Frequently Asked Questions

Nakshatrica is a complete Vedic (Jyotish) astrology platform built for accuracy and transparency. It generates full birth charts (Janma Kundli) with all 12 houses, 9 planets plus Ascendant, divisional charts (Navamsha D9, Dashamsha D10, and more), and Vimshottari Dasha periods down to the Antardasha level. Beyond birth charts, the platform tracks live planetary transits (gochar), provides a daily and monthly Panchang with Tithi/Nakshatra/Yoga/Karana, identifies key Muhurtas, runs quick checks like Sadhe Sati and Manglik Dosha, and suggests baby names selected by the birth Nakshatra and Pada. Every calculation uses the sidereal zodiac with the Lahiri (Chitrapaksha) Ayanamsha — the standard adopted by the Indian Calendar Reform Committee and used across mainstream Vedic astrology in India.

Every astronomical computation — planetary longitudes, house cusps, Ascendant, Nakshatra entries, Dasha boundaries, retrograde detection, and transit times — is performed by the Swiss Ephemeris, the same engine used by academic astronomy software and most professional Jyotish applications. Planetary positions are accurate to sub-arcsecond level over millennia, well beyond what classical methods could achieve. For transit boundary detection (e.g., the exact minute the Moon enters a new Nakshatra), we use binary search refined to sub-second precision so the entry/exit times shown are reliable for Muhurta and timing work. The Ayanamsha used is Lahiri (Chitrapaksha), the most widely accepted Vedic ayanamsha.

Yes — all core features are free, with no signup required. This includes unlimited birth chart generation, daily and monthly Panchang, live planetary transits, the Moon Transit tracker with Date Lookup and Find Dates search, Nakshatra and Rashi finders, dosha checks (Sadhe Sati, Manglik, Kaal Sarp, Ganda Moola), and the Vedic baby names database with thousands of curated entries. We may apply soft usage limits on the most expensive operations to keep the service responsive for everyone, but day-to-day personal use will not hit those limits.

No account is required for the public tools. You can generate a birth chart, check today's Panchang, look up the Moon's position on any date, or browse Vedic names without signing in — your data stays on your device for that session. An account becomes useful when we add features like saved charts, comparison between multiple kundlis, or annotations on your own chart, but those are optional enhancements on top of the free, anonymous core.

The two systems use different reference frames for the zodiac. Western astrology uses the tropical zodiac, anchored to the seasons — 0° Aries is fixed at the spring equinox in the Northern Hemisphere. Vedic astrology uses the sidereal zodiac, anchored to actual fixed stars in the sky. Because Earth's axis wobbles (precession of the equinoxes), the spring equinox shifts backward through the constellations by about 1° every 72 years, so the two zodiacs drift apart over time — they currently differ by approximately 24°. A person born under a tropical "Aries Sun" is, in sidereal terms, usually a Pisces Sun. Nakshatrica uses the sidereal zodiac with Lahiri Ayanamsha by default, matching the classical Jyotish standard.

Ayanamsha is the angular difference between the tropical and sidereal zodiacs at any given moment. Lahiri Ayanamsha (also called Chitrapaksha Ayanamsha) was named after astronomer N.C. Lahiri and adopted in 1955 by the Indian Calendar Reform Committee as the official standard for Hindu religious and astrological calculations in India. It defines the sidereal zodiac such that the fixed star Chitra (Spica, α Virginis) sits exactly at 180° sidereal longitude — i.e., at 0° Libra. As of the current era, the Lahiri Ayanamsha value is approximately 24°10', which is what we subtract from tropical longitudes to get Vedic positions. Other Vedic ayanamshas exist (Raman, Krishnamurti, Yukteshwar), but Lahiri is by far the most widely used.

