What Is a Nakshatra? The 27 Lunar Mansions Explained

Your birth star, its lord, padas and what it is used for

Updated 8 October 2026

A nakshatra is one of the 27 equal divisions of the zodiac, each spanning 13°20′, through which the Moon travels in the course of a month. In Vedic astrology (Jyotish) the nakshatra occupied by the Moon at your birth, your janma nakshatra or birth star, is one of the most important facts in your chart. It shapes your temperament, decides the starting point of your Vimshottari dasha timeline, and is the basis of traditional marriage matching and muhurat selection. This guide explains the idea from the beginning.

The meaning of “nakshatra”

The Sanskrit word nakshatra is commonly translated as “star”, “constellation” or “lunar mansion”. The last of these is the most accurate: each nakshatra is a stretch of the ecliptic, the Sun’s apparent path through the sky, which the Moon visits for about a day. Ancient observers noticed that the Moon returns to the same background stars every 27.3 days (its sidereal period), and so they divided its path into 27 “resting places” or “houses of the Moon”. Each division is marked by a star or cluster of stars, and has a presiding deity, a symbol, a planetary ruler and a distinctive character.

Where nakshatras come from

Nakshatras are among the oldest concepts in Indian astronomy. They are named in the Vedic literature, including the Atharvaveda and the Taittiriya Samhita, and they are central to the early astronomical text called Vedanga Jyotisha, which was used to fix ritual dates. Notably, the lunar mansions pre-date the twelve-sign zodiac in India, which came later. That is why many Indian traditions, from birth rites to naming customs and festival timing, are still organised around nakshatras rather than around rashis alone. Other cultures have comparable systems: the Chinese xiu and the Arabic manazil al-qamar, for example, also divide the Moon’s path into roughly 27 or 28 stations.

How the 27 are measured

The zodiac has 360 degrees, and 360 ÷ 27 = 13°20′ per nakshatra. The count starts at 0° of sidereal Aries (Mesha), where Ashwini begins, and ends at the last degree of Pisces, where Revati ends. Since each sign is 30°, a rashi is not an exact multiple of a nakshatra: each sign contains two and a quarter nakshatras, so some nakshatras (for example Krittika, Mrigashira, Punarvasu) straddle two signs. The positions are sidereal, based on the fixed stars, so they differ by about 24 degrees from the tropical zodiac used in Western astrology. This is why your Vedic Moon sign and nakshatra may not match what you expected. You can look at all 12 rashis to see which nakshatras fall in which sign.

Padas: the four quarters of every nakshatra

Each nakshatra is divided into four padas (quarters) of 3°20′. With 27 × 4 you get 108 padas, the sacred number in Indian tradition, and each pada corresponds exactly to one Navamsa (D9) sign: 108 padas = 12 signs × 9 navamsas. The pada refines the nakshatra’s meaning and ties it to a particular navamsa sign; it is also the origin of the traditional naming syllable. For example, the four padas of Ashwini carry the syllables Chu, Che, Cho and La, which are used to choose the first letter of a child’s name in many families.

The nakshatra lords and the 120-year cycle

Each nakshatra is ruled by one of the nine planets, in a repeating sequence of Ketu, Venus, Sun, Moon, Mars, Rahu, Jupiter, Saturn and Mercury. The sequence runs three times through the 27 nakshatras. The ruler of your birth nakshatra is the first planet in your Vimshottari dasha, and the Moon’s progress through that nakshatra tells how much of this first dasha is left at birth. This is the main technical reason nakshatras matter so much in predictive Vedic astrology.

What else a nakshatra tells you

• Deity and symbol. Each nakshatra has a presiding deity (for example the Ashwini Kumaras for Ashwini, Yama for Bharani, Agni for Krittika) and a symbol (a horse’s head, a yoni, a razor) that point to its qualities.
• Gana (temperament). Deva (gentle and sattvic), Manushya (human and balanced) or Rakshasa (intense and tamasic).
• Yoni (animal). A symbolic animal for each nakshatra, such as horse, elephant, serpent or lion, used to judge instinctive and intimate compatibility.
• Nadi. One of three (Adi, Madhya, Antya), related to constitution and used in the Nadi koota of matching.
• Purushartha. The aim of life the nakshatra leans towards: dharma, artha, kama or moksha.
• Nature and category. Fixed, movable, sharp, soft, swift, fierce or mixed, which determines which activities suit it in muhurat.

These are used together in practice. In Kundli matching, three of the eight kootas (Gana, Yoni, Nadi) and Tara are read straight from the two partners’ nakshatras.

Birth nakshatra versus other nakshatra uses

Three uses are worth separating:

• Janma nakshatra is the Moon’s nakshatra at birth, which is what people mean by “my nakshatra”.
• Planets’ nakshatras are also noted for each planet in the chart; the Sun, the ascendant and every planet fall in some nakshatra, and astrologers read their lord and pada for finer detail.
• The nakshatra of the day is the Moon’s transit nakshatra listed in the Panchang, used to judge the quality of a time.

