Sade Sati (“seven and a half”) is the period during which Saturn passes over and around the sign of your natal Moon. It is probably the most talked-about transit in jyotisha — and the arithmetic behind it is simple.
Where the seven and a half years come from
Saturn takes about 29½ years to go round the zodiac, so it spends roughly two and a half years in each sign. Sade Sati covers three consecutive signs — the one before your Moon sign, your Moon sign itself, and the one after — and three times two and a half is seven and a half.
| Phase | Saturn in… | Approx. length |
|---|---|---|
| First (rising) | the 12th sign from the Moon | 2½ years |
| Second (peak) | the Moon’s own sign | 2½ years |
| Third (setting) | the 2nd sign from the Moon | 2½ years |
Saturn’s retrograde motion can carry it back into the previous sign for a few months, so the real phases are rarely exactly two and a half years.
Dhaiya (Kantaka Shani)
A shorter, related transit is Dhaiya (“two and a half”), when Saturn passes through the 4th or 8th sign from the natal Moon. It lasts one sign — about two and a half years — and the site’s kundli tool reports it alongside Sade Sati.
Who is in Sade Sati now
Saturn entered sidereal Pisces in March 2025 and stays there until mid-2027. Until then:
- Aries Moon — first phase (Saturn in the 12th)
- Pisces Moon — second phase (Saturn over the Moon)
- Aquarius Moon — third phase (Saturn in the 2nd)
- Sagittarius and Leo Moon — Dhaiya (Saturn in the 4th and 8th respectively)
The kundli tool computes Saturn’s position for today, so it stays correct after Saturn moves on.
Where the idea comes from
The classical transit texts read Saturn’s passage through the 12th, 1st and 2nd signs from the natal Moon as difficult — Phaladeepika’s chapter on transits treats each of them. The name Sade Sati and the habit of treating the three signs as one seven-and-a-half-year block are later popular usage built on those rules.
Because Saturn’s cycle is about 29½ years, almost everyone passes through Sade Sati two or three times in a lifetime. It is a common, recurring transit, not a rare misfortune.
This site reports whether Sade Sati or Dhaiya is running; it does not prescribe remedies. Practices such as Saturday worship of Shani or Hanuman are devotional custom rather than rules of the transit texts.