One of the five aṅgas · half a tithi
What is karaṇa?
A karaṇa is half a tithi. Each six-degree change in the Moon’s angle relative to the Sun begins the next karaṇa. It is a calculated subdivision of the Moon–Sun angular cycle.
Two karaṇas in every tithi
Thirty tithis contain sixty karaṇa intervals.
Eleven names cover the sixty karaṇa intervals. Seven names repeat through most of the lunar cycle, while four special names occur at its beginning and end.
Its secondary place in the group of five
Karaṇa gives the Moon–Sun calculation a finer division.
Tithi divides the full Moon–Sun cycle into 30 parts. Karaṇa divides the same cycle into 60 parts. It is one of the five standard components named by the word pañcāṅga, so this guide explains the structure without teaching traditional interpretive uses.