A kundli (janma kundli, birth chart) is a map of where the Sun, Moon, planets and lunar nodes stood in the sidereal zodiac at the moment and place of your birth, arranged around the lagna — the sign rising on the eastern horizon. Once you know how the diagram is laid out, it is straightforward to read.
The North Indian diamond
This site draws the North Indian chart: a square divided by its diagonals into twelve compartments. In this style the houses stay fixed and the signs move.
- The top-centre diamond is always the 1st house — the lagna.
- The houses run anticlockwise from there: the 2nd is the triangle to its upper left, the 4th is the left-centre diamond, the 7th the bottom-centre diamond, and the 10th the right-centre diamond.
- The number written in each house is the sign, not the house: 1 is Aries, 2 Taurus, and so on to 12, Pisces. A 7 in the top diamond means a Libra lagna.
The South Indian chart reverses this: the signs stay fixed in a square grid and the lagna is marked wherever it falls. Both show the same chart. This site draws the North Indian form only.
Whole-sign houses
This site uses whole-sign houses, the oldest convention: the entire sign the lagna falls in is the 1st house, the next sign is the 2nd, and so on. A planet’s house is simply the sign it occupies, counted from the lagna’s sign.
What the twelve houses stand for
| House | Name | Read for |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Tanu | The self, body and temperament |
| 2nd | Dhana | Wealth, family and speech |
| 3rd | Sahaja | Siblings, courage and effort |
| 4th | Sukha | Mother, home, property and contentment |
| 5th | Putra | Children, intelligence and past merit |
| 6th | Ari | Enemies, illness and debt |
| 7th | Yuvati | Spouse and partnerships |
| 8th | Randhra | Longevity and sudden events |
| 9th | Dharma | Father, teachers, fortune and faith |
| 10th | Karma | Work, status and action |
| 11th | Labha | Gains and income |
| 12th | Vyaya | Loss, expense and liberation |
Why the birth time matters
The whole zodiac rises over the horizon once a day, so the lagna changes sign roughly every two hours — sooner or later depending on the sign and your latitude. An error of an hour can move the lagna, which reshuffles every house in the chart. The Moon is much less sensitive (it changes sign every two and a quarter days), which is why the Moon sign, nakshatra and matching are more robust than the lagna to an uncertain birth time.
Beyond the main chart
- Dignity. Each graha is marked exalted, debilitated or in its own sign where that applies — the strongest single indication of how well placed it is.
- Divisional charts. The Navamsa (D9), built from 3°20′ ninths of each sign, is read alongside the main chart, especially for marriage. The site also draws the D2, D3, D4, D7, D10, D12 and D30.
- Timing. The Vimshottari dasha shows which graha’s period is running, and transits such as Sade Sati are checked against the natal Moon.