The 12.58 km2 of land of Kumbakonam is located at the coordinate of 10.97°N 79.42°E. Kumbakonam is one of the major cities of Thanjavur region, which is in the Tamil Nadu the southern region of the state. Though it is a part of Thanjavur, it is 40 km away from the main place of Thanjavur, 96 km from Tiruchirappalli, and 273 km away from the capital Chennai. The existence of two major rivers there, Kaveri, which circles the northern edge, and Arasalar River, which circles the southern side, boosts its geographical features. Kumbakonam is associated with Kumbakonam-Shiyali ridge which is spread throughout the side of Kollidam River.
The three major religions there are Hinduism, Islamism and Christianity, which are followed by 86.07% 9.57% and 3.99% of living population there, respectively. There are 0.23% of Jain people and 0.13% of people who belong to some religion other than Hinduism, Islamism, Christianity, Sikhism, Jainism and Buddhism.
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.