Seven days, seven grahas
Each weekday carries its graha's name: Ravivara is the day of Ravi, the Sun, Somavara the day of Soma, the Moon, and so on to Shanivara. English keeps three of them, in Sunday, Monday and Saturday.
The order comes from the horas. In tradition each hora, a twelfth of the day or of the night, has its graha in a fixed round, and the graha of the first hora after sunrise names the day.
- Ravivara (Sunday): Surya
- Somavara (Monday): Chandra
- Mangalavara (Tuesday): Mangal
- Budhavara (Wednesday): Budh
- Guruvara (Thursday): Guru
- Shukravara (Friday): Shukra
- Shanivara (Saturday): Shani
Surya
सूर्य · the Sun
- Day
- Ravivara (Sunday)
- Bija mantra
- ॐ ह्रां ह्रीं ह्रौं सः सूर्याय नमः
- In Roman letters
- Om hraam hreem hraum sah sooryaaya namah
Each month the Sun enters a new rashi, and each entry is a sankranti; Makar Sankranti is the best known of the twelve. Ravi and Aditya are two of his many names: Ravi names Sunday, Ravivara, and Aditya calls him a son of Aditi, the mother of the devas.
In the Puranas, seven horses draw his chariot across the sky, and Aruna, the red of dawn, holds the reins. Many families offer him water at sunrise from a copper vessel, the arghya, most of all on Sundays. Some also recite the Aditya Hridayam, the hymn the rishi Agastya taught Shri Ram before his battle with Ravana.
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Chandra
चंद्र · the Moon
- Day
- Somavara (Monday)
- Bija mantra
- ॐ श्रां श्रीं श्रौं सः चन्द्राय नमः
- In Roman letters
- Om shraam shreem shraum sah chandraaya namah
The Moon crosses the 27 nakshatras in about 27⅓ days, about one a day, and moves into a new rashi every two and a quarter days or so. From one new moon to the next takes about 29½ days, the thirty tithis of a lunar month.
His other name, Soma, is also the name of the drink offered in Vedic ritual, and it stays in Somavara, Monday. Puranic accounts of his birth differ: in one he is the son of the rishi Atri, in another he rose from the ocean of milk at the churning. Lord Shiva wears his crescent in his hair as Chandrashekhara, and many families keep Monday for Shiva, the Mondays of Shravan above all.
The Puranas tell that the 27 nakshatras were Daksha's daughters, all married to Chandra, who loved Rohini best. Daksha's curse made him wane; he prayed to Lord Shiva at Prabhas, where Somnath stands, and so waxes again.
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Mangal
मंगल · Mars
- Day
- Mangalavara (Tuesday)
- Bija mantra
- ॐ क्रां क्रीं क्रौं सः भौमाय नमः
- In Roman letters
- Om kraam kreem kraum sah bhaumaaya namah
Mars shines red, and about every two years, as the Earth passes it, it grows bright and seems to move backward through the rashis for some weeks; jyotish calls this vakri. His mantra calls him Bhauma, son of Bhumi, the Earth, and his name Kuja means the same, “born of the earth”.
Puranic accounts of his birth differ: in one, Bhumi bore him to Vishnu as Varaha; in another, he was born from a drop of Lord Shiva's sweat that fell to the earth, and Bhumi raised him. His day is Tuesday, Mangalavara, and in Maharashtra newly married women keep Mangalagaur on the Tuesdays of Shravan, a puja to Mangala Gauri.
Mangal is also Angaraka, “the ember”. When Sankashti Chaturthi falls on his day, Tuesday, it is called Angaraki, and families keep it for Shri Ganesh with special care.
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Budh
बुध · Mercury
- Day
- Budhavara (Wednesday)
- Bija mantra
- ॐ ब्रां ब्रीं ब्रौं सः बुधाय नमः
- In Roman letters
- Om braam breem braum sah budhaaya namah
Mercury never strays far from the Sun, so it shows only low in the west after sunset or in the east before dawn, and only for a few weeks at a time. Budha means “the wise one”, a word from the same root as buddhi, the intellect, and Wednesday, Budhavara, carries it.
The Puranas make Budh the son of Chandra and Tara, and his son Pururavas began the Chandravamsha, the lunar line of kings from which the Pandavas descend. In tradition his yantra is kept where the work is words and numbers: a student's desk, an accountant's ledger, a shop's counter.
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Guru
गुरु · Jupiter
- Day
- Guruvara (Thursday)
- Bija mantra
- ॐ ग्रां ग्रीं ग्रौं सः गुरवे नमः
- In Roman letters
- Om graam greem graum sah gurave namah
Jupiter, the largest of the planets, shines bright and steady at night and circles the rashis in about twelve years, about a year in each. Guru means a teacher, and the word's first sense is “heavy” or “weighty”.
In the Puranas he is Brihaspati, son of the rishi Angiras and teacher of the devas, and in the Bhagavad Gita Shri Krishna says that among the purohits he is Brihaspati. Thursday, Guruvara or Brihaspativara, is his day, and many families keep it for Lord Vishnu. When the Moon is in Pushya on a Thursday, families call the day Guru Pushyamrut, and many keep it for buying gold or beginning something new.
The Kumbh Mela keeps time by Guru's twelve-year round. When Guru is in Simha, the year is Simhastha, and the Kumbh is held at Nashik and Ujjain.
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Shukra
शुक्र · Venus
- Day
- Shukravara (Friday)
- Bija mantra
- ॐ द्रां द्रीं द्रौं सः शुक्राय नमः
- In Roman letters
- Om draam dreem draum sah shukraaya namah
After the Moon, Venus is the brightest light of the night: the morning star before sunrise and the evening star after sunset, never far from the Sun. Shukra means “bright” or “white”, and Friday, Shukravara, carries his name.
