Learn Jathagam ஜாதகம்

New to Vedic astrology? This page walks through how to generate your chart, and explains what every term in the results means — in plain language, no prior astrology knowledge needed.

How to use this app

Enter the date and time of birth. Use the day/month/year and hour/minute dropdowns. Times are in 24-hour format and should be the local clock time at birth — the app works out the timezone from the place you pick, you don't need to adjust it yourself.
Choose the place of birth, one of three ways:
- Quick-pick city — pick from the "Place of birth" dropdown if the city is listed.
- Search worldwide — type a city name into "Search worldwide" and pick a match; works for places not in the quick-pick list.
- Use my location — click the button to let your browser detect where you are right now (useful only if you're generating a chart for someone born where you're currently located).
Click "Generate Jathagam." The page reloads with your full chart below the form.

What each result panel shows

Lagna & Birth Details: Your ascendant (Lagna) and the astrological "snapshot" of the exact moment of birth — birth nakshatra, moon sign, and the day's Panchangam values (Thithi, Yogam, Karanam, Vaaram).
Rasi & Navamsa Charts: Two square grid charts showing where each planet sat in the zodiac at birth: the Rasi (D1) chart is the main birth chart, and the Navamsa (D9) chart is a finer-grained chart traditionally used to double-check a planet's strength.
Planetary Positions: A table listing where each of the nine grahas (planets) was positioned — sign, exact degree, nakshatra, pada, and whether it was retrograde — at the moment of birth.
Marriage Matching Attributes: Four values (Gana, Nadi, Yoni, Rajju) derived from the birth nakshatra, used to compare two people's charts for traditional Ashtakoot marriage compatibility.
Vimshottari Dasha: A timeline of planetary "ruling periods" across a person's life, used in predictive astrology. Click through Mahadasha → Antardasha → Pratyantardasha to drill into smaller and smaller sub-periods.

Glossary: Core chart concepts

Lagna லக்னம் (Ascendant): The zodiac sign that was rising on the eastern horizon at the exact moment of birth. It's treated as the chart's "first house" and anchor point — most other positions are read relative to it.
Rasi ராசி (D1 chart / Moon sign): The main birth chart, showing which zodiac sign each planet was in at birth. "Rasi" also refers to a zodiac sign itself (there are 12), and "Moon's Rasi" specifically means the sign the Moon was in — often called your Vedic "moon sign."
Navamsa நவாம்சம் (D9 chart): A second chart derived by dividing each zodiac sign into 9 parts. Traditionally used alongside the Rasi chart to judge a planet's underlying strength, and is especially important for marriage and relationship analysis.
Graha கிரகம் (Planet): Vedic astrology tracks nine grahas: the Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn, and two mathematical points — Rahu and Ketu (see below) — treated as planets for chart purposes.
Rahu ராகு & Ketu கேது: Not physical planets, but the two points where the Moon's orbit crosses the Sun's apparent path (the lunar nodes). Rahu and Ketu are always exactly opposite each other in the chart.
Nakshatra நட்சத்திரம் & Pada பாதம்: The zodiac is divided into 27 nakshatras ("lunar mansions"), each further split into 4 padas (quarters). A planet's nakshatra and pada pinpoint its position much more precisely than the zodiac sign alone.
Retrograde: When a planet appears to move backward through the zodiac from Earth's point of view (an optical effect of relative orbital speeds, not actual backward motion). Marked "R" in the Planetary Positions table.

Glossary: Panchangam terms

The Panchangam is a five-part description of a moment in time, traditionally used for choosing auspicious timings. This app computes each part for the exact moment of birth.

Thithi திதி: A lunar day — one of 30 phases based on the angle between the Sun and Moon. Grouped into two 15-day halves (Paksha): the waxing "Shukla Paksha" and waning "Krishna Paksha."
Yogam யோகம்: One of 27 combinations based on the combined position of the Sun and Moon, used alongside Thithi and Nakshatra to characterize a moment in time.
Karanam கரணம்: Half of a Thithi — there are 11 Karanams that repeat through the lunar month.
Vaaram வாரம்: The weekday of birth, each associated with a ruling planet (e.g. Sunday with the Sun, Monday with the Moon).

Glossary: Vimshottari Dasha விம்சோத்தரி தசை

A system for dividing a lifetime into planetary "ruling periods," used in predictive astrology to time when a planet's influence is expected to be strongest. It has three nested levels, drilled into in the app via click-to-expand rows:

Mahadasha: The main period, ruled by one planet at a time, lasting anywhere from 6 to 20 years depending on the planet. Every person cycles through all nine planets' Mahadashas across a full 120-year Vimshottari cycle.
Antardasha: A sub-period within a Mahadasha, ruled by a second planet. Its own length is a fraction of the Mahadasha, proportional to that second planet's Vimshottari share.
Pratyantardasha: A further sub-period within an Antardasha, ruled by a third planet — the finest level of detail this app shows.

Glossary: Marriage matching attributes

Traditional Tamil/Vedic marriage matching (Ashtakoot, "eight-fold" compatibility) compares two people's birth nakshatras across several attributes. This app computes four of them from your Moon's nakshatra, ready to compare against a partner's chart.

Gana கணம்: A temperament classification — Deva (godlike), Manushya (human), or Rakshasa (demonic) — used to judge compatibility of nature and disposition between partners.
Nadi நாடி: One of three pulse/constitution types (Vata, Pitta, Kapha), traditionally linked to health and offspring compatibility. Matching Nadi between partners is considered especially important.
Yoni யோனி: An animal-symbol classification representing physical and intimate compatibility between partners.
Rajju ரஜ்ஜு: A classification linked to different parts of the body, traditionally used to assess the longevity and wellbeing of the couple.

Glossary: Ayanamsa & sidereal positions

Ayanamsa: The angular gap between the "sidereal" zodiac (fixed to the actual visible stars) and the "tropical" zodiac (fixed to the seasons, used in Western astrology). Because the Earth's axis slowly wobbles over centuries (precession), these two zodiacs have drifted about 24° apart today — which is why a Vedic sign can differ from a Western sun-sign for the same birth.
Lahiri ayanamsa: The specific, most widely used ayanamsa value in Indian astrology (also called Chitrapaksha), which this app uses for all its sidereal calculations.

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