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.
• journey-long: stricter than travel: Friday is excluded, as the Yatra prakarana requires for long journeys.
• name-change: the Namakaran rules carried over to an adult changing their name.
• general-auspicious: universally favourable days (Pushya, Hasta, shubha tithis) with no activity bias - for a sankalpa, a prayer, or as a fallback.

Endpoints

Endpoint	Credits	Event
/v1/vedic/muhurat/marriage	50	Marriage (saptapadi time)
/v1/vedic/muhurat/naming-ceremony	50	Namakaran (naming a newborn)
/v1/vedic/muhurat/name-change	50	Name change
/v1/vedic/muhurat/property-purchase	50	Property purchase
/v1/vedic/muhurat/vehicle-purchase	50	Vehicle purchase
/v1/vedic/muhurat/business-start	50	Business start
/v1/vedic/muhurat/investment	50	Investment
/v1/vedic/muhurat/education-start	50	Vidyarambh - start of studies
/v1/vedic/muhurat/travel	50	Travel
/v1/vedic/muhurat/journey-long	50	Long journey
/v1/vedic/muhurat/surgery	50	Surgery
/v1/vedic/muhurat/general-auspicious	50	Universally auspicious days

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 '{
    "search_window_start": "2026-09-01",
    "search_window_end": "2026-12-31",
    "latitude": 28.6139,
    "longitude": 77.2090,
    "timezoneOffset": 5.5,
    "ayanamsa": "lahiri",
    "topN": 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({
    search_window_start: '2026-09-01',
    search_window_end: '2026-12-31',
    latitude: 50.4501,
    longitude: 30.5234,
    timezoneOffset: 3,
    ayanamsa: 'lahiri',
    topN: 5,
  }),
});
const { data } = await r.json();
for (const day of data.auspiciousWindows) {
  console.log(`${day.date} (${day.weekdayName}): ${day.score}, ${day.rating}`);
  console.log(`  Nakshatra ${day.panchang.nakshatraName}, tithi ${day.panchang.tithiName}`);
  console.log(`  Abhijit: ${day.abhijitMuhurat.startTime}-${day.abhijitMuhurat.endTime}`);
}

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={
        'search_window_start': '2026-09-01',
        'search_window_end': '2026-09-30',
        'latitude': 50.4501,
        'longitude': 30.5234,
        'timezoneOffset': 3,
        'ayanamsa': 'lahiri',
        'topN': 10,
    },
)
for day in r.json()['data']['auspiciousWindows']:
    print(f"{day['date']} ({day['weekdayName']}): {day['score']} {day['rating']}")

Sample response (marriage, trimmed to one day):

{
  "data": {
    "activity": "marriage",
    "search_window": { "start": "2026-09-01", "end": "2026-12-31", "daysScanned": 90 },
    "location": { "latitude": 28.6139, "longitude": 77.209, "timezoneOffset": 5.5 },
    "ayanamsa": 24.22961764440157,
    "auspiciousWindows": [
      {
        "date": "2026-10-12",
        "weekday": 1,
        "weekdayName": "Somavara",
        "panchang": {
          "tithi": 2, "tithiName": "Dvitiya", "paksha": "shukla",
          "vara": 1, "varaName": "Somavara",
          "nakshatra": 15, "nakshatraName": "Swati",
          "yoga": 5, "yogaName": "Shobhana",
          "karana": "Balava", "karanaIndex": 3, "pada": 2
        },
        "abhijitMuhurat": { "startTime": "11:44:21", "endTime": "12:30:41", "midHour": 12.125246156007051 },
        "score": 9,
        "rating": "excellent",
        "factors": [
          { "field": "nakshatra", "delta": 3, "note": "Swati: auspicious for marriage" },
          { "field": "vara", "delta": 2, "note": "Somavara: auspicious weekday" },
          { "field": "tithi", "delta": 2, "note": "Tithi Dvitiya (shukla): favourable" },
          { "field": "yoga", "delta": 1, "note": "Yoga Shobhana: acceptable" },
          { "field": "karana", "delta": 1, "note": "Karana Balava: movable, supportive" }
        ]
      }
    ],
    "nextAuspiciousWindow": "2026-10-12"
  }
}

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: the algorithm walks [search_window_start, search_window_end] day by day, scores each day from its panchang (roughly -10 to +10: >= 7 excellent, >= 4 good, >= 0 average, >= -3 poor, below that avoid) and returns the best topN sorted by score. Within a day it returns the Abhijit Muhurat window; it does not score 15-minute slots.
• 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