A Nakshatra is one of 27 lunar mansions that the Moon traverses on its monthly journey through the zodiac. Each occupies an equal 13°20' arc, so the full 360° zodiac is split into 27 Nakshatras. Each Nakshatra carries a presiding deity (e.g., Ashwini → the Ashwin twins, Rohini → Brahma/Prajāpati, Mrigashira → Soma), a ruling planet, a symbol, an animal totem, and an inherent quality (Deva/Manushya/Rakshasa, masculine/feminine, hot/cold). Because the Moon spends roughly 24 hours in each Nakshatra, the lunar position at any moment defines that day's spiritual "flavor," which is why Nakshatras are central to Muhurta (electional timing), name-giving (Namakarana), Dasha calculation, and daily rituals. The 27-Nakshatra system is documented in the Taittirīya Brāhmaṇa and Vedānga Jyotiṣa, predating much of the 12-sign Rashi system in Indian astronomy.

Each Nakshatra is divided into four equal quarters called Padas (literally "feet"), each spanning 3°20'. This gives 27 × 4 = 108 Padas across the zodiac — matching the sacred number 108 that appears throughout Vedic tradition (mala beads, deity names, Upanishads). Each Pada corresponds to (a) a specific akshara (syllable) used for selecting the Janma Naam — the traditional Vedic name given at birth based on the Moon's Pada; and (b) a specific Navamsha (D9) sign, since the D9 chart is constructed by mapping each Pada to one of the 12 signs in sequence. Padas also refine character analysis — two people born under the same Nakshatra but in different Padas are read differently because the underlying Navamsha shifts.

Vimshottari Dasha is the most widely used planetary time-cycle system in Vedic astrology, attributed to Maharishi Parashara in the Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra. It assumes a total human lifespan of 120 years divided among the nine planets in fixed proportions: Sun 6 years, Moon 10, Mars 7, Rahu 18, Jupiter 16, Saturn 19, Mercury 17, Ketu 7, Venus 20. The starting Mahadasha (major period) is determined by the Nakshatra ruler of the Moon at the moment of birth — for example, a person born with Moon in Rohini (ruled by Moon) starts in Moon Mahadasha. Within each Mahadasha, the same 9 planets cycle as Antardasha (sub-periods), and within those as Pratyantardasha, allowing extremely granular timing of life events. Nakshatrica computes Dasha periods down to the Antardasha level with exact start and end dates.

Both are divisions of the same 360° zodiac, just at different resolutions. Rashi (sign) is one of 12 equal 30° divisions — Mesha (Aries) through Meena (Pisces) — inherited from Hellenistic astrology and integrated into Indian Jyotish around the early centuries CE. Nakshatra is one of 27 equal 13°20' divisions, an older Vedic system rooted in lunar observation. Every point in the zodiac belongs to exactly one Rashi and exactly one Nakshatra — for example, 10° Aries falls in Mesha Rashi and Ashwini Nakshatra Pada 3. The Moon's Rashi at your birth is called Janma Rashi (your "Moon sign"), and the Moon's Nakshatra at birth is your Janma Nakshatra ("birth star"). In modern Indian usage, Rashi names matter for monthly horoscope columns; Nakshatra names matter for traditional Vedic name selection and Muhurta.

You need three pieces of data: date of birth (the calendar day), exact time of birth (hour and minute, ideally from the hospital record or birth certificate), and place of birth (city name — we resolve it to latitude, longitude, and the correct timezone for that historical moment, including any daylight-saving rules that applied then). The more precise the birth time, the more reliable the Ascendant and house placements will be — a 4-minute error can shift the Ascendant by 1°, and a 2-hour error can change the Ascendant sign entirely. If you don't have the exact time, you can still generate a useful Moon-sign and Nakshatra reading, but house-based predictions become approximate.

The Ascendant (Lagna) — the zodiac point rising on the eastern horizon at birth — changes by roughly 1° every 4 minutes and moves through a full sign in about 2 hours. The Ascendant defines the 1st house cusp, and every other house is anchored relative to it. So an incorrect birth time misplaces the entire house framework: planets that should be in your 7th house might appear in your 6th or 8th, completely changing the interpretation. Divisional charts amplify the error — a 4-minute offset in birth time can shift a planet by a full sign in the D60 Shashtiamsha. The Moon's sign and Nakshatra are less time-sensitive (Moon moves ~12° per day), so Moon-based readings remain useful even with approximate times.

