Palanpur city is in the Banaskantha district of the state of Gujarat in India and is home to most of the diamond traders of the country. The city is in a landlocked area with a few areas of greenery located close by and the border of the neighbouring state of Rajasthan is also quite nearby. Palanpur was founded in 1218 by the Jain devotee Prahladana who named this city as Prahladanapura according to ancient religious texts. The Nagarkot, King George V Club, Balaram Palace, Jorawar Palace, Shashivan, Nani Bazar, Moti Bazar, Dhalvas, Chaman Bag, Mansarovar and Mithi Vav are few of the historical centres in the city. The city has Hindu temples, namely Pataleshwar Temple, Lakshman Tekri Temple, Mota Ramji Temple and Ambaji Mata Temple, and also Jain temples, namely Kirti Stambh, Motu Derasar and Nanu Derasar. Palanpur is home to industries like dairy, textile, diamond polishing and marble while the Palanpuri Ittars are also quite popular fragrances.
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.