Hora Today: Planetary Hours Explained and Times for 49 Cities

A hora is a planetary hour. In Vedic timing the day and the night are each divided into twelve parts, giving 24 horas, and each hora is ruled by one of the seven visible planets: the Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus and Saturn. Tradition uses the hora to choose a moment for a particular kind of task, in the same spirit as choghadiya and Rahu kaal.

How hora is calculated

The rule uses the sunrise, the sunset and the next sunrise of your city, and the weekday:

1. The daytime, from sunrise to sunset, is divided into twelve equal horas.
2. The night, from sunset to the next sunrise, is divided into twelve equal horas.
3. The first hora of the day, which starts at sunrise, is ruled by the planet that rules the weekday: the Sun on Sunday, the Moon on Monday, Mars on Tuesday, Mercury on Wednesday, Jupiter on Thursday, Venus on Friday and Saturn on Saturday.
4. The rulers then follow in a fixed order, one per hora, all through the day and the night: Sun, Venus, Mercury, Moon, Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, and back to the Sun. This is the old order of the planets by their speed across the sky, from the slowest (Saturn) to the fastest (the Moon), going round from the Sun: Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Sun, Venus, Mercury, Moon.

As an example, on a Monday the first hora after sunrise belongs to the Moon, the second to Saturn, the third to Jupiter, the fourth to Mars, the fifth to the Sun, and so on. The cycle carries straight on through all 24 horas, so the first hora at the next sunrise belongs to the next weekday’s planet. The horas are not 60 minutes long. On a day of 12 hours and a night of 12 hours each hora is exactly an hour, but in summer the daytime horas are longer than the night ones, and in winter the reverse.

What each planet’s hora is used for

The associations below are traditional, and almanacs word them a little differently. They are guidance for choosing a calm moment, not promises.

• Sun: matters of authority, government work, and meeting senior people.
• Moon: travel, anything to do with the home, the public and the mother, and routine matters.
• Mars: tasks needing energy and courage, and work with tools, property or competition.
• Mercury: study, writing, trade, signing agreements, and communication.
• Jupiter: learning, teaching, advice, worship, and ceremonies. It is among the most favoured.
• Venus: arts, music, relationships, comforts, and purchases for the home.
• Saturn: patient, serious or long-term work. Many hold off on celebrations in it.

The hora of the weekday’s own planet at sunrise is the first of the day, so on a Thursday the day opens in Jupiter’s hora. Used together with Rahu kaal and choghadiya, hora gives a way to fine-tune a timing, but they do not always agree, and nobody needs to follow all three. Your family’s custom or the printed almanac of your temple comes first.

Today in all cities

The table below lists, for each city, the day and night horas ruled by each planet for the city’s current date. A planet rules three or four horas in a day and night, because 24 does not divide by seven. Each city’s own page on the panchang hub has the full list in order.

Frequently asked questions