The 27 versus 28 nakshatras and Abhijit

Some ancient texts list 28 nakshatras by adding Abhijit, a small star group (Vega, in Lyra) placed between the end of Uttara Ashadha and the start of Shravana, roughly 6°40′ to 10°53′ of Capricorn. In the 28-nakshatra scheme this segment is counted separately, whereas in the 27-nakshatra scheme used for charts, dashas and matching, it is absorbed into its neighbours and not counted. Abhijit still appears in muhurat: the Abhijit muhurat around midday takes its name from it.

How to find your nakshatra

1. Obtain your sidereal Moon longitude at the time and place of birth, which needs an ephemeris and a correct birth time.
2. Divide the longitude (in degrees from 0° Aries) by 13.3333. The whole number plus one gives the nakshatra’s number (1 to 27).
3. The remainder shows the pada: divide the part left over by 3.3333 to find which of the four quarters it falls into.

For instance, a Moon at 128° gives 128 ÷ 13.3333 = 9.6, so it is in the 10th nakshatra, Magha, and 0.6 through it, in the third pada (the third quarter is from 50 percent to 75 percent). You do not have to do this by hand: enter your birth details in the Navagraha app and it shows your janma nakshatra, pada, lord and a plain-language profile. Birth time accuracy matters, because the Moon moves about 13 degrees a day, so a small time error can sometimes move you across a nakshatra boundary.

Nakshatra versus rashi

A rashi is a 30-degree zodiac sign (twelve in all); a nakshatra is a 13°20′ lunar mansion (twenty-seven in all). Rashis describe broad temperament, nakshatras add finer detail, and the dasha system, an essential timing tool, is based on the nakshatra. In practice, an astrologer uses both: the Moon’s sign for the overall emotional style and the Moon’s nakshatra for its subtler flavour and the timeline.

The 27 nakshatras in order

Each page explains the nakshatra’s deity, symbol, ruling planet, gana, padas and character. The ruling planet is shown in brackets.

1. Ashwini (Ketu)
2. Bharani (Venus)
3. Krittika (Sun)
4. Rohini (Moon)
5. Mrigashira (Mars)
6. Ardra (Rahu)
7. Punarvasu (Jupiter)
8. Pushya (Saturn)
9. Ashlesha (Mercury)
10. Magha (Ketu)
11. Purva Phalguni (Venus)
12. Uttara Phalguni (Sun)
13. Hasta (Moon)
14. Chitra (Mars)
15. Swati (Rahu)
16. Vishakha (Jupiter)
17. Anuradha (Saturn)
18. Jyeshtha (Mercury)
19. Moola (Ketu)
20. Purva Ashadha (Venus)
21. Uttara Ashadha (Sun)
22. Shravana (Moon)
23. Dhanishta (Mars)
24. Shatabhisha (Rahu)
25. Purva Bhadrapada (Jupiter)
26. Uttara Bhadrapada (Saturn)
27. Revati (Mercury)

Explore the full table of lords, deities and symbols on the nakshatra hub, learn how the signs relate to them in the rashi guide, or continue with the Vedic astrology learning hub.

Nakshatras in daily and cultural life

Nakshatras are woven into Indian life well beyond astrology. Families choose the first letter of a baby’s name from the pada’s syllable. Temples hold festivals on particular nakshatra days, such as Thiruvathira (Ardra) and Onam (Shravana). In many regions a person’s birthday is celebrated according to the nakshatra rather than the date, and each month the day on which the Moon returns to your birth nakshatra is considered personally significant. In the Panchang the nakshatra of the day also helps decide what is best undertaken.

The four aims of life and the nakshatras

The nakshatras are also grouped under the four purusharthas, the classical goals of life: dharma (duty and purpose), artha (wealth and security), kama (desire and enjoyment) and moksha (liberation). The sequence cycles in a regular pattern through the 27 and gives a sense of what each star ultimately seeks. For example, Ashwini is a dharma nakshatra, Bharani is artha, Krittika is kama and Rohini is moksha. Looking at the aim of your own nakshatra, together with its deity and symbol, offers a more thoughtful reading than a one-line description.

How nakshatras relate to the Moon’s phases

Because the Moon moves about 13 degrees a day, the nakshatra changes roughly daily, while the tithi follows the Moon’s phase. Over a lunar month, the Moon passes all 27 nakshatras once, and the Sun, travelling more slowly, spends about 13 to 14 days in each. The full Moon always occurs when the Moon is roughly opposite the Sun, which is why festivals with particular full-Moon nakshatras fall in particular months. For instance, Chaitra Purnima is typically in Chitra or nearby, which is the source of the month’s name.

Frequently asked questions

Navagraha provides Vedic astrology for informational and reflective purposes only; it is not a substitute for professional advice.