Brahma Muhurta: What It Is, Today's Time and How to Calculate It
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Brahma muhurta is the second-to-last muhurta of the night: a window of about 48 minutes that begins roughly 1 hour 36 minutes before sunrise and ends about 48 minutes before it. Its clock time moves with your city's sunrise, so the right time to rise changes through the year.
Last updated: 14 October 2026
You want to rise for japa, meditation or study before the house wakes. Set the alarm for the same hour all year, and the window moves away from you as sunrise shifts.
Find your city's window once, and every morning begins unhurried.
What is brahma muhurta?
Brahma muhurta is the window before dawn that the shastras set aside for rising, prayer and study. It belongs to Brahma, the creator; a muhurta is a unit of time.
A muhurta is one-thirtieth of a day and night, about 48 minutes. The night holds 15 muhurtas, and brahma muhurta is the 14th: the second-to-last before sunrise.
How to calculate brahma muhurta for your city
To calculate brahma muhurta, take your city's sunrise and count back two muhurtas for the start and one muhurta for the end. Three steps:
- Find tomorrow's sunrise for your city.
- Count back about 1 hour 36 minutes: brahma muhurta begins.
- Count back about 48 minutes: brahma muhurta ends.
A night muhurta is one-fifteenth of the night, so it runs a little over 48 minutes on long nights and a little under on short ones.
A worked example. In Mumbai on 22 October 2026, the sun rises at 6:38 am after a night of about 12½ hours. Brahma muhurta runs from 4:58 am to 5:48 am.
Why the time changes with the city and the season
Brahma muhurta moves with sunrise, so cities to the east reach it first. On the same morning, 22 October 2026, Guwahati's brahma muhurta runs from 3:47 am to 4:38 am, more than an hour before Mumbai's.
The season moves it too. As winter nights lengthen, sunrise comes later and each night muhurta grows longer.
Why is brahma muhurta 96 minutes before sunrise?
Brahma muhurta begins about 96 minutes before sunrise because it is the 14th of the night's 15 muhurtas, two muhurtas back from dawn. The last muhurta, just before sunrise, is when the day begins to stir.
Brahma muhurta comes just before that one. The deep night is over, and the house is still quiet.
Is brahma muhurta at 4 am?
Brahma muhurta is not fixed at 4 am: it begins about 1 hour 36 minutes before your own sunrise. On 22 October 2026 it begins at 3:47 am in Guwahati and at 4:58 am in Mumbai.
So set your alarm by your sunrise, not by the clock. Check it again as the seasons turn.
What the shastras say about rising in brahma muhurta
The Ayurvedic texts open the daily routine (dinacharya) with rising in brahma muhurta:
ब्राह्मे मुहूर्ते उत्तिष्ठेत् स्वस्थो रक्षार्थमायुषः "A healthy person should rise in brahma muhurta, to protect their life." (Ashtanga Hridayam, Sutrasthana 2.1)
Every other part of the day's routine is timed from this rising. Bathing, prayer, meals and sleep follow in their order, and the day begins settled.
What to do in brahma muhurta
Brahma muhurta is for japa, meditation, prayer, study and the day's sankalpa. The mind is clear and the house is still.
- Japa and mantra
- Meditation and pranayama
- Study and reading of scripture
- The day's sankalpa
Keep it quiet: a light stomach, a calm voice, and the phone put away.
Brahma muhurta in Dubai, the US or the UK
Brahma muhurta abroad is calculated from your own city's sunrise, on its own local date. A family in Dubai, London or New York keeps its own window, not India's.
Long winter nights in London or Toronto make each night muhurta longer, so the window starts further ahead of sunrise. See today's panchang for Dubai, London or New York.
The day has its muhurtas; so do life's big moments
The same shastras that time your morning also time the great days of your life.
- The year has its muhurtas: a wedding, a new home, a child's sanskaras.
- The day has thirty muhurtas, a few with names: brahma, abhijit.
- The night has brahma muhurta, the one you are meant to rise in.
Your wedding, your griha pravesh and your child's namkaran deserve the same care as your morning. See every shubh day of 2026 and 2027, then get the one made for your family.
Frequently asked questions
What time is brahma muhurta today?
Brahma muhurta today begins about 1 hour 36 minutes before your city's sunrise and ends about 48 minutes before it. In Mumbai on 22 October 2026 it runs from 4:58 am to 5:48 am.
How is brahma muhurta calculated?
Brahma muhurta is calculated from sunrise: it is the 14th of the night's 15 muhurtas, so it begins two muhurtas (about 96 minutes) before sunrise and ends one muhurta (about 48 minutes) before it.
How long is brahma muhurta?
Brahma muhurta lasts one muhurta, about 48 minutes. It is one-fifteenth of the night, so it runs a little longer on long winter nights.
Is brahma muhurta at 4 am?
Brahma muhurta is not fixed at 4 am; it begins about 1 hour 36 minutes before your local sunrise. On 22 October 2026 it begins at 3:47 am in Guwahati and at 4:58 am in Mumbai.
What should we do in brahma muhurta?
Brahma muhurta is for japa, meditation, pranayama, prayer, study of scripture and the day's sankalpa. The Ayurvedic texts make rising in it the first act of the daily routine.
Can I start important work in brahma muhurta?
Brahma muhurta is best for prayer, study and the day's sankalpa. For a beginning such as a wedding, a griha pravesh or a business opening, take a muhurat chosen for that occasion.
What is the brahma muhurta time in Dubai or the US?
Brahma muhurta in Dubai or the US is calculated from that city's own sunrise on its local date: it begins about 1 hour 36 minutes before sunrise. See today's panchang for Dubai or New York.
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