---
type: Concept
bundle: jyotisha-kala
bundle_version: 0.12.0
id: ghatika
title: Ghaṭikā
iast: Ghaṭikā
devanagari: घटिका
description: 'The 24-minute unit, sixty to a day-night, named for the sinking water-bowl (ghaṭī-yantra) that measured it; with pala and vipala it forms the sexagesimal ladder of practical timekeeping; NOT an hour, NOT a poetic flourish, NOT interchangeable with muhūrta.'
darshana:
- Jyotiṣa
text_source: Sūrya Siddhānta 1.11; Siddhānta Śiromaṇi
tags:
- ghatika
- time-unit
- water-clock
- calendrics
- jyotisha
not:
- term: 'an hour'
  why: 'Sixty ghaṭikās to the day against twenty-four hours: converting one-to-one shifts every stated time. The ghaṭikā also divides sexagesimally (60 palas, each of 60 vipalas), mirroring degree-minute-second, which the hour does not.'
  instead: 'Render ghaṭikā as the 24-minute unit and keep the Sanskrit term.'
- term: 'a poetic flourish'
  why: 'The ghaṭī-yantra, a pierced bowl sinking in water in exactly one ghaṭikā, was the operational timekeeper of observatory, court, and temple. Texts state observation times in ghaṭikās because instruments delivered them in ghaṭikās.'
- term: 'interchangeable with muhurta'
  why: 'Two ghaṭikās make one muhūrta. They are adjacent rungs with different roles: the ghaṭikā is the instrument-grade unit, the muhūrta the electional one.'
related:
- /concepts/kala-jyotisha.md
- /concepts/muhurta.md
timestamp: '2026-07-09'
okf_version: '0.2'
license: CC BY-SA 4.0
---

# Ghaṭikā -- घटिका

**Not:** an hour, a poetic flourish, interchangeable with muhurta

## What It Actually Means

The ghaṭikā (also ghaṭī, nāḍī, nāḍikā) is one-sixtieth of a day-night: 24 minutes. It divides sexagesimally, 60 palas to the ghaṭikā and 60 vipalas to the pala, mirroring the degree-minute-second ladder the gaṇita texts use for arc. The name is the instrument’s: the ghaṭī-yantra, a pierced copper bowl floating on water, sinks in exactly one ghaṭikā and served as the standard timekeeper of observatory, court, and temple. Sixty ghaṭikās to the day and two to the muhūrta anchor the practical end of the kāla ladder, the units in which siddhānta results were actually delivered and checked.

## Audience Metaphor

A kitchen timer that is itself a bowl sinking in water: when it goes under, a ghaṭikā has passed; refloat it and count again. Sixty sinkings make a day. The unit is exactly as operational as the instrument that defined it.

## Citations

1. Sūrya Siddhānta 1.11 on sixty nāḍīs to the day -- see [references/surya-siddhanta.md](../references/surya-siddhanta.md)
2. Siddhānta Śiromaṇi on the sexagesimal unit ladder -- see [references/siddhanta-shiromani.md](../references/siddhanta-shiromani.md)
