What is a Moon sign (Rashi)?

In Vedic astrology your Rashi is the sign the Moon occupied at birth. It is considered more personal than the Sun sign -- it describes the mind, emotions and instinctive reactions, and daily and weekly horoscopes are read from it.

The Moon spends about two and a quarter days in each sign, so the date alone is not always enough -- the time of birth decides it on days when the Moon changes sign.

What this calculator shows

• ✦Your Moon sign (Chandra Rashi), its lord and the Moon's exact degree in it.
• ✦Your birth nakshatra and pada, with the nakshatra's lord, deity, symbol, Gana, Yoni and Nadi.
• ✦What your Moon sign says about your emotional nature, relationships, career and spiritual leanings.
• ✦The calculation details -- sidereal and tropical longitude, the Lahiri ayanamsha, and the birth time in UTC.

If you don't know your exact birth time

Tell the calculator how accurate your time is. For an approximate time we check an hour either side; with no time at all we calculate for noon and tell you whether the Moon changed sign that day.

When the Moon was within about ten minutes of a sign, nakshatra or pada boundary we say so plainly, because a small error in the birth time could change that part of the result.

How to use this calculator

• ✦Enter your name, contact details, date and exact time of birth.
• ✦Start typing your birth town and pick it from the suggestions -- the place sets the latitude, longitude and time zone.
• ✦Press the button. Your result appears straight away on this page.

Accuracy

Positions are computed with the JPL DE421 ephemeris and the Lahiri ayanamsa, accurate to roughly an arcminute. A planet sitting within an arcminute of a sign or nakshatra boundary can land on the other side of it, so treat borderline results as a starting point for an astrologer, not a final word.