Every day has a weekday and a star, the nakshatra the Moon is in. The Tamil panchangam looks at the pair and names it: Amrutha yoga for the pairs the tradition counts best, Marana yoga for the pairs it counts unfit for starting new work, and Siddha yoga for everything else. When the Moon moves into the next star during the day, the yoga can change with it. Together the three are the Amritadi yogas. Nava Panchangam's table comes from a printed Tamil almanac.
☕ Two things you already know, put together
You already know the weekday. The panchangam also gives the day's star, the one of the 27 nakshatras the Moon is passing through. Put the two together and there are 7 × 27 = 189 possible pairs. The Tamil tradition names a few of them Amrutha (“nectar”), the best pairs, and a few Marana, the pairs it holds unfit for starting something new. The word “yoga” here means “combination”; it is not the 27 nithya yogas of the Sun and Moon.
In Nava Panchangam, Siddha yoga is simply every pair that is neither Amrutha nor Marana. That is a leftover bucket, not a separate rule from a book. Muhurta Chintamani also has a “Siddha yoga”, but it is a different rule: it pairs the weekday with a class of tithi, not with the star. The two share a name and nothing else.
The app's table comes from a printed Tamil almanac. Where Kalaprakasika (1917, pp. 199–201) gives other lists for some weekdays, the almanac's are kept. Muhurta Chintamani supports part of the Marana list: its plate (p. 8) puts one star on each weekday under the name Yamaghanta, and all seven are Marana pairs here. That backs 7 of the 37 Marana pairs and says nothing about the rest.
Nava Panchangam's day score uses this rule. The weight the score gives it is the app's own choice; the books give the rule, not a number.
The app's two lists, weekday by weekday
- Sunday: Uttara Phalguni, Hasta, Moola, Uttara Ashadha, Shravana, Uttara Bhadrapada, Revati
- Monday: Rohini, Mrigashira, Punarvasu, Swati, Shravana
- Tuesday: Rohini, Uttara Phalguni, Moola, Uttara Bhadrapada
- Wednesday: Krittika, Purva Phalguni, Uttara Phalguni, Purva Ashadha, Uttara Ashadha, Purva Bhadrapada
- Thursday: Ashwini, Punarvasu, Pushya, Magha, Swati
- Friday: Ashwini, Hasta, Moola, Revati
- Saturday: Krittika, Rohini, Magha, Swati, Shatabhisha
- Sunday: Magha, Vishakha, Anuradha, Jyeshta, Dhanishta
- Monday: Krittika, Magha, Vishakha, Uttara Ashadha, Purva Bhadrapada
- Tuesday: Ardra, Vishakha, Shatabhisha, Purva Bhadrapada
- Wednesday: Ashwini, Hasta, Moola, Dhanishta, Revati
- Thursday: Krittika, Rohini, Mrigashira, Ardra, Uttara Phalguni, Shatabhisha
- Friday: Rohini, Pushya, Ashlesha, Magha, Jyeshta, Shravana
- Saturday: Ashlesha, Uttara Phalguni, Hasta, Chitra, Purva Bhadrapada, Revati
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Marana yoga?
A weekday-and-star pair the Tamil panchangam marks as unfit for starting new work. It is a name for a combination on the calendar, not a statement about anyone's life. The day score treats it as a reason to hold the day back.
Why does the yoga change during the day?
Because the Moon's star changes, usually once a day and not at sunrise. The weekday stays, the star moves on, and the new pair can be a different yoga. The app shows the yoga for each stretch of the day.
Is Siddha yoga a good day?
In the app, Siddha means an ordinary day: neither one of the best pairs nor one of the unfit ones. The score rates it below Amrutha and well above Marana.
Does this table come from Kalaprakasika?
No. It comes from a printed Tamil almanac. Kalaprakasika gives its own weekday-and-star lists, which match the almanac on some weekdays and differ on others; the advanced page sets them side by side.
The whole table
Every weekday's Amrutha and Marana stars, and the part one book supports.
📅 Nava Panchangam's weekday and star table
This is the table the day score uses, printed straight from the app. Any star not listed for a weekday is Siddha yoga on that weekday.
| Weekday | Amrutha stars | Marana stars | Siddha |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sunday | Uttara Phalguni, Hasta, Moola, Uttara Ashadha, Shravana, Uttara Bhadrapada, Revati | Magha, Vishakha, Anuradha, Jyeshta, Dhanishta | the other 15 |
| Monday | Rohini, Mrigashira, Punarvasu, Swati, Shravana | Krittika, Magha, Vishakha, Uttara Ashadha, Purva Bhadrapada | the other 17 |
| Tuesday | Rohini, Uttara Phalguni, Moola, Uttara Bhadrapada | Ardra, Vishakha, Shatabhisha, Purva Bhadrapada | the other 19 |
| Wednesday | Krittika, Purva Phalguni, Uttara Phalguni, Purva Ashadha, Uttara Ashadha, Purva Bhadrapada | Ashwini, Hasta, Moola, Dhanishta, Revati | the other 16 |
| Thursday | Ashwini, Punarvasu, Pushya, Magha, Swati | Krittika, Rohini, Mrigashira, Ardra, Uttara Phalguni, Shatabhisha | the other 16 |
| Friday | Ashwini, Hasta, Moola, Revati | Rohini, Pushya, Ashlesha, Magha, Jyeshta, Shravana | the other 17 |
| Saturday | Krittika, Rohini, Magha, Swati, Shatabhisha | Ashlesha, Uttara Phalguni, Hasta, Chitra, Purva Bhadrapada, Revati | the other 16 |
📚 What Muhurta Chintamani supports, and what it does not
Muhurta Chintamani's plate (p. 8) has a weekday-and-star row named Yamaghanta, one star per weekday. (The same book also uses “Yamaghanta” for a part of the day; that is a different rule.) Every one of the seven stars is a Marana pair in the app's table:
| Weekday | Yamaghanta star (Muhurta Chintamani) | In the app's Marana list? |
|---|---|---|
| Sunday | Magha | yes |
| Monday | Vishakha | yes |
| Tuesday | Ardra | yes |
| Wednesday | Moola | yes |
| Thursday | Krittika | yes |
| Friday | Rohini | yes |
| Saturday | Hasta | yes |
So the book backs 7 of the 37 Marana pairs. The rest, and the whole Amrutha list, rest on the almanac. Kalaprakasika's own lists, and where they differ, are on Kalaprakasika's weekday, star and tithi yogas. For Muhurta Chintamani's Siddha yoga by tithi class, see weekday and tithi-class yogas.