How Kari Dina is determined
Kari Dina is a set of five days across the year that Tamil astrology holds should be avoided for all auspicious work. Here are the five occasions and how we place each for your city.
Five days to avoid
Kari Dina (“black days”) are, in the words of the tradition, “a group of five days which should be avoided for all auspicious activities.” They are especially observed by Tamil astrologers, and are quite distinct from the day-by-day timing rules — Kari Dina is a fixed handful of dates each year.
The five are defined by the solar and lunar calendars together. Because both the sankranti instants and the lunar tithis fall at a fixed moment worldwide but are read against your city’s sunrise, we place each Kari Dina for your location.
The five occasions
Two follow the solstitial sankrantis; three fall on the first tithi of specific lunar fortnights.
| # | Kari Dina | When |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Day after Makara Sankranti | The day following the Sun’s entry into Capricorn (mid-January) |
| 2 | Day after Karka Sankranti | The day following the Sun’s entry into Cancer (mid-July) |
| 3 | Phalguna Krishna Pratipada | The 1st tithi of the dark fortnight of Phalguna (Feb–Mar) |
| 4 | Jyeshtha Shukla Pratipada | The 1st tithi of the bright fortnight of Jyeshtha (May–Jun) |
| 5 | Ashwin Shukla Pratipada | The 1st tithi of the bright fortnight of Ashwin (Sep–Oct) |
The three lunar days are read in the amanta (new-moon-ending) month, as kept in South-Indian and Malayalam almanacs. In an adhika (leap) month, the Kari Dina falls in the nija (true) month — the extra month is skipped — so the day is never doubled.
Tamil & Malayalam usage
A regional observance
Kari Dina is a South-Indian observance — kept in Tamil and Malayalam panchangam practice. We follow the classical five-day definition and compute the two sankranti-linked days from the true sidereal solar entry and the three lunar days from the amanta month, so the dates hold for your city rather than a fixed meridian.
The texts we stand on
The rules on this page are drawn from the standard muhurta and dharma-nirnaya literature, computed on a modern astronomical foundation.
Tamil panchangam tradition
The five-day Kari Dina observance and its avoidance for auspicious work.
Drik-Ganita panchang
The sidereal sankranti instants and amanta tithis that fix each of the five days.
Computation: true positions from the Swiss Ephemeris, sidereal with the Lahiri (Chitrapaksha) ayanamsa — the standard adopted by the Indian Calendar Reform Committee for the Rashtriya Panchang.
More from the methodology
How Anandadi & Tamil Yoga are determined
The 28-fold Anandadi yoga cycle and the Tamil Siddha / Amrita / Marana yoga — how each is counted from the nakshatra and weekday.
How Chandrashtama is determined
The janma rashi and nakshatras for whom the day is inauspicious because the Moon is in their 8th house — and the window it lasts.
How Nivas & Shool are determined
Homahuti, Agnivasa, Shivavasa and Kumbha Chakra — the residence and direction indicators, with their exact tithi/nakshatra formulas.
How the Mantri Mandala is determined
The ten planetary offices of the Samvatsara — King, Minister, and the lords of crops, rain and wealth — and the solar ingress that fixes each.
How the Karana is calculated
Half a tithi — eleven karanas, four fixed and seven movable, with Vishti (Bhadra) flagged.
How the Yoga is calculated
The combined Sun + Moon longitude in 27 divisions — most benign, nine inauspicious.
Today's panchang
The daily panchang flags the day when it is a Kari Dina.
How Kari Dina is determined — Frequently Asked Questions
Kari Dina are five days of the year that Tamil astrology holds should be avoided for all auspicious activities: the day after Makara Sankranti, the day after Karka Sankranti, and the first tithi of the Phalguna dark fortnight, the Jyeshtha bright fortnight and the Ashwin bright fortnight.
Nearly — the underlying moments are worldwide, but because they are read against the local sunrise, a Kari Dina can fall on a different calendar day in a far-off timezone. We compute each for the city you are viewing.
The three lunar Kari Dina fall in the nija (true) month; the extra adhika month is skipped, so the day is never counted twice.
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