Kaal maryada is the time limit within which a food stays acceptable once it is made. After it, the food counts as chalita rasa, food whose taste has turned, the last of the 22 abhakshya. Choose what was made, your city and the date, and the tool gives the last day, or the last hour, in three published reckonings, with the season it used.
How it works
The seasons. The Shvetambara limits change with three seasons, which Essence of Jainism (part 1, p. 50) bounds by full moons: the monsoon from Ashadha Shukla 15 to Kartika Shukla 15, winter from Kartika Shukla 15 to Phalguna Shukla 15, and summer from Phalguna Shukla 15 to Ashadha Shukla 15. The tool finds those full-moon days for your city by the tithi at its sunrise, the rule our Jain tithi tool uses. We checked the days against an independent calculation with the Swiss Ephemeris for eight test places in years from 1900 to 2074, and all 256 agreed.
The Shvetambara Murtipujak reckoning.
- Sweets, khakhra and flour: 15 days in the monsoon, 30 in winter, 20 in summer (Essence of Jainism, p. 50; the Handbook of Jainology, p. 125, gives the same for sweets).
- Cooked food made with water, such as roti, dal, rice and sabzi: the day it is made. Kept overnight it is stale (Handbook, p. 124; Natubhai Shah, p. 321).
- Curd and buttermilk: until two nights have passed (Handbook, p. 124).
The ISJS household table. The Jainism Study Notes of the International School for Jain Studies (vol. 3, 2012, section 6.2) give a shorter table, drawn from household manuals: flour 7, 5 and 3 days in winter, summer and the rains; sweets without water like flour; cooked food 6 hours; fried food and sweets made with water 24 hours; milk boiled within 48 minutes of milking and then good for 24 hours; curd 24 hours; butter 48 minutes; ghee while its taste, colour and smell do not change.
Natubhai Shah’s table. Jainism: The World of Conquerors (Table 6.4, p. 324) gives time limits for the Indian winter and says that in summer they could be less: watered cooked food 6 to 12 hours, fried food 24 hours, curd 2 days, and sweets, flour, sugar and dried chapatis 1 month. The tool reads khakhra as his dried chapatis, as he calls khakhara (p. 325). The table does not name a sect, and it does not say whether a sweet made with water or milk counts as a sweet or as cooked food, so the tool gives no figure from it for those.
Counting. The day it is made is day 1. If the season changes while the food is kept, the shorter of the two limits carries on, so the date shown is never later than either season allows. Our sources give the limits but do not set out these counting rules; they are the tool’s own, chosen so that the date is never late. For example, by our calculation flour ground in Ahmedabad on 20 November 2026 is in the monsoon, with a limit of 15 days, and the season turns to winter on 24 November; the tool keeps the 15 days, so the last day is 4 December 2026. We checked this counting against an independent version for eight places and over 5,600 dates in both tables: all 11,232 results agreed.
Reading the result
The first line gives the Shvetambara Murtipujak answer. The cards show the season on the day it was made, the last day in each reckoning and, for limits counted in hours, the clock time on your city’s own clock, daylight saving included. Below them come the second and third reckonings in full, and for sweets, khakhra and flour, a table of the limit in each season. For milk, the ISJS table counts from the milking, so give the time the milk was milked, not when it was boiled or bought.
Where traditions differ
The season limits are the Shvetambara Murtipujak ones of Essence of Jainism and the Handbook of Jainology, both by Shvetambara Murtipujak monks. The ISJS notes do not name a sect, and they do not say which dates start their seasons, so the tool counts their winter, summer and rains with the same full moons; it also shows all three figures, so you can apply your own sangh’s seasons. Where one reckoning gives no figure, the tool says so rather than borrowing one.
Natubhai Shah’s table is a third view. It is for the Indian winter only, it does not name a sect, and it does not tie its figures to the full moons, so the tool shows its figures as he gives them, without a season.
The reckonings differ most on flour and cooked food: for flour, 15 to 30 days, 3 to 7 days, or Shah’s 1 month; for cooked food, the whole day, 6 hours, or Shah’s 6 to 12 hours. That is a real difference in practice, not a rounding, so follow the reckoning your family keeps.
What it does not do
It is not a food safety guide, and it does not replace your own eyes and nose: any food whose taste, colour or smell has changed is not eaten, whatever the date, and both reckonings say so. It does not account for a refrigerator or for how the food was stored. It does not give dates for butter in the Shvetambara list, where butter is abhakshya at all times. For boiled water, see the achit water time limit. Your own sangh’s practice comes first.
Frequently asked questions
↳ How long do Jain sweets last?
In the Shvetambara Murtipujak reckoning of Essence of Jainism, sweets made for keeping last 15 days in the monsoon, 30 in winter and 20 in summer, counted from the day they are made. The ISJS table keeps sweets made without water like flour, 7, 5 or 3 days, and those made with water 24 hours. Natubhai Shah's table gives sweets 1 month in the Indian winter.
↳ How long can atta be kept?
15, 30 or 20 days in the monsoon, winter and summer by the Shvetambara Murtipujak reckoning, and 7, 5 or 3 days in winter, summer and the rains by the ISJS table. The tool works out which season the date falls in for your city.
↳ When does the season change?
On the full moons of Phalguna, Ashadha and Kartika, as Essence of Jainism gives them. On the day of a change the tool uses the shorter of the two limits, and if a season changes while food is kept, the shorter limit carries on. Our sources do not set out these two counting rules; they are the tool's own, chosen so that the date is never late.
↳ Can roti or dal be eaten the next day?
Not in the Shvetambara reckoning: food cooked with water is stale once kept overnight. The ISJS table gives cooked food 6 hours, and Natubhai Shah's table 6 to 12 hours. Those who keep chauvihar also finish the day's food before sunset, which the tool shows for your city.
↳ How old can curd be?
Curd and buttermilk are acceptable until two nights have passed, by the Handbook of Jainology: curd set on a Monday is used on Monday and Tuesday. The ISJS table gives 24 hours, and Natubhai Shah's table 2 days in the Indian winter. Raw curd must never meet pulses, which is the dwidal rule.
↳ Does a fridge change the limit?
The tables we follow do not allow for one, and neither does the tool. Natubhai Shah notes that the durations may be adjusted for modern equipment, so ask your own sangh or teacher.
Sources. Season limits and the season boundaries: Muni Kushalchandravijay, Essence of Jainism part 1 (108 Jain Tirth Darshan Trust), p. 50. Sweets, stale food and curd: Acharya Bhuvanbhanusuri, Handbook of Jainology (Divya Darshan Trust), chapter 23, pp. 124 and 125. Cooked food kept overnight: Natubhai Shah, Jainism: The World of Conquerors, chapter 6.5, p. 321. The third table: the same book, Table 6.4, p. 324, with khakhara as dried chapatis on p. 325, and butter among prohibited foods in Table 6.3, p. 322. The second table: International School for Jain Studies, Jainism Study Notes vol. 3 (2012), section 6.2, citing Puja Patha Pradipa and Samayika ka Saundarya. Corrections are seva: tell us.