Panchak Calendar — 2026

What is Panchak?

Panchak (पंचक, literally “pentad” or “group of five”) is a recurring ~5-day window each lunar cycle when the Moon transits the last two zodiac signs — Aquarius (Kumbha) and Pisces (Meena). This corresponds to sidereal longitude 300°–360° and covers the last 2 padas of Dhanishtha, plus all of Shatabhisha, Purva Bhadrapada, Uttara Bhadrapada, and Revati.

Traditional Vedic practice considers Panchak inauspicious for five specific activities: cremation of corpses, roof laying / thatching, building construction with fire-work, southward travel, and making or purchasing beds. The Garuda Purana holds that a death during Panchak may “pull” five more family members with the departing soul — hence the observance of Panchak Shanti with kusha-grass effigies when this occurs.

The five sub-types — classified by the weekday Panchak starts

Classical Muhurta tradition assigns ONE sub-type to each Panchak window based on the weekday the window begins. The entire ~5-day window carries that single classification — sub-types are window-wide, not per-day.

• Rog Panchak — window starts on Sunday. (yellow) Illness risk. Avoid starting new health regimens or major medication changes.
• Raj / Rajya Panchak — window starts on Monday. (purple) State / authority-matters risk. Avoid new legal proceedings, government paperwork, or confrontations with officials.
• Agni Panchak — window starts on Tuesday. (orange) Fire risk. Avoid fire-related work, kitchen renovations, welding, and Yagnas at inauspicious moments.
• Chor Panchak — window starts on Friday. (deep blue) Theft risk. Avoid displaying valuables, major purchases, and long-term financial commitments.
• Mrityu Panchak — window starts on Saturday. (red) Death / serious-risk day. Avoid dangerous activities, long journeys, and risky ventures.

Panchak windows that start on Wednesday or Thursday carry no specific traditional name and are considered Neutral Panchak (muted grey) — benign. Most auspicious work is permitted for the entire duration of such a window — only the five classical prohibitions (roof laying, wood collection, cremation, bed-making, southward travel) still apply.

Reading the calendar: The color chip in each Panchak card’s header (and in the filter strip above) maps directly to these five caution types plus Neutral. Tap any chip in the filter strip to show only that type’s windows for the year.

Why the boundary is 300° (mid-Dhanishtha)

Panchak starts when the Moon enters Aquarius at sidereal longitude 300°00'. This coincides with the third pada of Dhanishtha (Dhanishtha spans 293°20'–306°40', so its midpoint is exactly 300°00' — the Makara→Kumbha rashi cusp). Boundaries are computed with Swiss Ephemeris DE431 and Lahiri Ayanamsha and resolve to the exact ephemeris minute.

The window ends when the Moon exits Revati at 360° / 0° — entering Aries. Duration: typically 4–5 days, varying with the Moon's orbital speed (faster near perigee, slower near apogee).

How many Panchak windows per year?

Typically 13 or 14 Panchak windows per calendar year. The Moon completes a full sidereal circuit in ~27.3 days, and Panchak occupies 60° of that circuit — so the pattern recurs every ~27 days. A calendar year of 365 days contains 13.5 cycles, yielding either 13 or 14 windows depending on where the year starts relative to the current cycle.

Panchak nakshatras — the ~5 lunar mansions inside the window

Each Panchak window contains the following Moon nakshatra transits (in order):

• Dhanishtha pada 3–4 — only the second half of Dhanishtha is Panchak (padas 1–2 sit in Capricorn and are NOT Panchak).
• Shatabhisha — full nakshatra.
• Purva Bhadrapada — full nakshatra.
• Uttara Bhadrapada — full nakshatra.
• Revati — full nakshatra; Panchak ends when the Moon exits Revati (crossing back to Ashwini / Aries).

What Panchak does NOT restrict

Panchak is a construction / travel / funeral caution, not a general muhurta ban. It does not prohibit weddings, engagements, gemstone charging, most rituals, or new business openings — those are governed by other muhurta factors (nakshatra suitability, tithi, weekday, tarabala, and janma-nakshatra compatibility). Consult a purohit for muhurta questions.

Panchak is location-independent

The Moon's sidereal longitude at any UTC instant is essentially the same globally (parallax adds at most ~1°, corrected for). What varies is the local wall-clock label — a Panchak start at 6:38 AM IST in Delhi is the same instant labelled 5:53 PM PST the previous day in California. This calendar auto-detects your timezone so all start / end times display in your local clock. There is no city picker because the underlying events are the same everywhere.

Common questions this page answers

A full year of Panchak windows on one page, each classified by sub-type, answers most Panchak-avoidance questions directly:

• When is Panchak in 2026? — all 13–14 windows for the year are listed chronologically with exact start and end times in your local timezone.
• Is today Panchak? — the current window is highlighted with a gold tint and a NOW badge, and the page auto-scrolls to it on load.
• When is the next Panchak? — scroll just past the highlighted current window, or to the first card if Panchak is not currently running.
• Which Panchak windows are Mrityu / Chor / Agni / Raj / Rog in 2026? — tap the matching filter chip to isolate that sub-type. Each chip shows a live count for the year.
• What type of Panchak is running right now? — the highlighted card carries its sub-type badge, determined by the weekday the window began.
• How many Panchak days are there in a year? — roughly 60–70, spread across 13–14 windows of ~5 days each. The All chip shows the exact window count for 2026.
• Which nakshatras is the Moon in during a Panchak window? — each card nests the Moon-nakshatra sub-transits inside its window, from Dhanishtha through Revati.

Related tools

• Nakshatra Peyarchi (Monthly Calendar) — every Moon nakshatra entry across a whole month (~28–30 per month) with pada-level start / end times and classical Muhurta flags on each card: Gand Mool, Panchak, Sarvartha Siddhi Yoga, and Yamaghantak Yoga. Best for month-at-a-glance Muhurta planning.
• Live Tracker — the Moon's current sidereal longitude, sign (Rashi), Nakshatra, Pada, sign lord, nakshatra lord, deity, and current tithi (lunar day). Auto-updates as the Moon moves.
• Date Lookup — the Moon's complete readout at local sunrise for any past or future date. Verify your janma-nakshatra or check any historical date.
• Find Moon Transit Dates — reverse lookup. Pick a nakshatra or rashi and get every upcoming Moon window in the next 180 days — ideal for planning Moon-in-target-nakshatra Muhurta days.
• Chandra Rashi Peyarchi (Year Timeline) — also called Chandra Peyarchi. Every Moon sign visit for a chosen year as a card, with nested nakshatra sub-events. Use the arrows to view any past or future year, from 13,201 BCE onward.