Nakshatra list: all 27 nakshatras

All 27 nakshatras in order

What a nakshatra is

The moon goes once around the sky in a little over 27 days. Indian astrology divides its path into 27 equal parts, one for roughly each day, and names each part after the stars in it. So the moon spends about a day in each nakshatra, and two people born on the same date can have different birth stars.

Each nakshatra covers 13 degrees and 20 minutes of the sky, and each of its padas a quarter of that. Nine padas make one rashi, so a rashi holds two and a quarter nakshatras. That is why Krittika, Mrigashira, Punarvasu and six others are split between two rashis in the table.

What each column means

Rashi

The moon sign that goes with the nakshatra. Where a nakshatra is split between two rashis, your pada decides: someone born in Krittika pada 1 is Mesh, and in padas 2 to 4 is Vrishabh.

Lord

The planet that rules the nakshatra. The lords run in a fixed cycle of nine, from Ketu to Mercury, three times over. Your birth nakshatra's lord decides which planet's dasha, or period, you are born into.

Gana

One of three temperaments: deva (divine), manushya (human) or rakshasa (fierce). Nine nakshatras fall in each, and gana is one of the eight points compared in guna milan, worth 6 of the 36 points.

Name letters

The syllable each pada gives for a first name. Many families still choose a child's name, or at least a pet name, that starts with the letter of the birth pada.

How to find your nakshatra

1. 1Look at your kundli or janam patri. The nakshatra is usually near the top, often with the pada or charan, as in "Rohini, charan 2".
2. 2No kundli? You need your date, exact time and place of birth. A family astrologer or a panchang can tell you the nakshatra for that moment.
3. 3If no one knows the time, your nakshatra could be one of two, because the moon moves into the next one about once a day. Ask at home whether anyone noted the time in a diary or on a hospital paper.
4. 4Once you know your nakshatra and pada, the table above gives your rashi, gana and name letter.

Why families ask for it

Guna milan, the usual way of matching two kundlis, compares eight things and scores them out of 36. Four of the eight come from the two people's nakshatras: tara (3 points), yoni (4), gana (6) and nadi (8). That is 21 of the 36 points, which is why families who match kundlis look for the nakshatra on a biodata before almost anything else.

Nadi itself (adi, madhya or antya) also comes from the nakshatra, and some Gujarati, Marathi and North Indian families write it, along with the gana, next to the nakshatra. Your kundli shows both. If your family doesn't match kundlis, none of these are needed.

How to write it on your biodata

Copy a line that fits and change the names. The pada or charan is optional.

• Nakshatra: Rohini (charan 2)Copy
• Nakshatra: Hasta · Rashi: KanyaCopy
• Nakshatra: Uttara Phalguni, pada 3 · Rashi: Kanya · Gana: ManushyaCopy
• नक्षत्र: रोहिणी (चरण २)Copy
• नक्षत्र: हस्त · राशि: कन्या · गण: देवCopy
• नक्षत्र: पुष्य · रास: कर्कCopy

Nakshatra names in Tamil

South Indian biodatas often give the star in Tamil, as natchathiram. English spellings of the Tamil names vary from family to family.

Spellings you'll see

The same nakshatra is spelt many ways in English. All of these are correct; use the one your family uses.

Ashwini

Aswini, Asvini

Mrigashira

Mrigashirsha, Mrigasira, Mrugashira

Ardra

Arudra, Aardra

Pushya

Pushyami, Pusya

Ashlesha

Aslesha, Ashlesa

Jyeshtha

Jyeshta, Jyestha

Mula

Moola, Mool

Shravana

Sravana, Shravan

Dhanishta

Dhanishtha, Shravishtha

Shatabhisha

Shatabhishak, Satabhisha, Shatataraka

Adding it in our biodata maker

Nakshatra is one of the personal details on our form, next to rashi, and its heading turns into नक्षत्र when you switch the biodata to Hindi or Marathi. Type the name the way your family says it, and add the pada if you like. To add gana or nadi, use "Add a field" under the personal details and name the new line yourself.

If you start from the Muslim or Christian biodata pages, the horoscope fields are left out, and you can add any of them back by hand.