Durmuhurtham is a short window — traditionally one muhurtham of about 48 minutes — set aside for auspicious beginnings. Most weekdays carry one; some carry two. Like the other daily periods it is placed by weekday and computed from local sunrise and sunset.
How it is placed
The daylight is divided into fifteen muhurtams of roughly 48 minutes each, and the Durmuhurtham is a particular numbered muhurtam of that day, assigned by weekday. Thursday and Sunday carry one in the common reckoning; several other days carry two, one in the forenoon and one in the afternoon.
Because the muhurtam length is one-fifteenth of that day's daylight, the figure of 48 minutes is an average rather than a constant, and the window is longer in summer than in winter.
How it is used
Durmuhurtham is checked in the same way as Rahu Kalam — as a period to start outside of — but at finer resolution, which is what makes it useful when a ceremony start time is being set to the minute. Its main practical role is in the final narrowing of a muhurtham after the tithi, nakshatra and lagna have already selected a day and a broad window.
For everyday purposes it is the less consulted of the daily periods, chiefly because it is short enough that ordinary work rarely collides with it.
Where the general rule stops
Both the number of Durmuhurthams on each weekday and which muhurtam they occupy differ between almanac traditions. Read the column in the panchangam you are using rather than a general table.
Every timing on this page is computed for Hyderabad and Indian Standard Time. For a consequential date, confirm the window with the Purohit conducting the ceremony rather than acting on a published table.
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