Bhadra (Vishti karana)
Bhadra is the popular name for Vishti, the one karana (half-tithi) that tradition avoids for auspicious work. It comes eight times a lunar month, and festivals such as Raksha Bandhan are timed to avoid it.
Also known as: Bhadra kaal, Bhadra kal
The full guide: Bhadra (Vishti Karana): Meaning, Timings and What to Avoid
Vishti is the seventh of the movable karanas. It falls in the second half of Shukla Chaturthi and Ekadashi, the first half of Shukla Ashtami and Purnima, the second half of Krishna Tritiya and Dashami, and the first half of Krishna Saptami and Chaturdashi. Each spell lasts half a tithi, roughly 10 to 13 hours.
Tradition avoids Bhadra for weddings, griha pravesh, setting out on journeys and festival rites, so the tying of rakhi and the lighting of the Holika fire are timed around it. Its weight is said to depend on the Moon’s sign. With the Moon in Cancer, Leo, Aquarius or Pisces, Bhadra ‘dwells on earth’ and is avoided most strictly; in other signs it dwells in heaven or the netherworld, and many treat it more leniently.
Some panchangs also allow Bhadra’s tail (puchha) while avoiding its head (mukha). Our Panchang lists every Bhadra period that touches the day, with its start and end. The name appears elsewhere too, in the Bhadra tithis (the 2nd, 7th and 12th) and in Bhadra yoga, formed by Mercury in a birth chart. Both are favourable and unrelated to Vishti.