Choosing a Wedding Muhurat: Month, Tithi, Nakshatra and Lagna

Of all the muhurats calculated in Hindu practice, the wedding muhurat receives the most care, because the ceremony is meant to last a lifetime.

Five elements are examined together. The month must be suitable: Magha, Phalguna, Vaishakha, Jyeshtha, Margashirsha and Kartika are generally accepted. The four months of Chaturmas, running from Devshayani Ekadashi to Devuthani Ekadashi, are excluded entirely, as is an intercalary month.

The tithi is checked next. The second, third, fifth, seventh, tenth, eleventh and thirteenth are favourable. The rikta tithis, being the fourth, ninth and fourteenth, are avoided, as are Amavasya and, in most traditions, the eighth and twelfth.

The nakshatra carries particular weight. Rohini, Mrigashira, Magha, Uttara Phalguni, Hasta, Swati, Anuradha, Mula, Uttara Ashadha, Uttara Bhadrapada and Revati are the accepted ones.

The weekday matters less but is still considered, with Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday preferred.

Finally the lagna at the chosen moment is examined, since it governs the character of the union itself. Fixed signs are generally preferred, and the seventh house of the muhurat chart should be free of affliction.

Beyond the calendar, both charts are checked for the position of Jupiter and Venus, and for whether either person is running a period that argues for delay.

One technical point is often missed. Tithi and nakshatra begin and end at moments determined by local sunrise. A wedding held outside India must have its muhurat computed for that location, not for India.