They display the same data in different visual layouts. The North Indian style is a diamond with the 1st house fixed at the top and houses arranged clockwise; the zodiac signs rotate based on the Ascendant. Each house is a triangle or kite shape containing the planets occupying that house, with the sign number written inside. The South Indian style is a square 4×4 grid with signs fixed in position (Aries always top-left of the middle row, going clockwise) — houses rotate based on where the Ascendant falls. Planets are drawn in the sign they occupy. Both convey identical astrological information; pick the one you grew up reading. Nakshatrica renders both styles for every chart, and you can toggle between them at any time.

Divisional charts (Varga charts) are derived sub-charts that magnify specific life themes by subdividing each 30° sign into smaller equal segments. The most important is the D9 Navamsha, which divides each sign into 9 parts (3°20' each, matching one Pada) and is the primary chart for marriage, spouse, dharma, and the deeper soul-level expression of every planet. D10 Dashamsha (each sign into 10) is read for career and profession. D7 Saptamsha covers children. D12 Dwadasamsha covers parents. D60 Shashtiamsha is the finest resolution and is used for past-karma analysis. Parashara's Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra describes 16 standard Vargas (the Shodasavarga), each calculated by a fixed mapping from the planet's position within its sign to one of the 12 signs in the divisional chart.

Retrograde (Vakri) means a planet appears to move backward through the zodiac as seen from Earth, due to Earth overtaking it (for outer planets) or being overtaken by it (for inner planets). The Sun and Moon never go retrograde; Mercury retrogrades ~3 times a year, Venus once every ~18 months, Mars every ~2 years, and Jupiter/Saturn for a few months annually. Rahu and Ketu are mathematical points and are always retrograde. In Vedic interpretation, retrograde planets are considered to give unusual or karmically intense results. Combust (Asta) means a planet is within a specific orb of the Sun and its light is "burned" — its effects are weakened or distorted. Standard combustion orbs in Jyotish are: Moon 12°, Mars 17°, Mercury 14° (12° if retrograde), Jupiter 11°, Venus 10° (8° if retrograde), Saturn 15°. Both states are flagged on every chart in Nakshatrica.

A transit (Sanskrit: gochar, literally "movement on Earth") is the current real-time position of a planet in the sky, as opposed to where it was at the moment of your birth. While your birth chart is a fixed snapshot, transits are dynamic — they show how the moving planets are currently interacting with your natal placements. Vedic predictive astrology relies heavily on transits to time real-world events: a Jupiter transit through your 5th house may signal a child or creative breakthrough, Saturn over your natal Moon often coincides with emotional restructuring (Sade Sati if it covers the 12th–2nd from natal Moon), and Rahu-Ketu axis shifts every 18 months bring karmic redirections. Nakshatrica's transit pages show all 9 Vedic planets in real time, with sign, Nakshatra, Pada, degree, retrograde, and combustion status.

The Moon orbits Earth in approximately 27.3 days (a sidereal month), meaning it traverses the full 360° zodiac in that time — averaging about 13° per day. That works out to roughly 2.25 days per Rashi (sign) and ~24 hours per Nakshatra. This rapid motion is why the Moon is the timekeeper of Vedic daily life: traditional rituals, Vrat (fasts), Muhurta selection for ceremonies, daily Panchang, and short-term decision timing all hinge on the Moon's current Nakshatra. The Moon also moves at a variable speed (~12°–15° per day) because its orbit is elliptical — fastest near perigee and slowest near apogee — which is why exact entry/exit times need precise ephemeris calculations rather than simple averages.

Average transit speeds through one Rashi (sign): Sun ~30 days (a solar month, Sankranti to Sankranti). Mercury ~1 month, but with 3 retrograde cycles a year that can keep it in a sign for 2+ months. Venus ~1 month average, ~40 days when it retrogrades (every 19 months). Mars ~45 days, but up to 6 months in a sign when it goes retrograde (every ~2 years). Jupiter ~1 year per sign — Jupiter's sign transit is a major event watched closely in Vedic astrology. Saturn ~2.5 years per sign (Sade Sati involves Saturn over the 12th, 1st, and 2nd from natal Moon = 7.5 years total). Rahu and Ketu always retrograde, ~18 months per sign, completing a full zodiac cycle in roughly 18.6 years.

