Vedic Astrology
The 27 Nakshatras
The lunar mansions are the oldest layer of Indian astrology: 27 stars the Moon visits each month, each with its own deity, animal, temperament, and gifts. Find yours with the birth chart calculator, check which one rules today on the panchang page, then read its full profile below.
#1 · Ketu
Ashwini
The Horse Woman
Swift beginnings, healing hands, and the fastest instincts in the zodiac.
#2 · Venus
Bharani
The Bearer
Creative fire that carries life through its extremes of birth and ending.
#3 · Sun
Krittika
The Cutter
Purifying sharpness: burns away the false to protect what is true.
#4 · Moon
Rohini
The Red One
The Moon’s favourite: fertile, magnetic, and made for beauty and growth.
#5 · Mars
Mrigashira
The Deer’s Head
The eternal seeker: gentle, curious, always following the next question.
#6 · Rahu
Ardra
The Moist One
The storm that clears: intense feeling that renews everything it touches.
#7 · Jupiter
Punarvasu
Return of the Light
Renewal itself: the arrow that always finds its way home.
#8 · Saturn
Pushya
The Nourisher
The most auspicious star: quiet care that makes everything flourish.
#9 · Mercury
Ashlesha
The Embracer
Hypnotic depth: sees beneath every surface, holds what it loves closely.
#10 · Ketu
Magha
The Mighty
Ancestral royalty: dignity, legacy, and pride in where you come from.
#11 · Venus
Purva Phalguni
The Former Red One
Pleasure and rest: the art of enjoying life and sharing that joy.
#12 · Sun
Uttara Phalguni
The Latter Red One
The reliable friend: generosity turned into lasting commitment.
#13 · Moon
Hasta
The Hand
Skill made visible: clever hands, quick wit, and craft in everything.
#14 · Mars
Chitra
The Brilliant
The celestial architect: beauty, design, and the drive to build the striking.
#15 · Rahu
Swati
The Independent
Wind-born freedom: flexible, diplomatic, impossible to cage.
#16 · Jupiter
Vishakha
The Forked
Single-pointed ambition: the patience to wait and the will to win.
#17 · Saturn
Anuradha
The Follower of Radha
Devoted friendship: the lotus that blooms in any soil.
#18 · Mercury
Jyeshtha
The Eldest
The protective elder: authority earned through trials survived.
#19 · Ketu
Mula
The Root
The truth-digger: pulls everything up by the root to find what is real.
#20 · Venus
Purva Ashadha
The Early Victor
Invincible optimism: the wave that cannot be turned back.
#21 · Sun
Uttara Ashadha
The Later Victor
The final victory: universal principles carried to lasting success.
#22 · Moon
Shravana
The Listener
Sacred listening: learning, connection, and wisdom passed by voice.
#23 · Mars
Dhanishta
The Wealthiest
Rhythm and abundance: music, timing, and prosperity in motion.
#24 · Rahu
Shatabhisha
The Hundred Healers
The mystic healer: secretive, scientific, and drawn to hidden cures.
#25 · Jupiter
Purva Bhadrapada
The Former Blessed Feet
Intense idealism: fire that burns for transformation of the world.
#26 · Saturn
Uttara Bhadrapada
The Latter Blessed Feet
The deep serpent of wisdom: calm on the surface, fathomless below.
#27 · Mercury
Revati
The Wealthy
The gentle shepherd: safe passage, kindness, and journeys completed.
Why nakshatras matter more than signs in Vedic astrology
Where Western astrology leads with the Sun sign, Vedic astrology leads with the Moon and its nakshatra. The logic is precision: twelve signs divide the sky into month-wide brushstrokes, while twenty-seven nakshatras divide it into day-wide ones, and each nakshatra further splits into four padas of 3°20′. Your janma nakshatra sets your Vimshottari dasha sequence, the planetary period timeline that structures a Vedic life reading; it supplies the attributes used in kundli matching, from the yoni animal to the nadi; and the day's nakshatra governs muhurta, the choosing of auspicious times shown on the daily panchang. If you already know your Western Moon sign, your nakshatra is simply the next level of magnification of the same lunar truth.
Nakshatra FAQs
- What are nakshatras?
- Nakshatras are the 27 lunar mansions of Vedic astrology, each spanning 13 degrees 20 minutes of the sidereal zodiac. The Moon spends roughly one day in each, and the nakshatra it occupied at your birth is your janma nakshatra, or birth star.
- How do I find my nakshatra?
- Your nakshatra is determined by the Moon’s sidereal position at your birth. Enter your birth date, time, and place into a Vedic birth chart calculator and read the Moon’s nakshatra; the birth chart tool on this site computes it with the Lahiri ayanamsa.
- Which nakshatra is most auspicious?
- Pushya is traditionally called the most auspicious nakshatra for almost all undertakings except marriage. Rohini, Uttara Phalguni, Uttara Ashadha, and Uttara Bhadrapada are also counted among the most fortunate stars.
- What is the difference between rasi and nakshatra?
- A rasi is one of 12 signs of 30 degrees each; a nakshatra is one of 27 finer divisions of 13°20′ each. Vedic astrology reads both: the Moon’s rasi gives broad temperament while its nakshatra gives the fine grain, which is why nakshatras dominate marriage matching and muhurta.