A Kundli (also called a Janam Kundli or birth chart) is a map of the sky at the moment and place you were born. Here is what ours shows, how it is worked out, and what to look at first.
What your Kundli contains
On screen you get the main chart and the essentials. The downloadable PDF goes much further:
- Birth details and the Avakhada chakra: your Moon sign, nakshatra and its pada, varna, yoni, gana, nadi and related points.
- The Lagna (D1) chart with the degree, sign, nakshatra and house of every planet.
- All sixteen divisional charts, plus the Bhava Chalit chart.
- Vimshottari dasha down to pratyantar level, and Yogini dasha.
- Ashtakavarga points, a Sade Sati timeline, Manglik and Kaal Sarp checks, yogas, and written readings.
How we calculate it
Planet positions come from the Swiss Ephemeris, the astronomical library used by most serious astrology software. Your birth time is converted to universal time using the time zone of the birth place you choose.
We use the sidereal zodiac with the Lahiri (Chitrapaksha) ayanamsa, the standard adopted by the Government of India's calendar committee. Houses are whole-sign: the sign rising at birth is the 1st house, the next sign the 2nd, and so on.
Because the zodiac is sidereal, your Sun sign here is usually one sign behind the one in Western newspaper horoscopes. That is expected, not an error.
Divisional charts (vargas)
Each divisional chart splits every sign into smaller parts and redraws the chart from them, so one area of life can be studied in detail. The Navamsha (D9) is the best known: it is read for marriage and for the real strength of each planet.
We draw all sixteen charts of the Parashari Shodashvarga: D1, D2, D3, D4, D7, D9, D10, D12, D16, D20, D24, D27, D30, D40, D45 and D60. The higher the division, the more it depends on an exact birth time.
Bhava Chalit
The main chart puts a planet in a house by sign alone. The Bhava Chalit chart instead measures houses from the exact rising degree, using the Sripati method, so a planet near the edge of a sign can move into the next or previous house.
When a planet changes house in the Chalit chart, astrologers often read its results through the Chalit house. If your chart and Chalit agree, you can read the main chart with more confidence.
Vimshottari dasha: the timing of events
Vimshottari is a 120-year cycle of planetary periods. Where it starts depends on the nakshatra the Moon was in at birth and how far through it the Moon had moved.
Each main period (mahadasha) is divided into sub-periods (antardasha), and those again into pratyantar dashas. The planet running a period, and its place in your chart, colour that time. Yogini dasha, a shorter 36-year cycle, is included as a second view.
How accurate does the birth time need to be?
The rising sign changes about every two hours, and the rising degree moves roughly one degree every four minutes. So the same date with a different time can give a different Lagna, different houses and shifted dasha dates.
- Planet signs and the Moon's nakshatra: usually fine even if the time is a few hours off (the Moon can change nakshatra within a day).
- Lagna and houses: need the time within about 15–30 minutes, more if you were born near a sign change.
- Navamsha and higher divisional charts: need the time within a few minutes. Treat the D60 as reliable only with a recorded time.
- If you don't know the time at all, tick "I don't know the exact time". We then use 12:00 noon and tell you which parts to trust less.
First things to check
- Your Lagna (rising sign) and its lord: where it sits and how strong it is.
- Your Moon sign and nakshatra: the basis of daily horoscopes and of dasha timing.
- Which mahadasha and antardasha are running now, and when the next one begins.
- The Dosha tab: Manglik, Kaal Sarp and whether Sade Sati is running.
- Your D9 (Navamsha) if you are looking at marriage or partnerships.