Under a common equal-unit convention, a 24-hour day contains 60 ghatis. One ghati is 24 minutes; one pala is 24 seconds; two ghatis make a 48-minute muhurta.
State the convention first
Traditional timekeeping spans different texts and practices. “Vedic time” is often used broadly online, but not every later unit or ritual rule should be attributed to a single early source. This page is an arithmetic reference for a specified equal-unit convention, not a claim that all traditions measure every period identically.
| Unit | Convention used here | Modern equivalent |
|---|---|---|
| Ghati / घटी | 1/60 of 24 hours | 24 minutes |
| Pala / पल | 1/60 of a ghati | 24 seconds |
| Muhurta / मुहूर्त | 2 ghatis | 48 minutes |
| Prahara / प्रहर | 1/8 of 24 hours | 3 hours |
Work through an example
To express two hours in ghatis, divide 120 minutes by 24. The result is five ghatis. To express 90 minutes, divide by 24 to get 3.75 ghatis: three ghatis plus 45 palas. The conversion is arithmetic; it does not decide whether that period has religious significance.
When does the count start?
A duration needs no starting point, but a running count does. If a page counts from midnight, it must say so. If a tradition counts from sunrise, use sunrise for the relevant place and date. A midnight-based animation labelled simply “traditional time now” can otherwise mislead readers.
A muhurta and an auspicious occasion
The word muhurta can appear in a discussion of duration and in the selection of an auspicious occasion. A 48-minute arithmetic block is not automatically a recommended ceremony window. Read the Muhurat guide for the distinction.
Sources and related reading
Consult the Sanskrit lexicons for terms and meanings; calculations above follow the convention stated in the table. Compare Kaal, Ujjain's instruments and modern IST.