. Its best tithis are the 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 7th, 10th, 11th and 13th; its weekdays Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday; its best lagnas (the sign rising at the moment of the wedding) Gemini, Virgo and Libra. It also keeps a wedding clear of the days around Venus and Jupiter rising and setting, and asks that the 7th house counted from that rising sign be empty.
☕ How the book builds a wedding muhurtham
Kalaprakasika's chapter XIV picks a wedding time in layers. First the half of the year: Uttarayana, when the Sun moves north, is excellent, and Dakshinayana is middling. Then the month, the star, the tithi and the weekday of the day. Then, within the day, the lagna (the rising sign) at the moment of the wedding.
Each layer has a list the book calls best, a list it calls middling, and things to avoid. A good day satisfies several lists at once.
Two rules look beyond the day itself. The book keeps a wedding clear of the days just after Venus or Jupiter reappear from the Sun's glare and just before they set into it. And it asks that the 7th house from the wedding lagna hold no planet.
The lists can pull against each other. Magha and Moola are on the best-star list, though the same book counts Magha as a fierce star and Moola as a sharp one. And a later page (p. 86) sets aside the 3rd, 5th, 7th, 10th and 19th stars counted from a person's own birth star, so a star on the best list can still be one the book sets aside for a particular couple. The book does not say which rule governs when they meet; that is a question for an astrologer.
Nava Panchangam does not pick wedding dates yet. This page explains the rules as the book gives them. For a real date, we suggest talking to an experienced astrologer before deciding.
What the book prefers, and what it sets aside
- Half-year: Uttarayana excellent, Dakshinayana middling (p. 79)
- Best stars: Rohini, Mrigashira, Magha, Uttara Phalguni, Hasta, Swati, Anuradha, Moola, Uttara Ashadha, Uttara Bhadrapada, Revati (p. 79)
- Best tithis: the 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 7th, 10th, 11th and 13th (Dwitiya, Tritiya, Panchami, Saptami, Dashami, Ekadashi, Trayodashi; p. 79)
- Weekdays: Monday, Wednesday, Thursday or Friday (p. 80)
- Best lagnas: Gemini, Virgo, Libra; middling: Taurus, Cancer, Leo, Sagittarius, Aquarius (p. 80)
- The 7th house from the wedding lagna kept empty (p. 81)
- Favourable from a person's own birth star: the 2nd, 4th, 6th, 8th or 9th star (p. 85)
- Middling tithis: Prathama of the waning fortnight, Shashti, Ashtami, Dwadashi, Pournami; every tithi after Ashtami of the waning fortnight is unfavourable (p. 79)
- Weekdays to avoid: Saturday, Sunday and Tuesday (p. 80)
- Lagnas to avoid: Aries, Capricorn, Scorpio, Pisces (p. 80); the signs that rise by their feet, Aries, Taurus, Cancer, Sagittarius, Capricorn, are also called not good (p. 86)
- Venus: not within a week after she reappears, nor just before she sets (p. 80)
- Jupiter: not within 8 days after he reappears, nor within 15 days before he sets (p. 80)
- Months the book calls not good: Ashadha, Bhadrapada, Margashira and Magha (p. 84)
- The 3rd, 5th, 7th, 10th and 19th stars from a person's own birth star (p. 86), and the birth star itself, which the book limits to a groom who is the eldest boy of his family, not a bride or a younger boy (p. 87)
Frequently Asked Questions
Which stars does Kalaprakasika list as best for a wedding?
Eleven: Rohini, Mrigashira, Magha, Uttara Phalguni, Hasta, Swati, Anuradha, Moola, Uttara Ashadha, Uttara Bhadrapada, Revati (p. 79).
Which weekdays does the book prefer for a wedding?
Monday, Wednesday, Thursday or Friday. It asks to avoid Saturday, Sunday and Tuesday (p. 80).
What is the Venus and Jupiter rule?
The book keeps a wedding clear of the week after Venus reappears from the Sun's glare and the days just before she sets into it, and of the 8 days after Jupiter reappears and the 15 days before he sets (p. 80).
If Magha is a best star, why might it not suit a couple?
Because the book also sets aside stars counted from a person's own birth star: the 3rd, 5th, 7th, 10th and 19th from it (p. 86), and the birth star itself for a groom who is the eldest boy of his family (p. 87). For someone born under Pushya, Magha is the 3rd star. Both rules are the book's; it does not say which governs when they meet.
Which months does the book call not good for a wedding?
Ashadha, Bhadrapada, Margashira and Magha, by the book's own month names (p. 84). It calls the other eight fortunate. Magha falls in Uttarayana, which the book prefers, yet it is on this list too.
From the source
Reading the lists together, what the page leaves out, and where to read next.
⚖️ Where the book's own lists pull apart
Kalaprakasika's best-star list includes Magha and Moola (p. 79). The same book classes Magha as a fierce star and Moola as a sharp one (see the seven classes of stars), and on p. 86 it sets aside a person's own birth star and the 3rd, 5th, 7th, 10th and 19th from it. On p. 87 it limits the birth-star part to a groom who is the eldest boy of his family. The book does not say which rule governs when these lists meet; that is a question for an astrologer.
Two smaller points of the same kind. The month of Magha falls in Uttarayana, which the book prefers, yet p. 84 calls it not good. And Taurus, Cancer and Sagittarius are middling lagnas on p. 80 but are among the signs that rise by their feet, which p. 86 calls not good.
🌗 Tithis and the waning fortnight
The book's best tithis are the 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 7th, 10th, 11th and 13th, and it counts every tithi after the 8th of the waning fortnight as unfavourable. Our reading: that leaves the 10th, 11th and 13th of the waning fortnight out, so in practice those three come from the waxing fortnight. A later page (p. 86) also sets aside a time "when the Moon is on the wane", while p. 79 counts the first tithi of the waning fortnight as middling; the book does not reconcile the two.
The book does not say whether its months are lunar or solar. It defines Uttarayana by the Sun's course and puts the six months from Pushya to Jyeshta in it. Lunar and solar calendars name their months differently.
📋 Other times the book sets aside (pp. 85–86)
Besides the lists above, the book sets these times aside for a wedding:
- the end of a fortnight (paksha), of a season (ruthu), of a half-year (ayana) or of a year;
- the Rikta tithis (the 4th, 9th and 14th);
- a time when the Moon is waning;
- Vishu (by the book's footnote, a Sankranti: the day the Sun enters a sign), Vyatipata and Shadasheetimukha;
- a time when Jupiter is in his sign of debilitation;
- the stars it calls Bhookampa, Ulka and Nirghata: the 7th, 10th and 14th stars counted from the Sun's star, when the Moon is in them (ch. XXXIII, p. 187);
- a red glow on the horizon (Dikdaha);
- a star a malefic planet has just left, is passing through, or is close to.
✂️ What this page leaves out
Chapter XIV attaches outcomes to almost every rule: for the bride, the groom, their children or their family. It also judges the bride's character by the rising sign, and lists what each planet in each house brings. These pages give the rules for choosing the time and leave all of those out, along with a line about the bride's age, an eclipse rule and a list of the Moon's conjunctions. Star names are given in today's usual spellings.