Nakshatras: The 27 Lunar Mansions of Vedic Astrology

Long before the twelve signs reached India, Vedic seers divided the sky by the Moon. The Moon takes about 27.3 days to circle the zodiac, resting each night in one of 27 nakshatras — lunar mansions of 13°20′ each. The nakshatra the Moon occupied at your birth is your janma nakshatra (birth star), and in Jyotish it often says more about you than your Sun sign ever will.

Why nakshatras matter so much

• They describe the mind. The Moon is the manas — the feeling, instinctive mind — and the nakshatra is the Moon's home address. Two people with the same Moon sign but different nakshatras feel noticeably different.
• They start your dasha clock. The Vimshottari dasha system — Vedic astrology's master timing tool — begins from the ruler of your janma nakshatra. Your first mahadasha, and everything after it, depends on this single point.
• They drive marriage matching. The traditional Ashtakoota matching compares the two partners' Moon nakshatras across eight tests worth 36 gunas.
• They time ritual and festival. The daily panchang lists the day's nakshatra; muhurta (electional astrology) leans on it heavily.

Padas: the quarter that fine-tunes everything

Each nakshatra divides into four padas (quarters) of 3°20′. Each pada maps to one sign of the Navamsa (D-9) chart, which is why knowing your pada matters: it links your birth star directly to the chart of marriage and inner life. Your kundli from our engine always lists both — for example, "Moon in Punarvasu, pada 3".

The 27 nakshatras at a glance

#	Nakshatra	Ruler	Symbol / spirit
1	Ashwini	Ketu	Horse's head — speed, healing, beginnings
2	Bharani	Venus	Yoni — bearing, restraint, transformation
3	Krittika	Sun	Razor — sharpness, purification
4	Rohini	Moon	Chariot — beauty, growth, fertility
5	Mrigashira	Mars	Deer's head — searching, curiosity
6	Ardra	Rahu	Teardrop — storm, intensity, renewal
7	Punarvasu	Jupiter	Quiver of arrows — return of light, renewal
8	Pushya	Saturn	Cow's udder — nourishment; the most auspicious star
9	Ashlesha	Mercury	Coiled serpent — penetrating insight
10	Magha	Ketu	Throne — ancestry, authority
11	Purva Phalguni	Venus	Front legs of a cot — pleasure, rest, charm
12	Uttara Phalguni	Sun	Back legs of a cot — patronage, contracts
13	Hasta	Moon	Hand — skill, craft, wit
14	Chitra	Mars	Pearl — design, brilliance, architecture
15	Swati	Rahu	Young shoot in wind — independence, trade
16	Vishakha	Jupiter	Triumphal arch — determined ambition
17	Anuradha	Saturn	Lotus — friendship, devotion, discipline
18	Jyeshtha	Mercury	Earring/umbrella — seniority, protectiveness
19	Mula	Ketu	Bundle of roots — going to the root, upheaval
20	Purva Ashadha	Venus	Fan — invincibility, declaration
21	Uttara Ashadha	Sun	Elephant tusk — lasting victory
22	Shravana	Moon	Ear — listening, learning, fame
23	Dhanishta	Mars	Drum — rhythm, wealth, generosity
24	Shatabhisha	Rahu	Empty circle — the hundred healers, secrecy
25	Purva Bhadrapada	Jupiter	Sword/two front legs of a funeral cot — intensity, idealism
26	Uttara Bhadrapada	Saturn	Twins/back legs of a cot — depth, patience
27	Revati	Mercury	Fish — safe passage, completion, compassion

The rulers repeat in a fixed nine-planet cycle (Ketu, Venus, Sun, Moon, Mars, Rahu, Jupiter, Saturn, Mercury), three times around — and that cycle is the Vimshottari dasha order.

Reading your own nakshatra

Three placements deserve a nakshatra reading in every chart:

1. The Moon's nakshatra (janma nakshatra) — the texture of your mind, your instinctive responses, the dasha you were born running.
2. The Lagna's nakshatra — fine-tunes the personality the rising sign describes.
3. The Sun's nakshatra — the flavour of your purpose and confidence.

A nakshatra is read through its ruling planet's condition too: a Rohini Moon (ruled by the Moon itself) behaves differently when the Moon is bright and well-placed than when new and afflicted.

Find yours

Cast your free kundli — the chart lists the nakshatra and pada for the Lagna, the Moon, and every planet, computed precisely with the Lahiri ayanamsha. Then ask the Acharya what your janma nakshatra means for the year ahead.

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Related guides: What is a janam kundli? · Vimshottari Mahadasha · Today's panchang