In the Puranas he is Shukracharya, son of the rishi Bhrigu and teacher of the asuras; when Vamana asked King Bali for three steps of land, it was Shukracharya who warned the king that the boy was Vishnu. When Venus sets near the Sun for some weeks, tradition calls it Shukra asta, and many families wait for his return before they fix a wedding.
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Shani
शनि · Saturn
- Day
- Shanivara (Saturday)
- Bija mantra
- ॐ प्रां प्रीं प्रौं सः शनैश्चराय नमः
- In Roman letters
- Om praam preem praum sah shanaishcharaaya namah
Saturn, pale gold and steady, is the slowest of the planets you can see: about two and a half years in each rashi, and about thirty to circle all twelve. Shanaishchara, the name his mantra uses, means “the slow mover”, from shanaih, slowly.
The Puranas make him the son of Surya and Chhaya, “shadow”, whom Surya's wife Sanjna left in her place; Yama and the river Yamuna are Sanjna's children. Saturday, Shanivara, is his day: families light a lamp of oil, offer oil at Shani temples and visit Shri Hanuman. At Shani Shingnapur in Maharashtra his murti is a black stone under the open sky, with no roof above it.
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Rahu
राहु · the Moon's north node
- Day
- No day of its own
- Bija mantra
- ॐ भ्रां भ्रीं भ्रौं सः राहवे नमः
- In Roman letters
- Om bhraam bhreem bhraum sah raahave namah
At the churning of the ocean, tradition tells, the asura Svarbhanu sat in disguise among the devas, between Surya and Chandra, and drank amrit from Mohini's hand. Surya and Chandra knew him and called out, and Vishnu's chakra severed his head. He had tasted amrit and did not die: the head became Rahu.
In the sky Rahu is not a body but a point, the north node, where the Moon's path crosses the Sun's going north; he is never seen, only reckoned. He has no day of his own, and families keep him with Shani on Saturday. The panchang marks a Rahu kaal of about ninety minutes in every day, which by custom is left aside for beginning something new.
Rahu and Ketu always stand opposite each other, moving backward through the rashis. Tradition says an eclipse is Rahu or Ketu reaching the Sun or the Moon, and eclipses do fall near the nodes.
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Ketu
केतु · the Moon's south node
- Day
- No day of its own
- Bija mantra
- ॐ स्रां स्रीं स्रौं सः केतवे नमः
- In Roman letters
- Om sraam sreem sraum sah ketave namah
Svarbhanu's body, without its head, became Ketu, the other half of Rahu's story. The word ketu also means a banner or a comet, and Varahamihira's Brihat Samhita has a whole chapter on ketus, the comets.
In the sky Ketu is the south node, where the Moon's path crosses the Sun's going south. He has no day of his own; families keep him with Mangal on Tuesday, and many keep Ketu's practice with Shri Ganesh. In tradition he is the graha of letting go: a body with no head, and so with no wanting of its own.
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How families keep a graha's day
The simplest practice is the graha's own day. Families chant its bija mantra 108 times, one mala, often at sunrise, before a small ghee lamp and one flower. Many add what the day already holds: water offered to the rising Sun on Sunday, Lord Shiva on Monday, Shri Hanuman on Tuesday and Saturday.
For the planetary cards, tradition keeps a longer practice: the bija mantra 108 times a day for at least 40 days, then 27 times a day. The seven steps to begin a card start it on the graha's day.
The nine in the kundali and in the temple
A kundali, the birth chart, records where each of the nine stood at the moment you were born. The rashi Chandra stood in is your Moon sign, and his nakshatra is your janma nakshatra.
Many temples, most of all in South India, keep a Navagraha shrine: nine murtis on one platform, in the usual layout with Surya at the centre facing east and the others set so that no two face each other. Near Kumbakonam in Tamil Nadu, nine temples each honour one graha, and pilgrims visit all nine.
Yantra cards for the nine grahas
Chandra, Mangal, Budh and Ketu have yantra cards of their own; for the other five, we name the card we pair with each, and why.
Questions about the Navagraha
What are the Navagraha?
The Navagraha are the nine grahas of jyotish: Surya, Chandra, Mangal, Budh, Guru, Shukra and Shani, and Rahu and Ketu. The word graha means “one that seizes”, and not all nine are planets: Surya and Chandra are the two lights, and Rahu and Ketu are the Moon's nodes.
Which graha rules which day of the week?
Sunday is Surya's, Monday Chandra's, Tuesday Mangal's, Wednesday Budh's, Thursday Guru's, Friday Shukra's and Saturday Shani's. Each day's own name, from Ravivara to Shanivara, carries its graha's name.
What is a bija mantra, and how do families chant it?
Bija means seed: a bija mantra is a short mantra built on seed syllables, opening with Om and closing with the graha's name and namah. Families chant it 108 times, one mala, on the graha's day, often at sunrise; for a planetary card, tradition keeps 108 a day for at least 40 days, then 27 a day.
Why do Rahu and Ketu have no day of their own?
The seven days belong to the seven grahas you can see in the sky. Rahu and Ketu are points, where the Moon's path crosses the Sun's, so the week has no day for them; families keep Rahu with Shani on Saturday and Ketu with Mangal on Tuesday.
Which yantra card goes with each graha?
Chandra, Mangal, Budh and Ketu have yantra cards of their own. We pair Surya and Guru with the Gayatri Yantra Card, Shukra with the Mahalaxmi Yantra Card, Shani with the Hanuman Yantra Card and Rahu with the Durga Yantra Card; the list of cards says why for each.
Today's panchang, in the app
The free Bhagya Card app, on the web and on your phone, shows the day's panchang for your city, from the vara to the nakshatra, and the app's free tools.
Open the web app