Can we fix our own muhurtham or suggest some muhurthams to our relatives or friends by looking into an almanac (panchangam) that is available in market. No. It is not possible. Majority of traditional Hindus wait for an auspicious day to do some important work or take up job or purchase new item or land.
They consult Vedic pundits, purohits or Brahmins who are well versed with almanac (panchangam). May it be a science or not, Astrology is the base for any almanac and astrologers follow different almanacs and books to fix any auspicious things.
But, here is the first South Indian English panchangam that was released recently at the adobe of Lord Sri Seeta Ramachandra Swamy at Bhadrachalam.
An M.Tech graduate and senior Engineer in UK-based HMC Oil and Gas Company, Chilakamarti Prabhakar Chakravarthy Sarma had written this English panchangam with all the minute details. “You could fix your own muhurtham with my panchangam. Language is the barrier for most of the young generation. Many of my friends in IT sector and NRI’s asked me to write panchangam in English”-said Mr. Prabhakar.
In Telugu, there are a number of panchangams which tells about positions of Sun, Moon and other planets and the astrologers, pundits will fix muhurthams or prepare horoscopes and predictions, based on this and also with the help of some arithmetic calculations. Sri Chetananda Bharati Swami is the inspiration for Mr. Prabhakar to write this panchangam with South Indian months, vara (week), thithi, nakshatra, yogam and karanam. The 200-page English panchangam includes auspicious days for upanayanam (thread marriage), marriage, grihapravesam, annaprasana, naming ceremony, buying and selling, Gauri panchangam for day-to-day works and importance of festivals.
Speaking to The Hindu , Mr. Prabhakar, native of Vemagiri near Rajahmundry said, that he wants to write an “Indian Traditional Travel Guide” about his complete tour of India.
He further elaborated that book with research and self experiences in all important pilgrimage centres, customs that one should follow in respective places will be included.
He informed that he kept 2014 and 15 English panchangams ready and also wants to write in Telugu. When he was asked to react on variations in panchangams, Mr. Prabhakar said that, time zone variation is the main reason for variations in different panchangams and the present generation is showing interest on panchangams and horoscopes, because they want to know about rich culture, traditions and customs of the country.
