Haircut Muhurta

A haircut looks like an everyday matter, yet in Jyotish it has its own muhurta. A child's first haircut, chudakarana, is one of the samskaras, the rites that accompany a person from birth, and the rules of kshaura — cutting the hair and shaving — have a separate section in the “Muhurta Chintamani”. Tradition links hair with vital strength: it grows by itself, and cutting it takes away part of what the body has accumulated. So for this act one chooses a day that supports rather than weakens.

The rules are simpler than for a wedding or the opening of a business: for an ordinary haircut a chart of the moment is almost never cast. It is enough for the indicators of the day itself to agree — nakshatra, tithi, weekday, yoga and karana — together with the personal conditions reckoned from your natal Moon. These are exactly what the calculator checks.

Which planets govern a haircut

The main significator is the Moon: it rules the body, growth and recovery, which is why the strictest limits on a haircut concern the lunar day. Beside it stand Venus, appearance and grooming, and Jupiter and Mercury, the planets of growth and renewal. Mars, the planet of blades and cuts, and Saturn, the planet of decline, are considered unsuited to the task; hence Tuesday and Saturday are left out.

Favourable nakshatras

The calculator counts twelve nakshatras as suitable: Ashvini, Mrigashira, Punarvasu, Pushya, Hasta, Chitra, Swati, Jyeshtha, Shravana, Dhanishtha, Shatabhisha, Revati. If the Moon stands in any other nakshatra at sunrise, that is a flaw, and the day cannot rise above “acceptable”.

The list is made of several groups. The light (kshipra) nakshatras — Ashvini, Pushya, Hasta — give a quick, clean result: Ashvini is linked with the Ashvins, the divine physicians, Hasta with the hand and craft, Pushya with nourishment. The soft (mridu) ones — Mrigashira, Chitra, Revati — favour beauty and self-care; Chitra, “the bright one”, is tied directly to appearance. The movable (chara) ones — Punarvasu, Swati, Shravana, Dhanishtha, Shatabhisha — suit tasks whose result is meant to renew itself, and hair does grow back. Jyeshtha, a sharp nakshatra ruled by Mercury, stands apart: tradition takes it for an act done with a cutting tool. The fixed (dhruva) nakshatras — Rohini and the three Uttaras — are absent: they make a result permanent, and a haircut is not meant to last for ever. The nature of each is described under nakshatras.

Tithis and weekdays

A haircut has the strictest list of empty tithis. Besides the rikta tithis shared by all undertakings — the 4th, 9th and 14th of both halves of the month — and amavasya, the calculator excludes shashthi (the 6th) and ashtami (the 8th) in both halves, and purnima. Shashthi and ashtami count as days of strain, while full and new moon are the extreme points of the lunar cycle, when the body, in the traditional view, is least steady. Shukla pratipada, the first tithi after new moon, is not forbidden but weak: the Moon is still under the rays of the Sun.

The weekdays are Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, the days of the Moon, Mercury, Jupiter and Venus. Tuesday, Saturday and Sunday do not forbid a haircut, but on such a day the calculator does not give “excellent”.

Yoga, karana and timing within the day

Of the 27 yogas nine are unfavourable: Vishkambha, Atiganda, Shula, Ganda, Vyaghata, Vajra, Vyatipata, Parigha and Vaidhriti. The karana Vishti (Bhadra) closes the day to any undertaking: such a day is always rated “avoid”.

The daylight part of the day is divided into eight parts, and three of them — Rahu Kalam, Yamaganda and Gulika Kalam — are not used for a haircut. The best time is Abhijit muhurta, the eighth of the fifteen muhurtas of the day, around noon; on Wednesday it is not used.

The personal part: tara bala and chandra bala

The same day can be good for one person and bad for another. Tara bala counts the day's nakshatra from your natal Moon nakshatra: the 3rd tara (Vipat), the 5th (Pratyak) and the 7th (Naidhana) are bad, and the day is rated “avoid”; the 1st, Janma, is weak. Chandra bala looks at the sign the Moon of the day occupies counted from the natal Moon: the 1st, 3rd, 6th, 7th, 10th and 11th give a strong Moon; the 2nd, 5th and 9th are fit only while the Moon waxes; the 4th, 8th and 12th are weak, the 8th, chandrashtama, worst of all. Both depend on the natal Moon; if your birth time is uncertain, start with rectification.

How to use the “Muhurta” tab

Calculate your chart on the home page, open the “Muhurta” tab in the report and choose “Haircut” in the list. The table shows 30 days ahead. The indicators are taken at sunrise, the hours by the time zone and sunrise of the birthplace, and the calculation mode is “Surya Siddhanta”, as for the whole chart.

• “excellent” — all indicators agree;
• “good” — nothing bad, but something is neutral: a weekday outside the list, Janma tara, middling chandra bala, shukla pratipada;
• “acceptable” — one flaw, but not a personal one: nakshatra, tithi or yoga;
• “avoid” — a bad tara, weak chandra bala, Vishti, or two flaws or more.

The calculator does not pick the exact minute (lagna shuddhi): for a rite such as chudakarana an astrologer chooses it within a favourable day.

Practical advice

For an ordinary haircut a day rated “excellent” or “good” and a time outside Rahu Kalam are enough. Tradition adds everyday advice the calculator does not take into account: no haircuts after sunset or at night, during eclipses or on your birthday. A common mistake is to rely only on a general lunar calendar: it does not know your natal Moon, and a day that looks good there may fall on a bad tara for you. Rules for other undertakings are collected in the date selection section.