VedicScore
Start Free Check
FREE TOOL

Nakshatra Finder

Enter your birth details to find your Nakshatra and Pada. Takes 10 seconds.

What a Nakshatra is

A Nakshatra is one of the 27 lunar mansions that divide the zodiac in Vedic astrology. Each one spans 13 degrees and 20 minutes of the 360 degree circle. Your Janma Nakshatra, or birth star, is simply the Nakshatra the Moon was passing through when you were born. It is one of the most-used points in a Vedic chart: it sets your starting Vimshottari Dasha, it carries most of the weight in Guna Milan marriage matching, and it traditionally decides the first syllable of a newborn's name.

All 27 Nakshatras and their ruling planets

#NakshatraRuling planet
1AshwiniKetu
2BharaniVenus
3KrittikaSun
4RohiniMoon
5MrigashiraMars
6ArdraRahu
7PunarvasuJupiter
8PushyaSaturn
9AshleshaMercury
10MaghaKetu
11Purva PhalguniVenus
12Uttara PhalguniSun
13HastaMoon
14ChitraMars
15SwatiRahu
16VishakhaJupiter
17AnuradhaSaturn
18JyeshthaMercury
19MulaKetu
20Purva AshadhaVenus
21Uttara AshadhaSun
22ShravanaMoon
23DhanishtaMars
24ShatabhishaRahu
25Purva BhadrapadaJupiter
26Uttara BhadrapadaSaturn
27RevatiMercury

The ruling planet matters because it decides which Vimshottari Dasha period you were born into, and therefore the sequence of planetary periods that runs through your life. A full Janam Kundli report maps that timeline out year by year.

Related guides: how Mahadasha periods work and Rashi and Nakshatra matching for marriage.

Nakshatra questions

What is a Nakshatra?

+
A Nakshatra is one of the 27 lunar mansions that divide the 360 degrees of the zodiac in Vedic astrology. Each spans 13 degrees and 20 minutes. Your Janma Nakshatra, or birth star, is the Nakshatra the Moon occupied at the moment you were born.

What is a Pada?

+
Each Nakshatra is divided into four equal quarters called Padas, of 3 degrees 20 minutes each. Your Pada narrows down your birth star further and is used in marriage matching and in choosing the first syllable of a traditional name.

How is Nakshatra different from Rashi?

+
Rashi is your Moon sign, one of 12 divisions of the zodiac. Nakshatra is a finer division of the same zodiac into 27 parts. Both are calculated from the Moon's position at birth, so one Rashi always spans a little over two Nakshatras.

Do I need my birth time to find my Nakshatra?

+
Ideally yes. The Moon moves through roughly one Nakshatra per day, so a date alone is usually enough to get within one Nakshatra, but the exact Pada and any borderline case need the time of birth.

What is my Nakshatra used for?

+
Three things mainly: marriage matching, where Nakshatra drives most of the Ashta Koota score; Dasha calculation, since the Vimshottari Dasha at birth is set by the ruling planet of your birth Nakshatra; and traditional naming, where the Pada determines the suggested first syllable.