मेरी श्रद्धा
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The 27 Nakshatras

The Moon's twenty-seven houses, their deities and their symbols

Nakshatras are the 27 'lunar mansions' of Indian astronomy: equal segments of 13°20′ along the Moon's path, each named after a star or star group. The Moon passes through roughly one nakshatra a day. Each has a presiding Vedic deity and a traditional symbol, and nakshatras are used in the panchang to time festivals, rites and naming ceremonies.

What a nakshatra is

Watch the Moon over a few nights and you will see it move steadily eastward against the stars, covering about thirteen degrees a day. Ancient Indian sky-watchers divided its path into stations, one for roughly each night of its journey, and named each after a prominent star or cluster on the way: Krittika is the Pleiades, Rohini is Aldebaran, Chitra is Spica, Svati is Arcturus.

In the developed system the circle of the sky is cut into 27 equal parts of 13°20′ each, so that 27 nakshatras exactly fill 360 degrees, and every nine nakshatras cover four zodiac signs. The nakshatra 'of the day' in a panchang is simply the segment the Moon is crossing, and a person's birth nakshatra (janma nakshatra) is the one the Moon occupied at birth.

Nakshatra is one of the five limbs of the panchang, alongside tithi, vaar, yoga and karana.

Origins in the Vedas

The nakshatras are among the oldest elements of Indian astronomy. The Atharvaveda (Shaunaka recension, hymn 19.7) lists the asterisms beginning with Krittika and including Abhijit, 28 in all. The Taittiriya Samhita and the Shatapatha Brahmana work with 27. In these early lists Krittika, the Pleiades, comes first, possibly because it once marked the beginning of the year. Later astronomy began the count at Ashvini, which is the order used today.

The deities attached to the nakshatras are largely Vedic: Agni, Soma, Rudra, Aditi, Brihaspati, Mitra, Varuna, Indra, the Ashvins, the Vasus and the Pitris. Many of them are rarely worshipped on their own today, so the nakshatra list preserves a picture of the older Vedic pantheon.

Puranic and epic tradition tells the story in human terms. The nakshatras are the daughters of Daksha, all married to Chandra, the Moon. Chandra favoured Rohini above the rest, and Daksha's curse on him is told as the origin of the Moon's waxing and waning, a story connected with the Somnath shrine on the Gujarat coast. The Moon's nightly visit to each 'wife' is a poetic picture of its passage through the 27 mansions.

All 27 nakshatras, with deity and symbol

The list below follows the modern order from Ashvini. Symbols vary between sources, so more than one is often given. The 'ruling graha' is the planetary lord assigned to each nakshatra in the Vimshottari tradition of Jyotisha, which cycles through nine grahas three times. The spans are in the sidereal zodiac used in Indian astronomy.

1. Ashvini
Deity: the Ashvins (Ashvini Kumaras), the divine physician twins. Symbol: a horse's head. Traditional ruling graha: Ketu. Span: 0°–13°20′ Mesha.
2. Bharani
Deity: Yama, lord of dharma and death. Symbol: the yoni, the womb. Traditional ruling graha: Shukra. Span: 13°20′–26°40′ Mesha.
3. Krittika
Deity: Agni, the fire god. Symbol: a knife or spear. Traditional ruling graha: Surya. Span: 26°40′ Mesha–10° Vrishabha.
4. Rohini
Deity: Brahma (Prajapati). Symbol: a cart, temple or banyan tree. Traditional ruling graha: Chandra. Span: 10°–23°20′ Vrishabha.
5. Mrigashira
Deity: Soma, the Moon. Symbol: a deer's head. Traditional ruling graha: Mangal. Span: 23°20′ Vrishabha–6°40′ Mithuna.
6. Ardra
Deity: Rudra. Symbol: a teardrop, diamond or human head. Traditional ruling graha: Rahu. Span: 6°40′–20° Mithuna.
7. Punarvasu
Deity: Aditi, mother of the gods. Symbol: a bow and quiver. Traditional ruling graha: Guru (Brihaspati). Span: 20° Mithuna–3°20′ Karka.
8. Pushya
Deity: Brihaspati, guru of the gods. Symbol: a cow's udder, lotus, or arrow and circle. Traditional ruling graha: Shani. Span: 3°20′–16°40′ Karka.
9. Ashlesha
Deity: the Nagas, serpent deities. Symbol: a coiled serpent. Traditional ruling graha: Budha. Span: 16°40′–30° Karka.
10. Magha
Deity: the Pitris, the ancestors. Symbol: a royal throne. Traditional ruling graha: Ketu. Span: 0°–13°20′ Simha.
11. Purva Phalguni
Deity: Bhaga, giver of good fortune. Symbol: the front legs of a bed, a hammock, a fig tree. Traditional ruling graha: Shukra. Span: 13°20′–26°40′ Simha.
12. Uttara Phalguni
Deity: Aryaman, god of friendship and contracts. Symbol: the back legs of a bed, a hammock. Traditional ruling graha: Surya. Span: 26°40′ Simha–10° Kanya.
13. Hasta
Deity: Savitr (Surya), the vivifying Sun. Symbol: a hand or fist. Traditional ruling graha: Chandra. Span: 10°–23°20′ Kanya.
14. Chitra
Deity: Tvashtr or Vishvakarma, the divine craftsman. Symbol: a bright jewel or pearl. Traditional ruling graha: Mangal. Span: 23°20′ Kanya–6°40′ Tula.
15. Svati
Deity: Vayu, the wind. Symbol: a young plant shoot, coral. Traditional ruling graha: Rahu. Span: 6°40′–20° Tula.
16. Vishakha
Deity: Indra and Agni together (Indragni). Symbol: a triumphal arch, a potter's wheel. Traditional ruling graha: Guru (Brihaspati). Span: 20° Tula–3°20′ Vrishchika.
17. Anuradha
Deity: Mitra, god of friendship. Symbol: a triumphal archway, a lotus. Traditional ruling graha: Shani. Span: 3°20′–16°40′ Vrishchika.
18. Jyeshtha
Deity: Indra, king of the gods. Symbol: a circular amulet, umbrella or earring. Traditional ruling graha: Budha. Span: 16°40′–30° Vrishchika.
19. Mula
Deity: Nirriti, goddess of dissolution. Symbol: a bundle of roots, an elephant goad. Traditional ruling graha: Ketu. Span: 0°–13°20′ Dhanu.
20. Purva Ashadha
Deity: Apah, the waters. Symbol: an elephant tusk, a fan, a winnowing basket. Traditional ruling graha: Shukra. Span: 13°20′–26°40′ Dhanu.
21. Uttara Ashadha
Deity: the Vishvedevas, the 'all-gods'. Symbol: an elephant tusk, a small bed. Traditional ruling graha: Surya. Span: 26°40′ Dhanu–10° Makara.
22. Shravana
Deity: Vishnu. Symbol: an ear, or three footprints. Traditional ruling graha: Chandra. Span: 10°–23°20′ Makara.
23. Dhanishta
Deity: the eight Vasus. Symbol: a drum or flute. Traditional ruling graha: Mangal. Span: 23°20′ Makara–6°40′ Kumbha.
24. Shatabhisha
Deity: Varuna, lord of the cosmic waters. Symbol: an empty circle; a thousand flowers or stars. Traditional ruling graha: Rahu. Span: 6°40′–20° Kumbha.
25. Purva Bhadrapada
Deity: Aja Ekapada, the one-footed goat. Symbol: swords, the front legs of a funeral cot, a two-faced man. Traditional ruling graha: Guru (Brihaspati). Span: 20° Kumbha–3°20′ Meena.
26. Uttara Bhadrapada
Deity: Ahirbudhnya, the serpent of the deep. Symbol: twins, the back legs of a funeral cot, a snake in water. Traditional ruling graha: Shani. Span: 3°20′–16°40′ Meena.
27. Revati
Deity: Pushan, protector of travellers and herds. Symbol: a fish or pair of fish, a drum. Traditional ruling graha: Budha. Span: 16°40′–30° Meena.

