Muhurtha, essentially means two 'ghatis ' or forty-eight minutes. Muhurta is a branch of Indian Astrology dealing with fixing of 'auspicious moments of time' for conducting important and sacred ceremonies. The essential elements comprise 'tithi' (lunar day), 'vara' (weekday), 'nakshatra' (constellation), 'yoga' (joint motion of sun and moon amounting to multiples of 800 angular minutes) and 'karana' (half a lunar day). These five elements collectively are called 'panchang', By referring "Panchang" with an consultation of an astrologer, one can find a 'muhurat' (auspicious moments) when they want to conduct an important ceremonies like marriage, 'upanayan' (thread ceremony for 'Brahmins'), 'gruha pravesh' (moving in a new house) or "shanti pujan" etc.
