Kathmandu city is located in the Kathmandu district of the Bagmati province in Nepal and is the capital city of the country. The city is situated in the Kathmandu Valley on the banks of the River Bagmati with the Bishnumati, Dhobi Khola, Manohara Khola, Hanumante Khola and Tukucha Khola rivers flowing through the region. The earliest evidence of settlement in Kathmandu comes from 185 due to the excavational evidence of a brick with Brahmi writings and the main historical sites are in the Durbar Square, Rani Pokhari, the National Museum of Nepal and the Hanuman Dhoka History Museum. Hinduism is the chief religion of the city with the prominent places of worship being the Pashupatinath Temple, the Boudhanath Stupa, the Jame Masjid, the Wanga Akash Bhairabh Temple, the Kupundole Gurudwara and the Gyaneshwar Jain Temple. Agriculture, finance and tourism form the main sectors of the economy of Kathmandu mainly in New Road, Durbar Marg, Ason and Putalisadak.
About the Panchang
The Panchang (Panjika) is the Hindu almanac. It is used to choose auspicious times (shubh muhurat) for important events
— marriage, naming a baby, starting a business or entering a new home — and to identify inauspicious periods
that are best avoided. Festivals and pujas are also scheduled by it: Lakshmi Puja falls on Purnima tithi, for example,
and Durga Puja on Saptami.
The name means “five limbs”: Tithi, Vara (weekday), Nakshatra,
Yoga and Karana. This page calculates them for the chosen city and date, together with
sunrise, sunset and the Moon's phase. Timings depend on the location, so they differ from city to city.
Tithi and Paksha
A tithi is the time it takes for the Moon to move 12° ahead of the Sun, so there are 30 tithis in a lunar month:
Pratipada, Dwitiya, Tritiya, Chaturthi, Panchami, Shashthi, Saptami, Ashtami, Navami, Dashami, Ekadashi, Dwadashi,
Trayodashi, Chaturdashi and Purnima in the bright half (Shukla Paksha), and the same fifteen ending in Amavasya in the
dark half (Krishna Paksha).
Karana and Yoga
Each tithi has two karanas: the movable Bava, Balava, Kaulava, Taitila, Gara, Vanija and Vishti (Bhadra), and the fixed
Shakuni, Chatushpada, Naga and Kimstughna. There are 27 yogas, found by adding the longitudes of the Sun and Moon and
dividing by 13°20′: Vishkambha, Priti, Ayushman, Saubhagya, Shobhana, Atiganda, Sukarma, Dhriti, Shoola,
Ganda, Vriddhi, Dhruva, Vyaghata, Harshana, Vajra, Siddhi, Vyatipata, Variyana, Parigha, Shiva, Siddha, Sadhya, Shubha,
Shukla, Brahma, Indra and Vaidhriti.
Before starting a journey or anything important, prefer the auspicious times above and avoid Rahu Kaal,
Yamaganda, Gulika Kaal, Dur Muhurta and Mrityu periods.