Padas and the naming tradition

Each nakshatra is divided into four quarters called padas (or charanas) of 3°20′. Twenty-seven nakshatras times four padas gives 108, a number that also appears in the 108 beads of a japa mala and the 108 names of many deities.

Tradition assigns a syllable to each pada, and in many families the first letter of a baby's name is chosen from the syllable of the pada in which the Moon stood at birth. The family priest works this out from the exact time, date and place of birth during the naming ceremony (namakarana). Many families follow this custom; many others choose names freely. Both are part of living tradition.

Nakshatras in festivals and rituals

Several festivals are fixed by nakshatra rather than by tithi. Onam in Kerala is celebrated on Thiruvonam (Shravana) in the month of Chingam; Thiruvathira honours Shiva on Ardra; and the lunar month names themselves (Chaitra, Vaishakha, Kartika and others) come from the nakshatra near which the Moon is full in that month.

Panchangs also use nakshatras when suggesting muhurats for weddings, griha pravesh and other samskaras, and in many communities the birth nakshatras of bride and groom are compared before a marriage. In Jyotisha tradition, the nakshatra of the Moon at birth is used to calculate a person's period-by-period planetary cycle (dasha). These are traditional practices of faith and custom; they describe how the tradition reads the sky, not guaranteed outcomes.

Abhijit, the 28th

Older lists include a 28th nakshatra, Abhijit, identified with the bright star Vega in the constellation Lyra. When the sky was divided into 27 equal parts, Abhijit was left without a share of its own, because 27 segments of 13°20′ gave cleaner boundaries. It survives in muhurta practice, where a short Abhijit period is still noted in some panchangs as favourable.

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Questions pilgrims ask

How many nakshatras are there?

There are 27 nakshatras, each spanning 13°20′ of the sky. Some older lists, such as Atharvaveda 19.7, count 28 by adding Abhijit.

What are the 27 nakshatra names in order?

Ashvini, Bharani, Krittika, Rohini, Mrigashira, Ardra, Punarvasu, Pushya, Ashlesha, Magha, Purva Phalguni, Uttara Phalguni, Hasta, Chitra, Svati, Vishakha, Anuradha, Jyeshtha, Mula, Purva Ashadha, Uttara Ashadha, Shravana, Dhanishta, Shatabhisha, Purva Bhadrapada, Uttara Bhadrapada and Revati.

How do I know my nakshatra?

Your janma nakshatra is the one the Moon occupied at the moment of your birth. It is calculated from the exact date, time and place of birth, usually by a priest or from a panchang.

Which deity rules my nakshatra?

Each nakshatra has a presiding deity, for example Agni for Krittika, Brahma for Rohini, Rudra for Ardra and Vishnu for Shravana. See the full list above.

What is a nakshatra pada?

Each nakshatra is split into four quarters (padas) of 3°20′, making 108 in all. Each pada carries a traditional syllable often used for the first letter of a child's name.

Why do Vedic lists start with Krittika and modern lists with Ashvini?

Early Vedic lists began with Krittika (the Pleiades), possibly because it once marked the start of the year. Later astronomy began the count at Ashvini.

Sources

Last researched: 2026-10-29

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