Amrit Kalam (Amrit Kaal)
Amrit Kalam is a short, highly auspicious window of roughly an hour and a half within each nakshatra. Panchangs list it as one of the best times to begin something important, even on an ordinary day.
Also known as: Amrita Kalam, Amrutha Kalam, Amrut kaal, Amrita ghatika
‘Amrit’ means nectar. Each of the 27 nakshatras contains one Amrit Kalam, beginning at a fixed point into the nakshatra that differs from star to star and lasting four of its 60 ghatis, about 90 minutes. Because it follows the Moon’s nakshatra, it can fall at any hour of the day or night.
South Indian panchangs list Amrit Kalam every day, and so does ours, among the auspicious times. Families use it for pujas, setting out on a journey, a business task or a purchase when no fuller muhurat is available. It is the counterpart of Varjyam, the nakshatra-based window to avoid.
Don’t confuse it with the Amrit choghadiya, one of the favourable choghadiya slots, which is worked out from the weekday rather than the nakshatra. Both are good times, but they are different measures and need not coincide.