Foundations·featured · updated 12 Jun 2026
What is a Kuṇḍalī?
The birth chart explained without mysticism — what the lagna is, why there are exactly twelve bhāvas, and how to read the North-Indian frame at a glance. Includes side-by-side South and East styles for travellers between traditions.
9 min read·cited throughout·last updated Jun 2026
Foundations
Sidereal vs tropical — why your degrees differ
Ayanāṁśa explained without polemics. What Lahiri means, why your "western sign" shifts by about 24°, which one Jyotiṣa uses and why.
7 min read
Grahas
The nine grahas as a court
Sun the king, Moon the queen, Saturn the servant who becomes the judge — the classical personification that makes dignity intuitive.
11 min read
Nakṣatras
The 27 mansions of the Moon
Each nakṣatra with its deity, symbol and śakti — and why the Moon's mansion matters more than the Sun sign in Jyotiṣa.
14 min read
Daśā
Vimśottarī — your 120-year clock
How the daśā tree is computed from the Moon's nakṣatra, what mahā / antar / pratyantar mean, and how to read a period change.
12 min read
Yogas & Doṣas
Why most "doṣas" cancel
Maṅgala doṣa has twelve classical cancellations. Kemadruma has five. The honest arithmetic most apps don't show you — with sources.
10 min read
Muhūrta
The eight gates of a wedding date
Pañcāṅga, tārābala, lagna śuddhi and five more — what actually gets checked when tradition approves a date.
13 min read
Vrata
Ekādaśī nirṇaya — Smārta & Vaiṣṇava
Why two traditions sometimes observe one day apart, what viddha means, where the pāraṇa window opens, and why Hari Vāsara is excluded.
9 min read · new
Matchmaking
36 guṇas, honestly scored
What Aṣṭakūṭa measures, what it doesn't, where Nāḍī vetoes apply — and why a 26 with compensation beats a hollow 30.
11 min read
Foundations
Reading your first pañcāṅga
Tithi, nakṣatra, yoga, karaṇa, vāra — the five limbs of the day, and how to use choghaḍiyā without superstition.
8 min read
Grahas
Dignity decoded — exaltation, debilitation & combustion
Mūla-trikoṇa, own sign, friend, enemy, neutral — and the orb of combustion that re-grades everything.
10 min read
Yogas
The Pañca-mahāpuruṣa quintet
Ruchaka, Bhadra, Haṁsa, Mālavya, Śaśa — the five royal yogas, what they actually require, and how often they truly fire.
9 min read
Vargas
The 16 divisional charts
Why D9 is for marriage and D10 for career — and what the other 14 divisional charts actually answer.
15 min read