Rahu Kaal (Rahu Kalam) is a roughly 90-minute inauspicious window each day, traditionally avoided for starting new or auspicious activities. Its timing shifts with your local sunrise and sunset and the day of the week, so it is different for every city and date.
Rahu Kaal is one of the three inauspicious periods of the day ruled by the shadow planet Rahu. In Vedic timekeeping the daytime — from sunrise to sunset — is divided into eight equal parts, and one of those parts falls under Rahu depending on the weekday.
Because it is derived from the actual sunrise and sunset at your location, Rahu Kaal is never a fixed clock time. This calculator computes it from Swiss Ephemeris sunrise/sunset for the exact date and city you choose.
The eighth part is used on Sunday, the second on Monday, the seventh on Tuesday, the fifth on Wednesday, the sixth on Thursday, the fourth on Friday, and the third on Saturday. A simple mnemonic many almanacs use is: Mother Saw Father Wearing The Turban Suddenly.
Traditionally, new journeys and new ventures are avoided during Rahu Kaal, but ongoing activities and journeys already begun are considered unaffected. Many people simply avoid starting something important in this window.
Rahu Kaal is one-eighth of the daytime, and both the length of the day and which eighth-part is ruled by Rahu change with the weekday and your location's sunrise and sunset — so the clock time differs by date and city.
The common Rahu Kaal is a daytime period between sunrise and sunset. A separate night-time division exists in some traditions, but the widely used Rahu Kaal is the daytime window shown here.
For educational purposes. Astrological interpretations are traditional and not a substitute for professional advice.