Nakshatra list: all 27 lunar mansions, lords and deities

What is nakshatra?

The word is usually explained as "that which does not decay," and in practice it means a lunar mansion. Indian astronomers split the Moon's path into 27 equal parts, so the Moon visits one nakshatra a day, more or less, and completes the round in about 27.3 days. Each part is 13°20' wide, and each is divided into four padas (quarters) of 3°20'.

Vedic astrology uses nakshatras in three main ways. The birth Moon's nakshatra colors how the chart is read. It also sets the starting point of the Vimshottari dasha, the planetary-period timeline, which is why every nakshatra has a planetary lord. And in muhurta, the craft of picking a time, the day's nakshatra helps decide what to start.

The deities in the table below follow the Sanskrit Bṛhat Saṃhitā's deity sequence.[32] For Mūla the deity is Nirṛti, as the Sanskrit gives it and as Drik Panchang agrees.[32][26] Symbols vary so much between sources that I have left them to the individual pages.

How many nakshatra are there?

There are 27 in the standard system. Some older lists and some muhurta methods add a 28th, Abhijit, a narrow strip between Uttara Ashadha and Shravana, but birth charts use the 27. Here they are in order, starting from 0° sidereal Aries.

The lords repeat in a fixed cycle of nine (Ketu, Venus, Sun, Moon, Mars, Rahu, Jupiter, Saturn, Mercury), three times round. Every pada also maps to a navamsa sign, and each nakshatra page has its own pada table.

The muhurta classes

Bṛhat Saṃhitā sorts 20 of the nakshatras into five classes and lists the kinds of activity each suits.[32] The English glosses are mine and are flagged for a Sanskrit check.

The harsh lists are reported as the text gives them. This site does not suggest harmful acts; modern muhurta practice tends to use sharp and fierce days for endings, clearing out and hard conversations. Nor does it time medical treatment, legal filings or money decisions. Practical deadlines come first.

The other seven are not classed in the verses this site has checked. Later manuals usually call Krittika and Vishakha miśra (mixed), and Punarvasu, Swati, Shravana, Dhanishtha and Shatabhisha cara (movable). Those labels are marked "later tradition" in the table and still need a source.

How to find your nakshatra?

You need your birth date, time and place. The nakshatra calculator works out the Moon's sidereal longitude and returns the nakshatra and pada. If you want to do it by hand, divide the sidereal Moon's distance from 0° Aries by 13°20'; the whole number plus one is your nakshatra.

Both lenses

Nakshatras belong to the sidereal zodiac, which sits about 24 degrees behind the tropical zodiac used by most Western astrology. You do not have to give up your Western chart to use them. Compute your sidereal Moon, read its nakshatra as one more layer, and keep in mind that your tropical Moon sign and sidereal Moon sign may differ. The sidereal glossary entry explains why. Each nakshatra also has a mantra page with its devotional text, starting with the Ashwini mantra, and every nakshatra page links to its own.

Source review

The deity sequence and the five muhurta classes with their activity lists come from Bṛhat Saṃhitā chapter 97, verses 4-10, in the Sanskrit edition (98 in the English translation).[32] Nirṛti for Mūla is supported by the Sanskrit sequence and independently by Drik Panchang.[32][26] Spans and lords follow the standard 13°20' division and the Vimshottari order; the miśra and cara labels are later tradition and unsourced here.

Common questions

Is a nakshatra the same as a constellation?

Not quite. Each nakshatra is named after a star or star group near the Moon's path, but as a division of the zodiac it is an equal 13°20' segment, and the stars do not fill it neatly.

Why do two apps give me different nakshatras?

Usually because they use different ayanamsas (the offset between the tropical and sidereal zodiacs), or one of them is using the wrong birth time or time zone. This site uses Lahiri, the most common choice in India.

Do Western astrologers use nakshatras?

Rarely. Medieval Western astrology had its own set of 28 lunar mansions borrowed from Arabic sources, but modern Western practice mostly ignores them. Nakshatras belong to the Vedic, sidereal tradition.

Which nakshatra is the best?

None. In muhurta each class suits different work, and a birth nakshatra describes themes, not a ranking.

Keep going

• Find your nakshatra
• Ashwini mantra, the first nakshatra mantra
• Sidereal zodiac
• Pada
• Aries zodiac sign

Updated 2026-10-12. Traditional interpretations are not predictions.

Sources: [26] https://www.drikpanchang.com/tutorials/nakshatra/mula-nakshatra.html [32] https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/book/brihat-samhita-sanskrit/d/doc1218130.html