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. Visakhapatnam (83.2°E) sunrise is 3 min earlier than IST meridian, among the most accurate for standard IST. Still 43 min earlier than Mumbai and 16 min later than Kolkata. CosmosPandit uses precision astronomy (Jean Meeus, Astronomical Algorithms) to calculate the exact sunrise at Visakhapatnam's coordinates (17.686800°N, 83.218500°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.
Visakhapatnam (Vizag) is Andhra Pradesh's largest city and home to the ancient Simhachalam Narasimha Swamy temple, one of the 108 Divya Desams, perched 800 feet above sea level. The Bay of Bengal coastline gives Vizag dramatic unobstructed sunrises. At 83.2°E, very close to the IST standard meridian (82.5°E), Visakhapatnam has one of the most 'IST-accurate' sunrise times among Indian cities, making it a good reference point.
During Rahu Kaal, residents of Visakhapatnam are advised to hold off on launching new businesses, signing contracts, or starting important journeys by road or sea. Avoid scheduling weddings, engagements, or any major ceremonies within this window, as the energy is considered unfavorable for fresh beginnings. Purchasing property, vehicles, or taking on new loans during this period is also best postponed to a more auspicious muhurta later in the day.
Work that is already in progress flows without issue during Rahu Kaal, so feel free to continue your ongoing tasks, professional duties, or creative projects. This window is actually considered well suited for prayer, chanting the Rahu mantra "Om Rahave Namaha," and performing specific Rahu remedies that can help neutralize the planet's influence. Studying, planning ahead, and handling routine household chores are all perfectly fine activities during this time. Think of Rahu Kaal not as a period to fear, but as a quiet invitation to turn inward and tend to what already exists in your life.
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:
No. Vijayawada (80.65°E) is 2.57 degrees west of Visakhapatnam (83.22°E), sunrise is about 10 minutes later in Vijayawada. Use the CosmosPandit app for your exact city.
Yes. CosmosPandit supports Telugu (తెలుగు), all timings, Rashifal, and Panchang in Telugu.
Because Visakhapatnam (83.2°E) is only 0.7 degrees east of the IST standard meridian (82.5°E). The entire IST timezone was designed around 82.5°E as the reference longitude for India, Visakhapatnam happens to be closest to this line among our network cities.
Astronomically precise Rahu Kaal timings for 25 major Indian cities.