Malayalam Panchangam (മലയാളം പഞ്ചാംഗം)

A fully standalone Malayalam Panchangam (Hindu calendar) web application with accurate astronomical calculations based on NASA/Moshier ephemeris algorithms. No external astronomical APIs or heavy calendar libraries required — all calculations are done in pure JavaScript.

Default Location: Kerala, India (11.07°N, 76.28°E)

Screenshots

Features

Daily Panchangam

• Gregorian Date & Weekday — English and Malayalam (ഞായർ, തിങ്കൾ, etc.)
• Kollavarsham Date — Malayalam Era calendar (year, month, day) with both Malayalam and English month names
• Nakshathram (Birth Star) — Day's nakshathram determined by the traditional 6 Nazhika rule (sunrise + 162 minutes checkpoint)
• Nakshathram-less Day Detection — Identifies days where no nakshathram qualifies (നക്ഷത്രം ഇല്ലാത്ത ദിവസം) with detailed Malayalam explanation
• Nakshathram Transition Details — Full day nakshathram timeline with start/end times
• Tithi — Lunar day with Shukla/Krishna paksha
• Rashi — Solar zodiac sign (based on sidereal sun position)
• Yoga — Sun-Moon angular relationship (27 yogas)
• Karana — Half-tithi subdivision (11 karanas)
• Sunrise & Sunset — Accurate times with iterative astronomical calculation
• Rahukalam, Yamagandam, Gulika — Inauspicious time periods based on weekday

Monthly Calendar View

• Full month grid with 7-column (Sunday–Saturday) layout
• Each cell displays: Gregorian date, Kollavarsham date, day's nakshathram
• Today highlighted, Sundays in red, nakshathram-less days in orange
• Special days (visheshadivasangal) shown as tags
• Click any day to navigate to detailed daily view
• Month navigation (previous/next)

Tools (ഉപകരണങ്ങൾ)

• Nakshathram Date Finder — Find 1–12 upcoming dates for any of the 27 nakshatras, with Gregorian and Kollavarsham dates
• Kollavarsham to Gregorian Converter — Convert any Kollavarsham date (year, month, day) to Gregorian date
• Upcoming Events Search — Browse upcoming 5/10/20 special days and festivals with optional Malayalam search filter

Visheshadivasangal (Special Days & Festivals)

Major Kerala Festivals:

• Vishu (വിഷു) — Mesha Sankranti with sunrise-based rule (if Sankranti is before sunrise, that day is Vishu; if after sunrise, next day)
• Onam (ഓണം) — Thiruvonam nakshathram in Chingam (1st, 2nd, 3rd Onam)
• Sivarathri (മഹാശിവരാത്രി) — Krishna Chaturdashi in Kumbham
• Navaratri (നവരാത്രി) — 9 days, Shukla Pratipada to Navami in Kanni-Thulam transition
• Vijayadashami (വിജയദശമി) — Shukla Dashami
• Deepavali (ദീപാവലി) — Krishna Amavasya in Thulam
• Thiruvathira (തിരുവാതിര) — Thiruvathira nakshathram in Dhanu

Other Festivals:

• Vinayaka Chaturthi (വിനായക ചതുർത്ഥി)
• Ashtami Rohini / Krishna Jayanthi (അഷ്ടമിരോഹിണി)
• Makara Sankranti (മകಠസംക്രാന്തി) & Makaravilakku (മകരവിളക്ക്)
• Karkidaka Vavu (കർക്കടക വാവ്)
• Mandala Pooja (മണ്ഡലപൂജ) & Mandala Kaalam
• Thaipooyam (തൈപ്പൂയം)
• Attukal Pongala (ആറ്റുകാൽ പൊങ്കാല)
• Maha Bharani (മഹാഭരണി) & Meena Bharani (മീനഭരണി)
• Guruvayur Ekadashi (ഗുരുവായൂർ ഏകാദശി)
• Vaikuntha Ekadashi (വൈകുണ്ഠ ഏകാദശി)
• Thrikarthika (തൃക്കാർത്തിക)
• Durgashtami (ദുർഗ്ഗാഷ്ടമി) & Saraswati Pooja (സരസ്വതീ പൂജ)
• Viswakarma Dinam (വിശ്വകർമ്മ ദിനം)
• Chingam 1 / Malayalam New Year (ചിങ്ങം 1)

