About Dekho Panchang

The Surya Siddhanta (c. 400 CE) is one of the most remarkable astronomical texts in human history. It accurately calculates the sidereal year at 365.2563627 days — a figure astonishingly close to the modern value of 365.25636 days. It provides precise formulas for planetary positions, eclipse predictions, and the precession of equinoxes.

Aryabhata (476 CE) proposed that the Earth rotates on its axis — over a millennium before Copernicus. His Aryabhatiya contains sophisticated sine tables, pi accurate to 4 decimal places (3.1416), and algorithms for planetary calculations still admired today.

The Panchang ("five limbs") is a lunisolar calendar tracking five astronomical elements: Tithi (lunar day), Nakshatra (lunar mansion), Yoga (luni-solar angle), Karana (half-tithi), and Vara (weekday). It simultaneously tracks the Moon's position relative to the Sun and against fixed stars.

Indian astronomy accounts for precession of equinoxes through Ayanamsha — the angular difference between tropical and sidereal zodiacs. This ~50.3 arc-seconds/year precession completes one cycle in ~25,920 years. The Lahiri Ayanamsha is ~24 degrees currently.

Indian astronomers identified Rahu and Ketu as the ascending and descending nodes of the Moon's orbit — where eclipses occur. The Saros cycle (~18 years) was independently discovered. Ancient eclipse computation tables show remarkable accuracy when verified against modern calculations.