Most Vedic apps show the same Rahu Kaal for all of India, calculated from a generic IST formula. But Rahu Kaal is 1/8th of the actual daytime from today's sunrise at your location. Amritsar (74.9°E) at 31.6°N has India's widest seasonal sunrise variation, 2h30m. No fixed Rahu Kaal table works for Amritsar. Precision astronomy is essential. CosmosPandit uses precision astronomy (Jean Meeus, Astronomical Algorithms) to calculate the exact sunrise at Amritsar's coordinates (31.634000°N, 74.872300°E), giving you the correct Rahu Kaal every day.
Rahu Kaal is the roughly 90-minute window each day ruled by the shadow planet Rahu, traditionally avoided for starting anything new, travel, deals, purchases, or ceremonies. It is the eighth part of the daytime (sunrise to sunset), and which part it falls in is fixed by the weekday, so the clock time shifts daily and by city.
Amritsar is Sikhism's holiest city, home to the Golden Temple (Harmandir Sahib) and the Durgiana Temple. Despite its Sikh identity, Amritsar's large Hindu population observes Vedic timing alongside Sikh traditions. At 31.6°N, the highest latitude of any major Indian city, Amritsar has the widest sunrise variation in India: summer sunrise is 2h30m earlier than winter. No fixed IST Rahu Kaal table can work here.
During Rahu Kaal in Amritsar, hold off on launching any new business venture, signing contracts or financial agreements, or taking out a loan, as this window carries an energy that tends to cloud judgment and invite complications. Do not begin an important journey or book travel for the first time during these hours, and keep property purchases, vehicle registrations, and wedding ceremonies well outside this period. Even a beloved project deserves a cleaner start, so simply note the Rahu Kaal timing for your day and plan your most significant beginnings around it.
Rahu Kaal is perfectly fine for carrying on with work already in progress, since you are not initiating anything new but simply moving forward with what has already begun. It is also a genuinely favorable time for prayer, mantra chanting, and quiet spiritual practice, and reciting the Rahu beej mantra, Om Bhram Bhreem Bhroum Sah Rahave Namah, is considered especially powerful during this window. Studying, planning, organizing your thoughts, and handling routine household or office chores all sit comfortably within Rahu Kaal without any concern. Think of it as a time to turn inward, tend to what is already growing, and let the more ambitious beginnings wait for a clearer hour.
India uses a single timezone (IST, UTC+5:30) across 30° of longitude. But sunrise follows the sun, not the clock, every 1° of longitude, 4 minutes difference. Kolkata’s sunrise is 80 minutes earlier than Mumbai’s on the same IST day, so Rahu Kaal falls at genuinely different times in each city.
This Rahu Kaal page is just the start. The CosmosPandit app gives every Indian the full Vedic astrology toolkit, in their own language, with timings precise for their city:
Because Amritsar is at 31.6°N, India's highest-latitude major city. The further from the equator, the greater the seasonal day-length variation. In June, Amritsar's day is much longer than in December. Since Rahu Kaal = 1/8th of daytime from sunrise, both the start time and duration shift dramatically.
The Golden Temple's daily program, including the Palki Sahib procession and Amrit Vela prayer, is timed to Amritsar's local sunrise. The 4 AM Amrit Vela is fixed, but other timings like the evening Rehras are sunrise/sunset relative. CosmosPandit provides precise Amritsar sunrise times daily.
Yes. CosmosPandit fully supports Punjabi (ਪੰਜਾਬੀ) in Gurmukhi script, all timings, Rashifal, and Panchang available in Punjabi.
Astronomically precise Rahu Kaal timings for 25 major Indian cities.