पहर (pahar)

noun A traditional unit of time equal to roughly three hours, used to divide the day and night into eight watches; mostly seen today in poetic, devotional, and set-phrase usage rather than everyday clock-time talk.
Sense 1 : a traditional three-hour watch/period of day or night
noun, masculine
Synonyms: याम (yaam, literary)
Frequency: low
Cultural Note: Old Hindi and Sanskrit tradition divided both day and night into four पहर (pahar) each, a system you still meet in devotional songs, temple bells, and poetry -- for instance आरती (aartii) times or raga performance times are traditionally linked to specific पहर (pahar) of the day. In modern spoken Hindi it survives mainly in fixed expressions like चार पहर (chaar pahar) or दोपहर (dopahar, 'midday', literally 'two-and-a-half watches'), rather than in everyday clock references.
Common Mistakes: 1) Learners often try to use पहर (pahar) like घंटा (ghantaa) for 'hour' -- it is not an hour but a roughly three-hour watch, and is rarely used for precise timekeeping today. 2) The common phrase चार पहर (chaar pahar, 'all four watches [of the day]') is idiomatic for 'the whole day long' and should not be read literally as a math problem about hours.
Sample Sentences:
रात के पहले पहर में मंदिर की घंटी बजी। The temple bell rang during the first watch of the night.
(raat ke pahle pahar men mandir kii ghantii bajii।)
Register: Literary -- Mood: Indicative -- Aspect: Perfective -- Tense: Past -- Voice: Active
यह राग रात के तीसरे पहर में गाया जाता है। This raga is traditionally sung during the third watch of the night.
(yah raag raat ke tiisre pahar men gaayaa jaataa hai।)
Register: Literary -- Mood: Indicative -- Aspect: Habitual -- Tense: Present -- Voice: Passive
दिन के चार पहर बड़ी शांति से बीत गए। The four watches of the day passed by very peacefully.
(din ke chaar pahar badii shaanti se biit gae।)
Register: Literary -- Mood: Indicative -- Aspect: Perfective -- Tense: Past -- Voice: Active
साधु हर पहर में एक बार आरती करते थे। The sadhu used to perform the aarti once every watch.
(saadhu har pahar men ek baar aartii karte the।)
Register: Devotional -- Mood: Indicative -- Aspect: Habitual -- Tense: Past -- Voice: Active
काश हम भी उस युग में पहर के हिसाब से समय गिनते। If only we too counted time by watches, as in that age.
(kaash ham bhii us yug men pahar ke hisaab se samay ginte।)
Register: Literary -- Mood: Counterfactual -- Aspect: Habitual -- Voice: Active
पहर बीतते ही पहरेदार बदल जाते थे। As soon as a watch passed, the guards would change.
(pahar biitte hii pahredaar badal jaate the।)
Register: Literary -- Mood: Indicative -- Aspect: Habitual -- Tense: Past -- Voice: Active
कवि ने रात के चौथे पहर का सुंदर वर्णन किया है। The poet has beautifully described the fourth watch of the night.
(kavi ne raat ke chauthe pahar kaa sundar varnan kiyaa hai।)
Register: Literary -- Mood: Indicative -- Aspect: Perfective -- Tense: Present -- Voice: Active
हर पहर की अपनी एक अलग रागिनी होती है। Each watch of the day has its own distinct melody.
(har pahar kii apnii ek alag raaginii hotii hai।)
Register: Literary -- Mood: Indicative -- Aspect: Habitual -- Tense: Present -- Voice: Active
प्रभु का भजन दिन के प्रथम पहर में ही गाया जाए। Let the Lord's hymn be sung right in the first watch of the day.
(prabhu kaa bhajan din ke pratham pahar men hii gaayaa jaae।)
Register: Devotional -- Mood: Subjunctive -- Voice: Passive
Morphology
Noun
(sg.m.direct): पहर (pahar)
(sg.m.oblique): पहर (pahar)
(pl.m.direct): पहर (pahar)
(pl.m.oblique): पहरों (pahron)