A little of the tradition.
Short explainers on the ideas behind Jyotisha — what a rashi is, how a Panchang is read, and how a question can be its own chart.
The chart and its circle
Rashi and Lagna — what is the difference?
Your rashi (moon sign) is the sign the Moon occupied at your birth; it changes roughly every two and a quarter days. Your lagna (ascendant) is the sign rising on the eastern horizon at the moment of birth, and it changes about every two hours.
This is why an exact birth time matters: two people born on the same day can share a rashi but have different lagnas, and so a different arrangement of the twelve houses.
Why is the Vedic zodiac different from the Western one?
Jyotisha uses the sidereal zodiac, fixed against the stars. Western astrology uses the tropical zodiac, tied to the seasons. Because of the slow precession of the Earth’s axis the two have drifted about 24° apart — the ayanamsa. This is why your Vedic sign is often the one before your Western sign.
The nine grahas
Surya (Sun), Chandra (Moon), Mangala (Mars), Budha (Mercury), Guru (Jupiter), Shukra (Venus) and Shani (Saturn), together with Rahu and Ketu — the two points where the Moon’s path crosses the Sun’s. Rahu and Ketu always stand exactly opposite one another and move backwards through the zodiac.
Reading the day
The five limbs of the Panchang
The Panchang — “five limbs” — describes each day by vara (weekday), tithi (lunar day, every 12° the Moon gains on the Sun), nakshatra (the Moon’s lunar mansion), yoga (the combined motion of Sun and Moon) and karana (half a tithi).
Together they are used to choose auspicious times for ceremonies, journeys and new beginnings. The daily Panchang on the home page is computed for sunrise in Bengaluru.
The 27 nakshatras
The ecliptic is divided into 27 lunar mansions of 13°20′ each, from Ashwini to Revati. The Moon passes through roughly one nakshatra a day; the nakshatra it occupied at birth — the janma nakshatra — is central to naming, matching and the dasha periods of a horoscope.
What is Rahu Kalam?
Daylight is divided into eight equal parts, and one of them each weekday is Rahu Kalam — traditionally avoided for beginning important work. Because it depends on local sunrise and sunset, it shifts through the year and from city to city.
When the question is the chart
What is Prashna Marga?
Prashna — literally “question” — is horary astrology: the chart is cast for the moment a sincere question is asked, not the moment of birth. The classical text Prashna Marga, composed in Kerala in the 17th century, remains the foundational work of the tradition in South India.
It is especially helpful when birth details are unknown, or when a specific matter needs attention.
What happens in horoscope matching?
Kundli milana compares the charts of two people. The traditional ashtakoota method scores eight aspects of compatibility out of 36, based mainly on the two janma nakshatras — but an experienced astrologer also reads both charts as a whole before offering guidance.