This is a small box you can put on a yoga studio, Ayurveda centre or wellness website. It shows today’s kapha, pitta and vata parts of the day and of the night for one city, on that city’s own clock, and which part is running now. It moves on by itself as the parts change and as a new day begins, so there is nothing to update. It is free.

Choose your city and the colours below, check the preview, then copy the code and paste it into your page. Most site builders (WordPress, Wix, Squarespace, Google Sites) have an “embed” or “custom HTML” block for this. The box sets no cookies, stores nothing in the browser, runs no analytics and loads nothing from any other company: the box and its scripts come from this site, and the times are worked out in your visitor’s browser.

The code ends with one line of credit under the box, “Dosha clock by Nidarshana Vedh Ayurveda”, linking to the dosha clock page. Please keep that line. It is the only thing we ask in return.

How it works

The rule comes from the Ashtanga Hridayam, Sutrasthana 1.8, which says that the doshas lead at the beginning, the middle and the end of the day and of the night: kapha at the beginning, pitta in the middle and vata at the end. The verse gives no clock hours. The box reads it the way the dosha clock does: the daytime runs from sunrise to sunset and the night from sunset to the next sunrise, and each is split into three equal parts, kapha, pitta and vata in that order. It uses the dosha clock’s own code and the same sunrise and sunset, for the upper edge of the Sun with standard refraction, so the box and the tool page show the same times to the minute.

Reading the widget

The box opens with the part running now and the time it ends. Before sunrise this is the last part of the night that began the evening before. Below it are the six parts of today, from this morning’s sunrise to tomorrow’s sunrise, with the part running now picked out. A part that ends after midnight shows the next date beside its end time. Under the list are the sunrise, the sunset and the next sunrise; a sunset after midnight, as in the far north in summer, shows its date too. All times are local clock time in the city, with daylight saving where the city keeps it.

Where traditions differ

Many teachers use fixed clock blocks instead: kapha from 6 to 10, pitta from 10 to 2 and vata from 2 to 6, in the morning and again in the evening. That is a later teaching convention and not a passage from a text. The box follows the sunrise reading, as the dosha clock and the daily routine planner on this site do, because the verse speaks of the beginning, middle and end of the day. The two readings agree best near the equinoxes in India and drift apart in summer and winter and far from the equator. The dosha clock page shows both side by side.

What it does not do

It does not tell anyone when to eat, sleep or take medicines, and no hour in it is good or bad for health. It describes a traditional rhythm and is educational only. Where the Sun does not rise or set on a date, as in the far north in midsummer and midwinter, the box says so and gives no times. Anyone who takes medicines at set times, has diabetes, works shifts, is pregnant or breastfeeding, or cares for a young child should keep the times their doctor has given them.

Choose your city

Sunrise and sunset are worked out in your visitors' browsers for this city, in its local time. Your town is not listed? Choose the nearest city. Sunrise and sunset change by only a few minutes within about 100 km.

Preview

Code to paste into your website

Copy this and paste it where you want the box to appear. The last line is the credit under the box.

Frequently asked questions

↳ Is the widget really free?

Yes. There is no fee and no limit on the number of pages you put it on. We ask only that you keep the one line of credit under the box, which is part of the code you copy.

↳ Does it track the people who visit our site?

No. The box sets no cookies, stores nothing in the browser, runs no analytics and loads nothing from other companies. The day is worked out in your visitor's browser from files served by this site, and the city is never passed on to anyone else.

↳ Our town is not in the list. What can we do?

Choose the nearest city in the list: sunrise and sunset change by only a few minutes within about 100 km. You can also add the latitude, longitude, time zone and a name to the address in the code, for example lat=19.076, lon=72.8777, tz=Asia/Kolkata and name=Mumbai in place of city=.

↳ Why are the times not 6 to 10, 10 to 2 and 2 to 6?

Those fixed blocks are a teaching convention. The box divides your city's real daytime and night into thirds, so the times move with sunrise and sunset through the year. The dosha clock page shows both versions for any date.

↳ Can we match the box to our site colours?

You can choose light or dark colours in the form. You can also add accent=1F6B3A (any six-digit hex colour, without the hash) to the address in the code to change the accent colour.

↳ Should our members plan meals or medicines around it?

No. It is a gentle description of a traditional rhythm, not a medical schedule. Please keep any times a doctor has given, and see a doctor for any health concern and a registered Ayurvedic practitioner (BAMS in India) for Ayurvedic advice.

Educational only. The widget describes the Ayurvedic tradition. It does not diagnose, treat or advise. See the medical disclaimer.