Tithi-based Recurring Events:

• Ekadashi (ഏകാദശി)
• Amavasya (അമാവാസി)
• Pournami (പൗർണ്ണമി)
• Pradosham (പ്രദോഷം)

Special Weekly Events:

• Muppettu Vyazham (മുപ്പെട്ടുവ്യാഴം) — First Thursday of Malayalam month
• First Saturday of Malayalam month

Astronomical Engine

The core engine (src/panchang-engine.js) is a zero-dependency astronomical calculator featuring:

• Moon Longitude — ~80 perturbation correction terms (NASA/Moshier ephemeris)
• Sun Longitude — Equation of center with periodic corrections
• Lahiri Ayanamsa — Sidereal (Nirayana) coordinate conversion
• Sunrise/Sunset — Iterative calculation with atmospheric refraction
• Julian Date conversions for all astronomical computations
• Sankranti Detection — Newton's method iteration for exact solar transition times
• Malayalam (Kollavarsham) Date — Computed from solar Sankranti positions, not lookup tables

Nakshathram Selection Rule (6 Nazhika)

The day's nakshathram is determined by checking the Moon's position at sunrise + 162 minutes (6 Nazhika ≈ 2 hours 24 minutes). If the same nakshathram appears at this checkpoint on two consecutive days, the first day is marked as a nakshathram-less day.

Vishu Calculation (Sunrise-based)

• If Mesha Sankranti occurs before sunrise → that day is Vishu
• If Mesha Sankranti occurs after sunrise → next day is Vishu
• Follows the Kerala panchangam's സൂര്യോദയാധിഷ്ഠിത ദിനക്രമം (sunrise-based day system)

Tech Stack

| Component | Technology | |-----------|-----------| | Backend | Node.js + Express | | Frontend | Plain HTML, CSS, JavaScript | | Astronomical Engine | Pure JavaScript (no external libraries) | | Styling | Kerala temple theme (gold, maroon, green) | | Fonts | Noto Sans Malayalam, Playfair Display | | Language | Bilingual — Malayalam + English |

Project Structure

Ml-panchangam/
├── index.js                     # npm entry point
├── server.js                    # Express API server
├── src/
│   ├── panchang-engine.js       # Astronomical calculation engine
│   └── panchangam.js            # API layer (formats engine output)
├── public/
│   ├── index.html               # Main HTML page
│   ├── css/
│   │   └── style.css            # Kerala temple themed styles
│   └── js/
│       └── app.js               # Frontend logic (daily + calendar + tools views)
├── package.json
└── README.md

API Endpoints

GET /api/panchangam

Returns full panchangam data for a single day.

Query Parameters: | Parameter | Default | Description | |-----------|---------|-------------| | date | Today | Date in YYYY-MM-DD format | | lat | 11.0745 | Latitude | | lng | 76.2824 | Longitude |

Response:

{
  "gregorian": { "date": "2026-03-01", "day": "Sunday" },
  "kollavarsham": { "year": 1201, "month": "Kumbham", "monthMl": "കുംഭം", "day": 17 },
  "weekday": { "en": "Sunday", "ml": "ഞായർ" },
  "nakshathram": { "en": "Aayilyam", "ml": "ആയില്യം" },
  "isNakshatramLess": false,
  "nakshatramDetails": [
    { "nakshatram": { "en": "Aayilyam", "ml": "ആയില്യം" }, "start": "...", "end": "..." }
  ],
  "tithi": { "name": "Tritiya", "nameMl": "തൃതീയ", "paksha": "Shukla", "pakshaMl": "ശുക്ല" },
  "rashi": { "en": "Kumbha (Aquarius)", "ml": "കുംഭം" },
  "yoga": { "en": "Shobhana", "ml": "ശോഭനം" },
  "karana": { "en": "Balava", "ml": "ബാലവ" },
  "sunrise": "6:43 AM",
  "sunset": "6:31 PM",
  "vishesham": ["നാഗപൂജ", "പ്രദോഷം"],
  "timings": {
    "rahukalam": "4:58 PM – 6:31 PM",
    "yamagandam": "12:18 PM – 1:50 PM",
    "gulika": "3:25 PM – 4:58 PM"
  }
}

