Foundations of Vedic Astrology

The 12 Rashis

The zodiac signs — and why Jyotish uses the sidereal zodiac.

Twelve signs of 30°

The zodiac is divided into 12 rashis (signs) of 30° each, running from Mesha (Aries) to Meena (Pisces). Together they complete the 360° circle.

Where the nakshatras are the Moon's fine grid, the rashis are the broad neighbourhoods the grahas move through.

Every sign has a lord

Each rashi has a ruling graha, plus an element (fire, earth, air, water) and a modality. For example, Mesha (Aries) is ruled by Mangala (Mars), and Simha (Leo) is ruled by Surya (Sun).

The sign's lord is how a graha's influence reaches across the chart.

Sidereal, not tropical

Here Jyotish parts ways with Western astrology. Jyotish uses the sidereal zodiac — fixed to the actual stars. Western astrology uses the tropical zodiac, tied to the seasons.

Because Earth slowly wobbles (precession), the two zodiacs have drifted about 24° apart.

Ayanamsa — the offset

The gap between the sidereal and tropical zodiacs is the ayanamsa. Choosing an ayanamsa is how we convert between them.

This app uses the Pushya-paksha ayanamsa — the one PVR sir advocates — so every chart here is sidereal, anchored to the stars.

Signs and nakshatras

The grids line up neatly: each 30° rashi holds 2¼ nakshatras, and four nakshatras span exactly three signs. Two ways of slicing one circle.

Terms introduced here

The 12 rashis

The twelve 30-degree signs of the zodiac, Mesha to Meena.

Sidereal zodiac & ayanamsa

Jyotish fixes the zodiac to the stars; the ayanamsa is the offset from the tropical zodiac.