What is Hora?

Hora is the smallest unit of time which is considered for selection of Muhurta or auspicious time. It is used to determine the quality of time which spans a very short duration, approx 60 minutes. The English word hour has been derived from Hora. Since we have 24 hours in a solar day (Vedic day commences from sunrise to sunrise while English day starts from midnight to midnight), therefore we have 24 Horas during one solar day on Earth. Each Hora has is lorded by a certain planet.

The lordship is based on a chronological sequence of the planetary speeds going from fastest first (Chandra/Moon) to slowest (Shani/Saturn) with the exception of first Hora of the week being lorded by Sun as a respect since it is the lord of the Solar system and significator of Life or Srushti. 

If we consider the heliocentric system of planets and consider the speeds of planets the Moon has the highest speed among all (Seven only considered). Now, list all these planets based on their speeds and distances from Sun, we get the order as Moon, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn.

Although Moon is a satellite of Earth but in Vedic astrology it is a planet as it moves, and a necessary condition for heavenly body to qualify as a planet is that it must be a moving object. Hence in Geocentric system which is the basis of Vedic astrology observation of planets and their movements,  Moon replaces Earth. Moreover, moon has a major influence in sustenance of human life and thus gets extreme importance in the Vedic Astrology system.

Hora Chakra

A sequential matrix arrangement of lord of different horas in a day over a week is known as a Hora Chakra. It is 24X7 or vice-versa matrix. The Hora Chakra can be easily used by anybody to plan her day in the most beneficial manner optimizing planning of events for the day (Bucket List discharged in the best way).

The Hora Lord offers its focused energy of the day during that particular time segment. Tasks or decisions and events in alignment with the subject matter relevant to the particular planet receive a special blessing from that planet. So for example, if you want to discuss an important matter with your Boss, then hora of Sun is best similarly for personal matters and romance hora of Venus will be relevant.

The Hora lord provides a special boost to the subject matter of it’s domain, hence if one gets congruency of event planned with the relevant Hora, the results can be ‘tweaked’. The Hora Chakra is thus a great tool to get successful in day to week to year or say life by optimization and avoiding the minefield or adverse timings.

This is a general way of using the Hora. For more customized and personalized use, one should consult a learned astrologer to ascertain particular planets giving success in profession, health, relationship from one’s horoscope. This could then be applied or suitably aligned with the Horachakra to get success. 

Calculating Hora

A vedic solar day starts from sunrise and lasts till next sunrise. The total time elapsed is called Kul-mana (Total time available in one solar day) and is generally around 24 hours. Kul Mana is made up of two parts i.e Din-Mana (Sunrise to sunset) and Ratri-Mana (Sunset to next sunrise). There are 12 horas in the Dina-Mana and 12 in Ratri-Mana. 

• Dina or Day Hora:  Divide Dina-Mana (sunrise to sunset) by 12.
• Ratri or Night Hora : Divide Ratri-Mana(sunset to sunrise) by 12.
• For example: You have to find the shubha hora for wearing an Emerald on a Wednesday, so here is how you go. 

• Check the local sunrise and sunset time from internet or local almanac / panchanga. Calculate Dina and ratri mana as above and also the horas. This will give you the average time of each day or night hora. 
• Go to Hora Chakra and you will see that the first Hora is of Mercury then moon, Saturn and so on so forth. Since Emerald is the gemstone of Mercury so we will use the hora of mercury for auspicious time. The first Hora on Wednesday is ruled by Mercury. Therefore the auspicious time will be from Sunrise to (Sunrise + Average Dina/day Hora). Say the sunrise is 6 am and the average day hora is 55 minutes, then the auspicious time to wear Emerald in morning is 6 am to 6.55 am. One can make similar calculations for evening or night hora depending upon one’s requirement. Similarly we can ascertain auspicious time for any event by using the above method.

Day time Horas – From Sunrise to Sunset

Notes

1. The time of Horas will vary from place to place as it depends on Sunrise time. E.g a Sun Hora on a Sunday will be different in one state of India and different in another state, similarly the Hora itself will be different in different countries due to higher difference in Longitudes and Latitudes.
2. Day Horas will be longer in Summers and shorter in winters and vice-versa
3. Sunrise means natural sun rise as usual every day, irrespective of the clouds or weather which may shield the rays of sun

Nature of Hora

The nature of Hora will be the same as the nature of the planet. Some activities are listed as under to give an idea of the nature of activities and making the appropriate choice of hora.

Sun Hora (Surya Hora): . It is good for government undertakings, politics, Matters related to Bosses and superiors, Yagnas (Rituals with offerings to holy fire) and commencement of rituals or fasts.

Venus Hora (Shukra Hora):  Love, Romance, marriage, music, Luxuries, Properties, Vacations, cruise, Movies etc

Mercury Hora (Budha Hora): Learning, Commencing education, Schooling, Languages, Music, Stage, Sports competition, Theatre or Stage, Drawing and Designing, learning Mantras..

Moon Hora (Chandra Hora): Good for all activities, Travel and tour, Food or Dining out, Poetry, Social gatherings and parties, Ladies get together .

Saturn Hora (Shani Hora): Heavy Machinery work, cleaning, repair and maintenance of any kind, handling old and antiques, visiting Museums, Labour and personal effort.

Jupiter Hora (Guru Hora): Learning Vedas and philosophy, reciting Mantras, visiting temples, Chanting and prayers, Spiritual discussions, holy activities, Donations and offerings, Administering Medicines, commencing treatment of difficult and chronic diseases. .Mars Hora (Mangal Hora): Surgeries, Self Defence training, Mountaineering, Outdoor Sports, Vigorous activities, Riding and Fencing, Racing, Blood donation, competition.