How to read a North Indian chart
The diamond chart looks confusing until you know one rule. The houses never move. Here is how to find the houses, the signs and the planets.
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The North Indian chart is a square cut by two diagonals and a diamond. It gives twelve spaces. It is the style used across North and West India and in Nepal. It looks confusing at first. One rule makes it simple.
The one rule: houses never move
In a North Indian chart every house has a fixed place. The top diamond in the middle is always the 1st house. This is true for every person and every chart.
From there the houses run anticlockwise:
- The 1st house is the top middle diamond.
- The 2nd is the triangle to its upper left.
- The 3rd is the triangle on the left side at the top.
- The 4th is the left diamond.
- The 5th and 6th are the two triangles at the lower left.
- The 7th is the bottom diamond, straight across from the 1st.
- The 8th and 9th are the two triangles at the lower right.
- The 10th is the right diamond.
- The 11th and 12th are the two triangles at the upper right.
Once you know this you never need the houses to be labelled.
The numbers are signs
Each space has a small number from 1 to 12. This number is the sign in that house. It is not the house number.
| Number | Sign | Number | Sign |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aries | 7 | Libra |
| 2 | Taurus | 8 | Scorpio |
| 3 | Gemini | 9 | Sagittarius |
| 4 | Cancer | 10 | Capricorn |
| 5 | Leo | 11 | Aquarius |
| 6 | Virgo | 12 | Pisces |
The number in the top diamond is your Lagna, the rising sign. If it says 4 your Lagna is Cancer. The numbers then go up by one as you move anticlockwise. After 12 comes 1.
The short names are planets
Planets are written inside the house they occupy, often as two letters:
| Short name | Planet | Short name | Planet |
|---|---|---|---|
| Su | Sun | Ve | Venus |
| Mo | Moon | Sa | Saturn |
| Ma | Mars | Ra | Rahu |
| Me | Mercury | Ke | Ketu |
| Ju | Jupiter |
A house can hold several planets or none. An empty house is normal. It still has a sign and a lord, and it is read through that lord.
Read one house in three steps
Take any space in the chart.
- Which house is it? Count anticlockwise from the top diamond. That tells you the area of life.
- Which sign is in it? Read the number. That tells you the style. It also tells you the lord: the planet that owns the sign.
- Which planets sit there? Read the short names. Those planets act directly in that area of life.
Then find where the lord of that house sits. A house is only half read until you know where its lord has gone.
The four diamonds and the eight triangles
The four diamonds are the 1st, 4th, 7th and 10th houses. They are called Kendras. They cover self, home, partner and career. Planets in them have a strong say in the life.
The 1st, 5th and 9th are called Trikonas. They are the houses of fortune. The 6th, 8th and 12th are the testing houses. They deal with obstacles, sudden change and loss.
How it differs from the South Indian chart
The South Indian chart is a square grid of twelve boxes around an empty middle. There the signs never move. Aries is always the second box in the top row and the signs run clockwise. The Lagna is marked in whichever box it falls.
Both styles show exactly the same information. In the North Indian chart you see houses at a glance. In the South Indian chart you see signs at a glance.