Yes — and this matters more than you might think, since transit entry/exit times are precise to the minute. When you visit the planetary transit pages, Nakshatrica auto-detects your geographic location (via browser geolocation or reverse-IP lookup), resolves your IANA timezone (e.g., Asia/Kolkata, America/New_York), and renders all timestamps — Moon entering Rohini, Sun changing signs, retrograde stations — in your local wall-clock time. The detected location and timezone are displayed in the strip at the top of the page so you can verify them. The underlying planetary calculations are timezone-independent (they happen in UTC) and only the display layer is localized, so the same Moon entry into Mrigashira shows as 8:42 AM in Delhi and 11:12 PM the previous day in New York — same astronomical event, different wall clocks.

Panchang (literally "five limbs" — pancha + anga) is the Vedic almanac for any given day, combining five astronomical/astrological elements that together describe the day's cosmic character: Tithi (lunar day, based on the Sun-Moon angular separation; 30 Tithis per lunar month split into Shukla/bright and Krishna/dark halves), Vara (weekday, each ruled by a planet — Sunday/Sun, Monday/Moon, etc.), Nakshatra (Moon's lunar mansion), Yoga (one of 27 special combinations based on Sun+Moon longitude), and Karana (half-Tithi, with 11 named Karanas cycling through the month). Panchang also includes sunrise, sunset, moonrise, moonset, Rahu Kalam, Yamaganda, Gulika Kalam, Abhijit Muhurta, choghadiya, and other auspicious/inauspicious windows. Nakshatrica provides daily and monthly Panchang with all of these.

A Muhurta is a specific window of time — traditionally 48 minutes (1/30 of a day-night cycle) — considered auspicious or inauspicious for a particular activity. Vedic culture uses Muhurta selection (called Muhurta Shastra) for weddings, business openings, naming ceremonies, house entry (Griha Pravesh), starting new projects, and even short tasks. Common Muhurtas tracked in Panchang: Abhijit Muhurta (~48 minutes around solar noon, considered universally auspicious and victorious — except on Wednesday in some traditions), Brahma Muhurta (~90 minutes before sunrise, ideal for spiritual practice, study, and pranayama), Rahu Kalam (~90 minutes per day inauspicious for new beginnings, shifts by weekday), Yamaganda and Gulika Kalam (similar inauspicious windows tied to planetary lordships of the day), and the Choghadiya system (8 daytime + 8 nighttime windows classified as Amrit/Shubh/Labh = good, Char = neutral, Rog/Kaal/Udveg = avoid).

Tithi is the lunar day — the time it takes for the angular distance between the Moon and the Sun to grow by 12°. Since the Moon moves faster than the Sun and at variable speed, a Tithi can range from ~19 to ~26 hours, which is why it rarely matches the civil 24-hour day. There are 30 Tithis per lunar month, split into two Pakshas (fortnights): Shukla Paksha (Pratipada → Purnima, waxing) and Krishna Paksha (Pratipada → Amavasya, waning). Tithi is the primary marker for Vedic festivals and Vrats — Ekadashi (11th Tithi) for fasting, Purnima (15th) for full-moon rituals, Amavasya (new moon) for ancestor offerings (Shraddha), Sankashti Chaturthi (4th of Krishna Paksha) for Ganesha worship, and so on.

Several Panchang elements are tied to local sunrise and sunset, which depend on your latitude, longitude, and date. Tithi and Nakshatra at sunrise determine that day's "ruling" element for ritual purposes — even if the Tithi changes mid-day, the sunrise Tithi is what most Hindu rituals reference. Rahu Kalam, Yamaganda, Gulika Kalam, and the Choghadiya windows are calculated as fractions of the day-length (sunrise to sunset), so they shift seasonally and by location. Abhijit Muhurta is anchored to local solar noon. Nakshatrica auto-detects your location so the Panchang you see is accurate for where you are, not a generic India-default.

