What a janam kundali actually shows
A kundli is a map of the sky over one place at one moment. Vedic astrology draws that map against the sidereal zodiac, which is measured from the fixed stars rather than from the spring equinox, and it reads the sky through twelve houses counted from the sign that was rising in the east — the lagna. Everything on this page follows from three inputs: the date, the clock time, and the spot on Earth where the birth happened.
Two people born in the same city minutes apart share almost every planet, because the Sun moves about a degree a day and Saturn barely moves at all in a week. What separates their charts is the lagna, which travels through all twelve signs every 24 hours. That is why the birth time matters so much, and why an approximate time gives an approximate chart.
What this kundli maker works out
- Lagna (ascendant) — the sign and degree rising over the eastern horizon at birth, with its nakshatra and pada.
- The nine grahas — Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn, Rahu and Ketu, each with its sidereal sign, degree, nakshatra, pada and house, and a mark when it is retrograde.
- Twelve houses — whole-sign bhavas: the lagna's sign is the whole first house, the next sign the second, and so on.
- Navamsa (D9) — the ninth divisional chart, drawn beside the main one.
- Vimshottari dasha — the running mahadasha and antardasha, and the full sequence with dates.
- Panchang — tithi and paksha, vara, the Moon's nakshatra, the yoga and the karana of the birth moment, with sunrise and sunset at that place.
Reading the two chart styles
The same chart is drawn twice, because India draws it two ways and both are correct.
North Indian (diamond)
The houses stay put. The diamond at the top is always the first house, and you read anticlockwise. The number written in each box is the sign sitting in that house, so the sign numbers move from chart to chart while the house positions never do.
South Indian (square)
The signs stay put. Pisces is always the top-left box and the signs run clockwise from there, so Aries is next to Pisces along the top row. The lagna is marked with a diagonal line, and you count houses clockwise from that box.
The terms on this page
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| Lagna | The rising sign, and the first house of the chart. |
| Rashi | A zodiac sign of 30°. The Moon's rashi is what people usually mean by "my rashi". |
| Nakshatra | One of 27 lunar mansions of 13°20', each split into four padas of 3°20'. |
| Bhava | A house. This tool uses whole-sign houses, the oldest and most common method in Indian astrology. |
| Navamsa | The D9 chart, built by dividing each sign into nine parts. |
| Dasha | A planetary period. Vimshottari is the 120-year system almost every Indian astrologer uses. |
| Tithi | A lunar day: the Moon gaining 12° on the Sun. Thirty tithis make a lunar month. |
| Ayanamsa | The gap between the tropical and sidereal zodiacs, about 24° today and growing. |
How the numbers are produced
Planetary positions come from a modern ephemeris model that is accurate to a fraction of an arc minute for the period this tool covers, converted to apparent geocentric longitudes and then to sidereal longitudes by subtracting the Lahiri (Chitrapaksha) ayanamsa. Rahu and Ketu are the mean lunar nodes, which is the usual choice in Indian practice. The lagna is worked out from the local sidereal time and the latitude of the birth place, and sunrise and sunset come from the same ephemeris.
Time zones use the rules that were actually in force on the date you enter, including summer time and historical changes — India ran on UTC+6:30 during the Second World War, for instance, and the tool applies that automatically for a birth in those years.
Frequently asked questions
What is a janam kundali?
A janam kundali, or kundli, is a map of the sky at the moment and place of a birth, drawn in the way Vedic astrology sets it out. It records the rising sign (lagna), the sign and nakshatra of each of the nine grahas, and the twelve houses counted from the lagna.
Do I need the exact birth time?
For the lagna and the houses, yes. The rising sign changes about every two hours, so a birth time that is an hour out can move every house. The Moon's sign and nakshatra are far more forgiving, and the tithi and the planets other than the Moon barely move in a day.
Which ayanamsa does this kundli maker use?
Lahiri, also called Chitrapaksha, which is the ayanamsa used by the Indian government's calendar and by most Indian astrologers. It is about 23°51' at the year 2000 and grows by roughly 50 arc seconds a year.
North Indian or South Indian chart — which should I read?
They hold the same information. In the North Indian chart the houses stay in fixed positions and the sign numbers move; the lagna is always the diamond at the top. In the South Indian chart the signs stay in fixed boxes and the lagna is marked. Read whichever one you grew up with; the tool draws both.
What is Vimshottari dasha?
It is a 120-year cycle of planetary periods. The part of its nakshatra that the Moon had already crossed at birth decides which lord's period was running and how much of it was left, and the rest follow in a fixed order. The tool lists each mahadasha with its antardashas and marks the one running today.
What is the navamsa (D9) chart?
The navamsa divides every sign into nine parts of 3°20' and maps each part to a sign of its own. Traditionally it is read alongside the main chart, especially for marriage and for the strength of a planet.
Is my birth data sent anywhere?
No. The whole chart is worked out by your own browser, and the place list is a file that ships with the page. Nothing you type is uploaded, and nothing is saved unless you copy the link or download the PDF yourself.
Can I make a kundli for a birth outside India?
Yes. The place list covers towns worldwide, and the tool applies the time zone that was in force on that date, including summer time, so a birth in London or New Jersey is handled the same way as one in Jaipur.
Why does my kundli look different on another website?
Usually the ayanamsa or the house system. This tool uses the Lahiri ayanamsa, the mean lunar node for Rahu and Ketu, and whole-sign houses, where the lagna's sign is the whole first house. A site using a different ayanamsa or a cusp-based house system will shift some placements.
Is astrology science?
No. The astronomy here is real — the planetary positions are computed from modern ephemeris models — but the meanings that astrology attaches to them are a tradition, not a scientific finding. Use the kundli for cultural and personal interest, not for medical, legal or financial decisions.
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Place names, coordinates and time zones come from the GeoNames gazetteer, used under CC BY 4.0. Planetary positions use Astronomy Engine (MIT licence).