Karana (half-tithi)
A karana is half a tithi: the time the Moon takes to gain 6° on the Sun. There are 11 karanas, seven that repeat through the month and four fixed ones, giving 60 karanas in every lunar month.
Also known as: Karan, Karanam, Half tithi
Every tithi has two halves, and each half is a karana. Seven movable karanas (Bava, Balava, Kaulava, Taitila, Gara, Vanija and Vishti) repeat eight times in a lunar month. Four fixed karanas appear once each, around the new moon: Shakuni, Chatushpada and Naga at the end of the dark half, and Kimstughna at the very start of the bright half.
Karanas fine-tune a muhurat. Apart from Vishti, the movable karanas are generally fine for ordinary work, while the fixed ones are usually passed over for important beginnings. Vishti, better known as Bhadra, is the karana most widely avoided: festivals such as Raksha Bandhan and Holika Dahan are timed around it.
A karana lasts about half a day, so a single calendar day usually contains two or three. Panchangs list each one with the time it ends.