
Pahar

Pahar or Prahar (Bengali
প্রহর, Hindi/Nepali: पहर, ), which is more commonly pronounced peher, is a traditional unit of time used in India, Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh. One "pahar" nominally equals three hours, and there are eight "pahars" in a day. In India, the measure is primarily used in North India and Urdu speaking communities throughout the Deccan in Southern India.
Etymology.
"Pahar"/"pehar"/"peher" is derived from Sanskrit word prahar which is an ancient unit of time in India.
The word "pahar"/"peher" has the same root as the Hindustani word "pehra" (meaning "to stand guard") and "pehredar" (literally "guard"/watchman). It literally means a "watch" (i.e. period of guard-duty).
Timing.
Traditionally, night and day were each allocated four "pahars", or "watches." The first "pahar" of the day (or "din pahar") was timed to begin at sunrise, and the first "pahar" of the night ("raat pahar") was timed to begin at sunset.
This meant that in the winter the daytime "pahars" were shorter than the nighttime "pahars," and the opposite was true in summer. The "pahar"s were exactly equal on the equinoxes. Thus, the length of the traditional "pahar" varied from about 2.5 hours to 3.5 hours in the Indo-Gangetic plains.
Each "pahar" of a 24-hour day-night cycle has a specific name and number. The first "pahar" of the day, known as "pehla pahar" (Hindustani: "pehla", meaning "first"), corresponds to the early morning. The second "pahar" is called "do-pahar" (Hindustani: "do", meaning "second"). In the common speech of North India, Pakistan and Nepal, "dopahar" (दोपहर or دوپہر) has come to be the generic term for "afternoon" or "midday". The third "pahar" is called "seh pahar" (Persian:"seh", meaning "three") and has generically come to mean evening, though the term is less commonly used than "shaam".
Literature.
The poet-saint Kabir mentions "pahar" in one of his dohas:
पाँच पहर धंधे गया, तीन पहर गया सोय ।
एक पहर हरि नाम बिन, मुक्ति कैसे होय ॥
[You] went to work for five "pahar"s, slept for the remaining three "pahar"s. How will you attain salvation without chanting the names of Lord Hari for at least one "pahar"?