Muhurat — electional astrology

Muhurat is Vedic electional astrology: picking an auspicious moment to start something important. Unlike natal astrology, the chart is built for a future moment — and the algorithm scans a window of dates/times looking for when panchang factors (tithi, nakshatra, yoga, karana, vara, lagna) are most favourable for the specific event.

Tip

How muhurat endpoints work. Input: search window (start/end date, location, event duration). Output: ranked slots with a score, the favourable/unfavourable panchang elements, and a list of “avoid” periods (Rahu Kaal, Yamaganda, Gulika Kaal).

What we compute

Each endpoint checks a distinct rule set:

• marriage — Saptapadi time: auspicious tithis (2, 3, 5, 7, 10, 11, 12, 13), nakshatras (Rohini, Mrigashira, Uttara Phalguni, Hasta, Swati, Anuradha, Mula, Uttara Ashadha, Uttara Bhadrapada, Revati), avoidance of Manglik-incompatible windows.
• vehicle-purchase — Mercury/Venus strong, avoiding Astha (Venus combust), Bhadra karana.
• business-start — Jupiter-aspected lagna, 10th house free of malefics, Chandra Bala.
• travel — Dishashool (direction of the day), mobility nakshatras, avoiding Yamaganda.
• naming-ceremony (Namakaran) — 11th or 12th day after birth; nakshatras favourable for the name.
• surgery — avoid Sankranti, Saturday, Chandrashtama; Mars/Saturn-related rules.
• education-start (Vidyarambh) — Wednesday/Thursday + Mercury/Jupiter strong + knowledge nakshatras (Hasta, Pushya, Sravana, Revati).
• investment — 2nd and 11th house support, Jupiter and Venus backing.
• property-purchase — 4th house clear, Saturn-aspected, avoid Mars in 4th.
• griha-pravesh (housewarming) — Uttarayana (northern solar arc), avoiding monsoon season, stability nakshatras (Anuradha, Uttara*).
• engagement — lighter requirements than marriage, same panchang logic.
• court-case — Mars-controlled, lagna lord strong, opponent significator weak.

Endpoints

Endpoint	Credits	Event
/v1/vedic/muhurat/marriage	50	Marriage (saptapadi time)
/v1/vedic/muhurat/engagement	30	Engagement
/v1/vedic/muhurat/naming-ceremony	30	Namakaran (naming a newborn)
/v1/vedic/muhurat/griha-pravesh	50	Housewarming
/v1/vedic/muhurat/property-purchase	30	Property purchase
/v1/vedic/muhurat/vehicle-purchase	30	Vehicle purchase
/v1/vedic/muhurat/business-start	50	Business start
/v1/vedic/muhurat/investment	30	Investment
/v1/vedic/muhurat/education-start	30	Vidyarambh — start of studies
/v1/vedic/muhurat/travel	30	Travel
/v1/vedic/muhurat/surgery	30	Surgery
/v1/vedic/muhurat/court-case	30	Court case / legal proceedings

Example

cURL

curl -X POST https://api.astroway.info/v1/vedic/muhurat/marriage \
  -H "X-Api-Key: aw_live_your_key_here" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "start_date": "2026-09-01",
    "end_date": "2026-12-31",
    "latitude": 28.6139,
    "longitude": 77.2090,
    "timezoneOffset": 5.5,
    "duration_hours": 3,
    "ayanamsa": "lahiri",
    "limit": 10
  }'

Node.js

const r = await fetch('https://api.astroway.info/v1/vedic/muhurat/business-start', {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: {
    'X-Api-Key': process.env.ASTROWAY_API_KEY!,
    'Content-Type': 'application/json',
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    start_date: '2026-09-01',
    end_date: '2026-12-31',
    latitude: 50.4501,
    longitude: 30.5234,
    timezoneOffset: 3,
    duration_hours: 2,
    ayanamsa: 'lahiri',
    limit: 5,
  }),
});
const { data } = await r.json();
for (const slot of data.slots) {
  console.log(`${slot.start} → ${slot.end}: score ${slot.score}/100 (${slot.verdict})`);
  console.log(`  Tithi: ${slot.panchang.tithi}, Nakshatra: ${slot.panchang.nakshatra}`);
}

Python

import os, requests

r = requests.post(
    'https://api.astroway.info/v1/vedic/muhurat/travel',
    headers={'X-Api-Key': os.environ['ASTROWAY_API_KEY']},
    json={
        'start_date': '2026-09-01',
        'end_date': '2026-09-30',
        'latitude': 50.4501,
        'longitude': 30.5234,
        'timezoneOffset': 3,
        'duration_hours': 1,
        'ayanamsa': 'lahiri',
        'limit': 10,
    },
)
for slot in r.json()['data']['slots']:
    print(f"{slot['start']} → {slot['end']}: {slot['score']}/100 ({slot['verdict']})")

Sample response (marriage, abbreviated):

{
  "data": {
    "event": "marriage",
    "window": { "start": "2026-09-01", "end": "2026-12-31" },
    "location": { "latitude": 28.6139, "longitude": 77.209, "timezone_offset": 5.5 },
    "slots": [
      {
        "start": "2026-11-12T07:24:00+05:30",
        "end":   "2026-11-12T10:24:00+05:30",
        "score": 84,
        "verdict": "excellent",
        "panchang": {
          "tithi": "Shukla Ekadashi",
          "nakshatra": "Rohini",
          "yoga": "Siddhi",
          "karana": "Vanij",
          "vara": "Thursday"
        },
        "factors_positive": ["Tithi auspicious", "Nakshatra Rohini", "Thursday", "No Rahu Kaal"],
        "factors_negative": []
      }
    ],
    "ayanamsa": "lahiri"
  }
}

Accuracy and sources

• Canonical texts — Muhurta Chintamani (Ramadayalu Bhattacharya, ~1600 AD) and Muhurta Martand (Narayana, 17th c.). Modern compendia: B.V. Raman Muhurta or Electional Astrology; K.K. Pathak Brihat Muhurta Bhusana.
• Panchang factors — computed by our own panchang engine (/v1/vedic/panchang/*), the same source of truth.
• Window scanning — algorithm walks 15-minute slots inside [start_date, end_date], scores each (0-100), returns the top-N sorted by score desc.
• Algorithmic choices — some rules (especially for surgery, court-case) come from narrow regional schools. We document the variant we picked and why in docs.
• Status — marriage, vehicle-purchase, griha-pravesh, travel, business-start are GREEN (cross-verified against Drik Panchang and ProKerala). surgery, court-case, naming-ceremony, investment, property-purchase, education-start, engagement are mostly YELLOW (single-source schools). Detailed breakdown in docs/AUDIT-TRAIL.md.

Related

Compatibility Match charts before marriage + Manglik

Yogas Raja, Dhana, Mahapurusha — combinations

Doshas Manglik, Kaal Sarp, Pitru — afflictions

Credits Per-endpoint credit cost

Accuracy How we verify calculations

Authentication X-Api-Key, sandbox keys