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. Lucknow (81.0°E) is 3.8 degrees east of Delhi (77.2°E), sunrise is 15 min earlier than Delhi. Rahu Kaal falls earlier here than Delhi and Jaipur. CosmosPandit uses precision astronomy (Jean Meeus, Astronomical Algorithms) to calculate the exact sunrise at Lucknow's coordinates (26.846700°N, 80.946200°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.
Lucknow, the City of Nawabs, has a deeply devout Hindu character, the Hanumangarhi temple draws thousands daily, while Ayodhya, birthplace of Lord Ram, is just 135km away. For Lucknow's communities, observing Rahu Kaal before auspicious events is obligatory. Lucknow at 81.0°E has a sunrise 15 minutes earlier than Delhi, making its Rahu Kaal timing slightly different from the capital.
During Rahu Kaal in Lucknow, hold off on launching new businesses, signing contracts or property deals, and taking out loans, as this window carries an unsettled energy that can cloud judgment and invite complications. Auspicious beginnings like weddings, engagements, or purchasing a new vehicle or home are best scheduled outside this period. Important journeys, especially those starting from Lucknow for significant personal or professional purposes, are also better initiated at a more favorable hour. Keeping these boundaries in mind helps protect your intentions and gives new endeavors the solid footing they deserve.
Rahu Kaal is perfectly fine for continuing work you have already started, so carry on with ongoing projects, meetings in progress, or tasks already underway without any concern. It is actually a meaningful time for prayer, mantra chanting, and meditation, and reciting the Rahu beej mantra, Om Bhram Bhreem Bhroum Sah Rahave Namah, during this window is considered especially potent for pacifying Rahu. Use the time for planning, research, reading, and study, all of which flow smoothly now. Routine household chores, cooking, and everyday errands are completely unaffected, so your daily life in Lucknow continues without interruption.
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:
Almost, Ayodhya (82.19°E) is 1.24 degrees east of Lucknow (80.95°E), so Ayodhya's sunrise is about 5 minutes earlier. For religious rituals in Ayodhya, using Ayodhya's own coordinates matters. CosmosPandit calculates for each city separately.
Many printed Panchangams in UP are published from Varanasi (82.97°E), which is 2 degrees east of Lucknow (80.95°E). This creates an 8-minute sunrise difference. CosmosPandit calculates from Lucknow's actual coordinates, giving accurate local timings.
Chhath Puja is timed precisely to sunset (Sandhya Arghya) and sunrise (Usha Arghya). CosmosPandit's Panchang screen shows exact sunrise and sunset times for Lucknow every day, and Rahu Kaal is calculated from that same sunrise. Download the app to track this for any city.
Astronomically precise Rahu Kaal timings for 25 major Indian cities.