Lahiri ayanamsa · Whole Sign houses · Node type: Mean node
Ascendant basis: our Lagna follows a slightly different convention from Drik's, agreeing within about 0.3 degrees. A birth very close to a sign boundary can show a different rising sign. Planets and Panchang elements agree to under one arc-minute.
Dasha timing: our Vimshottari Dasha period boundaries agree with Drik's within a few days, not to the exact day. This comes from two documented sources: a tiny difference in the birth Moon's measured position that compounds across the full 120 year cycle, and a different classical year length the two engines use to lengthen each period (we use 365.25 days, Drik uses the sidereal year of about 365.256 days).
Cross-check these values against Drik Panchang for the same date, time, and place.
Alongside your Moon sign, Vedic astrology reads a finer placement called your Nakshatra, one of 27 lunar mansions the Moon travels through, and a pada, a quarter-division within that Nakshatra. This calculator finds your birth Nakshatra and pada from your exact birth details.
The zodiac's 360 degrees are divided into 27 equal Nakshatras, each spanning 360/27 degrees, a little over 13 degrees. This calculator sends your birth date, time, and place to VedicShala's astrology calculation provider, which returns the Moon's exact sidereal longitude at your birth moment. That longitude is matched against the 27 Nakshatra segments to find your Nakshatra, and the position within that segment is further divided into four padas, each spanning roughly 3.3 degrees, a little under a quarter of the Nakshatra.
Because a pada spans only about 3.3 degrees of lunar motion, roughly six and a half hours at the Moon's typical speed, this is the single most time-sensitive placement this site calculates. An approximate birth time can shift which pada, or occasionally which Nakshatra, the calculator returns. If you do not know your exact birth time, the result is still computed using a noon default and flagged for that reason.
Someone whose Moon sign is Taurus might have their Moon specifically in Rohini Nakshatra, one of three Nakshatras that fall within Taurus. If their exact birth time places the Moon in the second quarter of Rohini's span, their pada is 2. This finer Nakshatra-and-pada placement is what the Baby Name calculator elsewhere on this site uses to suggest a traditional starting sound for a child's name.
Enter your date, time, and place of birth into the form above. Your birth time and place are sent to our astrology calculation provider so it can compute the Moon's exact position for that moment; the provider discards those details afterward and we do not store them unless you choose to save the result to a free VedicShala account.
Nakshatra and pada are the traditional basis for timing methods such as the Vimshottari Dasha system, and for match-making methods that compare two people's Nakshatras. This calculator gives you the underlying placement those other tools and readings build from.
Because a pada is such a narrow window, an approximate birth time is a real limitation here, more than for a Moon sign or Sun sign reading. Treat a result computed from an unknown or approximate birth time as a starting point, and confirm your exact time from a birth certificate or hospital record before relying on the pada for anything precise, such as naming.