Vikramaditya Vedic Clock
Read IndiaTime’s live sunrise-based Vedic clock for Ujjain, understand ghati and pala, and explore the original Vikramaditya clock.
At sunrise the dial starts at 0. Halfway to the next sunrise it reaches 15; at the next sunrise it completes 30. A display hour is about 48 ordinary minutes.
This is IndiaTime’s sunrise-based illustration, inspired by the Vikramaditya clock. It is not a live connection to the original tower or its Panchang.
Live, independent sunrise-to-sunrise illustration. Modern IST and the Vedic display describe the same instant.
The original clock and this illustration
The Maharaja Vikramaditya Shodhpeeth’s official Vikramaditya Vedic Clock account describes a sunrise-operated clock in Ujjain, inaugurated on 29 February 2024. Its published scope includes traditional calendar and astronomical information.
IndiaTime illustrates the sunrise-based idea using calculated Ujjain sunrises. It does not connect to the original tower or reproduce its full Panchang and proprietary calculations.
How to read the 30-hour dial
| Dial reading | Part of the sunrise day | Interpretation |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | Starting sunrise | A new sunrise day begins in Ujjain. |
| 7½ | One quarter | A quarter of the interval to the next sunrise has passed. |
| 15 | One half | Half the sunrise interval has passed. |
| 22½ | Three quarters | The cycle is moving toward the next sunrise. |
| 30 → 0 | Next sunrise | The dial completes one cycle and resets. |
Worked example: 02:30 means two and a half Vedic display hours since the starting sunrise, approximately two ordinary hours. It is not 2:30 AM on an IST clock.
Ghati, pala, muhurta and prahara
The live cards count 60 ghatis across the sunrise interval, with 60 palas in each ghati. The dial divides that same interval into 30 display hours, while eight praharas describe eighths of the cycle.
Under the fixed 24-hour equal-unit convention, a ghati is 24 minutes and a pala is 24 seconds. This illustration scales slightly between successive sunrises so it resets exactly at each calculated sunrise. Use the traditional-duration converter for the fixed convention.
Muhurta here is a time period, not a personal recommendation for a ceremony. Calendar years such as Vikram Samvat answer a different question from a running clock.
Ujjain, Mahakaal and Indian timekeeping
Ujjain provides a setting for several time stories: astronomical instruments, a historical reference meridian, the devotional meanings of Mahakaal and this modern sunrise-clock project. Explore each through its own sources.