Nakshatra Calculator

Vedic astrology divides the zodiac into 27 nakshatras, or lunar mansions, of 13°20′ each. Your janma nakshatra is the one the Moon occupied at the moment you were born. It is read as the clearest picture of your mind and temperament.

It is also the starting point for much else. It sets your Vimshottari dasha, the timing system most astrologers use. It gives the first syllable traditionally used for a child's name. Several of the factors compared in kundli matching come from it. Browse all 27 nakshatras.

The Moon moves through about one nakshatra a day, and through one pada (a quarter of a nakshatra, 3°20′) in roughly six hours. So a birth date alone usually gives the nakshatra. The pada needs the time, and so does the nakshatra itself on any day the Moon crossed from one into the next.

Planetary positions come from the Swiss Ephemeris, the reference used by professional astrology software, converted to the sidereal zodiac with the Lahiri (Chitrapaksha) ayanamsa, the standard in India and Nepal.

Your birth time is converted using the timezone history of your birthplace, including old offsets such as Nepal's +05:30 before 1986 and wartime clock changes. Getting that wrong shifts every position, and generic calculators often do. The chart is calculated in your browser: your birth date and time are never sent to us, and the place search sends only the town name you type.