GET /api/panchangam/month

Returns lightweight panchangam data for all days in a month (used by the calendar view).

Query Parameters: | Parameter | Default | Description | |-----------|---------|-------------| | year | Current year | Year | | month | Current month | Month (1-12) | | lat | 11.0745 | Latitude | | lng | 76.2824 | Longitude |

GET /api/tools/nakshatras

Returns the list of all 27 nakshatras (Malayalam names).

GET /api/tools/next-nakshatra

Find upcoming dates for a specific nakshathram.

Query Parameters: | Parameter | Default | Description | |-----------|---------|-------------| | name | (required) | Nakshathram name in Malayalam (e.g., അശ്വതി) | | count | 1 | Number of upcoming dates to find (1–12) | | lat | 11.0745 | Latitude | | lng | 76.2824 | Longitude |

Response:

[
  {
    "date": "2026-03-15",
    "weekday": { "en": "Sunday", "ml": "ഞായർ" },
    "kollavarsham": { "year": 1201, "month": "Kumbham", "monthMl": "കുംഭം", "day": 31 },
    "nakshathram": { "en": "Ashwathi", "ml": "അശ്വതി" }
  }
]

GET /api/tools/kv-to-gregorian

Convert a Kollavarsham date to Gregorian.

Query Parameters: | Parameter | Default | Description | |-----------|---------|-------------| | year | (required) | Kollavarsham year (e.g., 1201) | | month | (required) | Malayalam month name (e.g., കുംഭം) | | day | (required) | Day of month |

Response:

{
  "gregorianDate": "2026-02-13",
  "weekday": { "en": "Friday", "ml": "വെള്ളി" }
}

GET /api/tools/upcoming-events

Find upcoming special days and festivals.

Query Parameters: | Parameter | Default | Description | |-----------|---------|-------------| | count | 5 | Number of events (5, 10, or 20) | | search | (empty) | Optional Malayalam search filter (e.g., വിഷു) |

Response:

[
  {
    "date": "2026-03-10",
    "weekday": { "en": "Tuesday", "ml": "ചൊവ്വ" },
    "kollavarsham": { "year": 1201, "month": "Kumbham", "monthMl": "കുംഭം", "day": 26 },
    "event": "ഏകാദശി"
  }
]

Installation & Usage

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Start the server
npm start

# Open in browser
# http://localhost:3000

As an npm package

npm install ml-panchangam

const { Panchang, getPanchangam } = require('ml-panchangam');

// Get full panchangam for a date
const data = getPanchangam('2026-03-01');
console.log(data);

// Use the engine directly
const panchang = new Panchang();
const result = panchang.calculate(new Date(), { lat: 11.07, lon: 76.28 });

Dependencies

Only two runtime dependencies:

• express — Web server
• cors — Cross-origin support

All astronomical calculations are handled by the built-in engine with zero external dependencies.

Frontend

• Mobile responsive — optimized for phones with proper touch targets (44px minimum)
• Daily View — summary card, sunrise/sunset, all panchangam elements in card grid
• Monthly Calendar — 7-column grid, click-to-navigate, special day tags
• Tools View — nakshathram finder, kollavarsham converter, upcoming events search
• Date Navigation — date picker, previous/next day buttons, today button
• Kerala Temple Aesthetic — gold (#D4A017), maroon (#800020), dark green (#1B5E20) color scheme

Author

Babu Perumana

• Email: [email protected]
• WhatsApp: +91 8907959595
• GitHub: Babuperumana

License

MIT