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30:00:0006:59:1017:04:58According to the Hindu Panchang, the time period from sunrise to the next day's sunrise is considered one full day. Thus, the day begins at sunrise and ends at the next sunrise.
Therefore, a complete day consists of 60 Ghati. Ghati, Pala and Vipala are considered equivalent to hour, minute and second respectively in the modern Gregorian time format.
Thus, one Ghati contains 60 Pala and one Pala contains 60 Vipala. In modern time calculation, one Ghati is approximately equal to 24 minutes. People commonly assume the duration of one Ghati to be fixed and consider one hour equal to 2.5, i.e., two and a half Ghati, but this is not correct. The duration of Ghati varies according to location. Therefore, to determine the exact Ghati-Kala, one should always refer to a location-based Panchang like Drik Panchang.
1. 60-Ghati clock - In first of Vedic clock, we divide duration from sunrise to next sunrise in 60 parts and each part is known as Ghati. In this time keeping Sunrise is always at 00:00:00 and Sunset is not fixed and should be reckoned daily in Panchang. As this division of the day doesn't consider duration of Dinamana and Ratrimana, the time of Sunset varies daily.
However, this time is good to note birth time of individuals for Kundali preparation and mainly preferred by Astrologers. This calculation of Vedic time mostly known as Ishtakala.
One should also note that duration of 60 Ghati is not always equal to 24 hours but varies slightly depending on the day of the year. Hence any Vedic clock which divides 24 hours into 60 Ghati to create Vedic clock has some degree of corruption due to fixing Ahoratri duration to 24 hours.
2. 30-Ghati clock - In second type of Vedic clock, we divide duration from sunrise to sunset in 30 parts and duration from sunset to next sunrise in 30 parts. In this time keeping Sunrise is always at 00:00:00 and Sunset is always fixed at 30:00:00. This division of Ahoratri is good for Muhurta calculation.
In Panchang, Dinamana is divided into 30 Ghati and first 6 Ghati from Sunrise are known as Pratah Kala, next 6 Ghati are known as Sangava Kala, next 6 Ghati are known as Madhyahna, next 6 Ghati are known as Aparahna and last 6 Ghati up to Sunset are known as Sayana Kala. This division of Vedic time keeping helps is calculating daily timings for Hindu rituals.
In Panchang, Brahma Muhurta, Pratah Sandhya, Sayahna Sandhya, Pradosha Kala, Parana time, etc. are based on Vedic clock, which calculates Dinamana and Ratrimana separately to determine 60 Ghati of Ahoratri.
Drik Panchang supports both type of Vedic clock and with the help of settings one can choose the right Vedic clock.