In Vedic tradition (specifically the Namakarana Samskara, one of the 16 sacraments described in the Grihya Sutras), each of the 108 Nakshatra Padas is assigned a specific akshara (Devanagari syllable) that begins the auspicious name. For example, Ashwini Pada 1 = "Chu" (चु), Pada 2 = "Che" (चे), Pada 3 = "Cho" (चो), Pada 4 = "La" (ला). When you enter a birth date, time, and place, Nakshatrica calculates the Moon's exact Nakshatra and Pada at the moment of birth using Swiss Ephemeris, looks up the assigned akshara, and surfaces curated names beginning with that syllable. Each name in the database includes its Sanskrit/Punjabi root, etymology, deity association, traditional citation, syllable bucket, and meaning — with separate male, female, and (in Punjabi/Sikh tradition) unisex compound names.

The Rashi Naam (also called Janma Naam or Nakshatra Naam) is the spiritually-significant birth name selected according to the Moon's Nakshatra and Pada at the moment of birth. It is used in religious contexts: priestly Sankalpa during pujas, naming-day ceremonies (Namakarana on the 11th or 12th day), Vedic horoscope matching (Kundli Milan), and traditional rituals. The Vyavaharika Naam is the everyday name the family uses socially, which can be anything they choose. Many families pick a Vyavaharika Naam that also begins with the Rashi Naam's syllable so a single name serves both purposes; others keep them separate (the Rashi Naam may be known only to the family priest). Either practice is traditionally acceptable.

The Vedic view is that sound is causal — repeated pronunciation of a name imprints subtle vibrations (Naad) that resonate with the karmic blueprint of the person. The Moon governs the mind in Jyotish, so a name aligned with the Moon's Pada at birth is believed to harmonize the mind with the soul's natural rhythm. Practically, each of the 108 Padas maps to one of about 50 distinct aksharas (some aksharas serve multiple Padas), and the akshara is determined by the Devanagari script position, not English phonetic spelling. So whether you transliterate Lakshmi or Laxmi, both begin with the same akshara ल — what matters is the underlying Sanskrit/Hindi sound. Different traditions (North Indian, South Indian, Tamil, Punjabi/Sikh) sometimes use slightly different syllable lists; our database follows the most widely accepted North Indian standard.

Yes — every name in our database goes through a curation process that captures: (1) the Sanskrit or Punjabi root from classical lexicons (Apte's Sanskrit-English Dictionary, Monier-Williams), (2) the etymology tracing how the root combines into the name, (3) any deity or scriptural association (Vedas, Puranas, epics), (4) a citation when the name appears in a primary source, (5) the akshara/syllable bucket for Pada matching, and (6) a clear meaning in English. We avoid generic filler like "supreme noble" with no substance behind it. The database is grown continuously, including a robust set of Sikh-Punjabi compound names (Gur-, Jas-, Khush-, Har-, Sat- prefixes) added to both male and female files since these are genuinely unisex in Punjabi tradition.

Yes — your birth data is treated as personal information. Date, time, and place of birth submitted for chart generation are used solely to compute the requested chart, Panchang, or transit reading, and are not sold or shared with third parties. We may use anonymized, aggregated usage data (which features are popular, where users come from at a country level) for product improvement, but never with personally-identifying details attached. Some calculations are cached server-side (keyed on coordinates, date/time, and zodiac mode) so identical requests run faster — these caches expire automatically and contain only chart inputs, no identifying information. For the complete details, please review our Privacy Policy.

When you generate a chart without an account, the calculation happens on-demand and the inputs/results are not stored against you as a person — they may be temporarily cached in an anonymous calculation cache, but there is no user record associating you with a chart history. If, in the future, we add an opt-in feature to save charts under a personal account (so you can build a kundli library, compare charts, or annotate them), you will explicitly control which charts are kept and be able to delete any or all of them at any time. We don't store anything proactively without your action.

We use a minimal set: essential cookies for session security (CSRF tokens, Livewire state), and anonymized analytics (typically Google Tag Manager) to understand which features are used. We do not use third-party advertising trackers, behavioral profiling, or cross-site tracking pixels. Your browser's Do Not Track preference is respected where applicable.

Reach us via the Contact page for any question — feature requests, bug reports, content corrections (especially for name etymologies or deity attributions, where we welcome scholarly input), data privacy requests, or partnership inquiries. We aim to reply within 1–2 business days. For urgent calculation issues, including a screenshot or the exact birth details (date, time, place) makes diagnosis much faster.