The nakshatra in a panchangam is the lunar mansion the Moon is transiting on that day — one of twenty-seven divisions of 13°20′ each. It changes roughly once every twenty-four hours, and the almanac gives the one running at sunrise together with the time it ends. It is the anga that does the most work in selecting a muhurtham.
How the day's nakshatra is fixed
The Moon covers about 13° a day, so it crosses one nakshatra in a little over a day on average — but the actual duration varies with the Moon's speed, which is why a nakshatra occasionally spans two sunrises or ends shortly after one. The panchangam lists the ending time for exactly this reason.
Two derived timings come straight out of the running nakshatra: Varjyam and Amrita Kalam are both computed as fixed proportions of the nakshatra's duration, so both shift daily as the nakshatra does.
What it is used for
In muhurtham selection the running nakshatra is checked in two directions. First for its own character — the nakshatras are grouped into classes traditionally suited to different kinds of undertaking, so a nakshatra held suitable for travel is not the one chosen for a house-warming. Second against the janma nakshatra of the people involved, because the relationship between the two is one of the standard checks.
It is also read for the observances tied to a particular star: Ashlesha Bali on the Ashlesha day, a family's monthly observance of a member's birth star, and the temple observances kept on specific nakshatras.
Where the general rule stops
The nakshatra running today is not your birth star and does not stand in for it. Both appear in a muhurtham discussion and they answer different questions — the birth star is fixed for life, the running nakshatra changes daily.
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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