Pañcāṅga is the Vedic almanac that records five key astronomical elements for each day: (1) Tithi — lunar day; (2) Vara — day of the week; (3) Nakshatra — the lunar mansion the Moon occupies; (4) Yoga — the combined longitude of Sun and Moon (27 yoga periods); (5) Karana — half a tithi (11 karanas). The panchang is consulted before all auspicious activities — marriages, business launches, religious ceremonies, travel — to select muhurtas (auspicious time windows). Different regional traditions (Northern, Southern, Bengali, Gujarati) use slightly different calculation methods.