Your nakshatra, often called your birth star, is the lunar mansion your Moon occupied at the moment you were born. Enter your birth details above and this calculator finds your Moon’s exact nakshatra and pada, its ruling planet, deity, gana, yoni and nadi, and the traditional first sound for a name given from your birth pada.
How this calculator works
Positions are computed in your own browser by our ephemeris, using the Lahiri ayanamsa and the mean lunar node for Rahu and Ketu, checked against the Swiss Ephemeris to within about a minute of arc for the Moon. The time zone in force at your birth place on your birth date, including daylight saving, is applied automatically, and nothing you enter is sent to our server.
The twenty-seven nakshatras divide the zodiac into equal spans, and each divides again into four padas. The calculator locates your Moon’s exact sidereal position within this scheme and reads off the nakshatra, the pada, and everything the tradition attaches to it: its ruling planet, its presiding deity, its gana (deva, manushya or rakshasa), its yoni, the animal symbol used in chart matching, its nadi, and your Moon sign. It also reads off the pada’s naming syllable from the Avakahada chakra, the traditional table used to choose the first sound of a name, for example Chu, Che, Cho or La for the four padas of Ashwini.
Without a birth time, the calculator uses midday. If the Moon changed nakshatra on your date of birth, which happens because the Moon moves through roughly one nakshatra a day, it shows both possibilities along with the time the change occurred, rather than guessing which one applies to you.
Reading your result
Your nakshatra and pada are shown first, since everything else follows from them. The lord tells you which planet’s dasha begins your Vimshottari sequence. The deity, gana, yoni and nadi are four of the classical categories most commonly used in matching two charts for marriage, and the naming syllable is the traditional starting sound rather than a complete name; families have always chosen the rest freely.
Where traditions differ
The nakshatra boundaries and lords are agreed on everywhere in the sidereal tradition, since they follow directly from the twenty-seven equal divisions of the zodiac. Where sources genuinely vary is the naming syllables: a few panchang publishers list a slightly different sound for one or two padas, and regional traditions, Tamil, Telugu, Bengali and others, sometimes use their own naming conventions rather than the Sanskrit Avakahada chakra this calculator follows. If a family astrologer or a regional panchang gives you a different first sound, that is a real variation between traditions, not a mistake.
What it cannot tell you
This calculator identifies your nakshatra and its traditional associations. It is not a compatibility check on its own: matching two charts for marriage traditionally weighs eight separate factors together, of which gana, yoni and nadi are only three, and it makes no personality or character claim beyond what the classical categories themselves state. For the full chart your nakshatra sits inside, including your dasha sequence and the rest of your planets, see the free kundali tool.
Frequently asked questions
↳ What is a nakshatra?
A nakshatra is one of twenty-seven lunar mansions the sidereal zodiac is divided into, each about thirteen degrees and twenty minutes wide. Your nakshatra, sometimes called your birth star, is the one your Moon occupied at the moment you were born, and it is the starting point for your Vimshottari dasha sequence.
↳ How do I find my nakshatra without knowing my birth time?
Enter your date and place of birth and leave the time as a rough estimate or midday. The calculator will tell you your nakshatra either way, and if the Moon happened to change nakshatra on your date of birth, it shows both possibilities and the time of the change, so you can see whether your birth time actually matters in your case.
↳ What is a pada and why does it matter for naming?
Each nakshatra divides into four padas of about three degrees and twenty minutes each. The pada your Moon falls in determines the traditional first sound for a name, taken from the Avakahada chakra, for example Chu, Che, Cho and La for the four padas of Ashwini.
↳ What are gana, yoni and nadi?
They are three of the eight classical factors used to match two charts for marriage. Gana groups nakshatras as deva, manushya or rakshasa in temperament. Yoni assigns an animal symbol used to judge compatibility. Nadi relates to constitution, and matching nadi is traditionally considered the most important of the eight factors to avoid.
↳ Why does a different source give a different naming syllable for my pada?
Most likely because it follows a regional naming tradition rather than the Sanskrit Avakahada chakra this calculator uses. Tamil, Telugu and Bengali conventions, among others, sometimes assign different sounds to the same pada, and a few panchang publishers vary on one or two padas even within the same broad tradition.
For your full dasha sequence and the rest of your chart built from the same Moon position, use the free kundali tool.