Begin at local sunrise
A Hora table belongs to a sunrise-to-sunrise day. First calculate sunrise, sunset, and the following sunrise for the chosen place. The weekday at the first sunrise determines the first planetary ruler. A Sunday begins with the Sun, a Monday with the Moon, a Tuesday with Mars, a Wednesday with Mercury, a Thursday with Jupiter, a Friday with Venus, and a Saturday with Saturn. Midnight can arrive during the night sequence, but it does not start a new Hora weekday.
The calculator follows the familiar Drik Panchang Hora table: divide sunrise to sunset by twelve, then sunset to the next sunrise by twelve. These halves may have different durations. In Drik Panchang’s dated table, the daytime rows end at sunset and the nighttime rows continue into the next civil date. A date or place change therefore changes the clock boundaries even though the order of rulers stays fixed.
Seven rulers, repeated twenty-four times
Starting from the weekday’s lord, move through Sun → Venus → Mercury → Moon → Saturn → Jupiter → Mars and repeat. This is the same circular sequence that can be written Saturn → Jupiter → Mars → Sun → Venus → Mercury → Moon. The translation and commentary on Balabhadra’s Hāyanaratna, chapter 7.4, documents the hourly order and describes local sunrise as the beginning of the planetary ruler’s day. The historical passage supports the sequence; the modern online table supplies the specific twelve-day and twelve-night display convention used here.
| Weekday at sunrise | First Hora | Thirteenth Hora at sunset | Next day’s first Hora |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sunday | Sun | Jupiter | Moon |
| Monday | Moon | Venus | Mars |
| Tuesday | Mars | Saturn | Mercury |
| Wednesday | Mercury | Sun | Jupiter |
| Thursday | Jupiter | Moon | Venus |
| Friday | Venus | Mars | Saturn |
| Saturday | Saturn | Mercury | Sun |
After twenty-four Horas the next sunrise advances three places in the seven-planet cycle. That is why the next first ruler follows the weekday sequence rather than repeating the same planet.
A Sunday worked example
Suppose sunrise occurs at 06:00, sunset at 18:00, and the following sunrise at 06:00. Each half spans twelve hours, so each Hora lasts sixty minutes. Sunday’s first four daylight rulers are Sun (06:00–07:00), Venus (07:00–08:00), Mercury (08:00–09:00), and Moon (09:00–10:00). The thirteenth Hora begins at 18:00 under Jupiter. The twenty-fourth belongs to Mercury from 05:00 to 06:00 the next morning. At that sunrise Monday begins with the Moon. On a real date, the two spans normally differ; do not copy these sample clock times into an almanac.
What the times can and cannot resolve
The solar events are modeled apparent-Sun crossings for zero-metre observer height. NOAA’s solar calculation notes describe a standard sunrise and sunset geometry and warn that atmospheric and horizon conditions can change what an observer sees. The site uses the bundled Astronomy Engine rise/set method. One fixed UTC offset converts each event to a local label; it cannot follow a daylight-saving change during the overnight span. For polar places without an ordered sunrise–sunset–next sunrise cycle, the calculator reports that no table is available.
Hora labels carry traditional associations for choosing an activity. They do not, by themselves, supply a complete Muhurat, and the calculation does not test whether an activity will turn out well. For another weekday table with different subdivisions, compare the Choghadiya guide and calculator.
Source reading: Drik Panchang Hora; Hāyanaratna 7.4 and translator’s notes; NOAA solar calculation details; Astronomy Engine JavaScript documentation.