Guides
Astrology terms and API fields
This glossary maps common Vedic astrology terms to the endpoint and response field that return each value. Each entry defines the term and points to where the value appears in an API response. Back to all guides.
Charts and positions
Ayanamsha
The ayanamsha is the angular offset between the tropical zodiac used in Western astrology and the sidereal zodiac used in Vedic astrology.
Vedic calculations subtract the offset from a planet's tropical position to get its sidereal position. Different ayanamsha systems (Lahiri, Raman, KP, and others) place the same birth data in slightly different signs and nakshatras.
In the API: birth_details returns a single ayanamsha value in its response. The dedicated ayanamsha endpoint returns the same birth data compared across six systems, each with a type, degree, and formatted field.
Moon sign (rashi)
The moon sign, or rashi, is the zodiac sign the Moon occupied at the moment of birth.
Vedic astrology treats the moon sign as the core sign for daily predictions and matching, ahead of the sun sign used in Western astrology.
The moon sign changes roughly every two and a half days, so an accurate birth time and place matter.
In the API: planets returns an array of all nine grahas. The entry with id: 1 is the Moon, and its sign field is the rashi.
Sun sign vs. moon sign
The sun sign is the zodiac sign the Sun occupied at birth, the sign most people already know from horoscope columns. The moon sign is the sign the Moon occupied at the same moment.
The moon sign changes far more often, because the Moon moves faster. Vedic predictions typically key off the moon sign. Western sun-sign horoscopes key off the sun sign.
In the API: planets returns both in the same call: id: 0 (Sun) and id: 1 (Moon), each with a sign field. sun_sign_prediction/daily/:zodiacName uses the sun sign by name directly.
Ascendant (lagna)
The ascendant, or lagna, is the zodiac sign rising on the eastern horizon at the exact moment of birth. The ascendant sets the first house of the chart.
Unlike sun or moon sign, the ascendant depends on the birth time down to the minute. Vedic chart reports typically build their house-by-house reading around the ascendant.
In the API: astro_details returns the ascendant sign directly in its ascendant field. general_ascendant_report returns a full write-up keyed off the same value.
House (bhava)
A house, or bhava, is one of twelve divisions of the chart, each covering a life area. The first house covers self and body, the seventh covers partnerships, and so on.
Vedic astrology calculates house cusps from the ascendant. Western astrology offers multiple house systems that place cusps differently.
In the API: bhav_madhya returns the sign and degree of each house cusp in its bhav_madhya array. For Western charts, house_cusps/tropical returns the same idea, selectable by a house_type parameter.
Panchang
Tithi
A tithi is a lunar day: the time the Moon takes to move 12 degrees further from the Sun than at the last new moon.
There are 30 tithis in a lunar month, split into a waxing (Shukla) and waning (Krishna) half. Panchang-based timing decisions build on the tithi active at a given moment.
In the API: basic_panchang returns the tithi in its tithi field, formatted as a string like Shukla-Ashtami.
Nakshatra
A nakshatra is one of 27 lunar mansions the Moon passes through over a sidereal month, each about 13°20′ wide.
A nakshatra refines predictions beyond the moon sign: two people with the same rashi can have different nakshatras and get different Vedic readings. Nakshatra also drives Vimshottari dasha calculations.
In the API: basic_panchang returns the day's nakshatra in its nakshatra field. planets returns the nakshatra of each individual planet, including the Moon (id: 1), in its own nakshatra field.
Yoga (panchang)
In panchang, a yoga is one of 27 fixed periods based on the combined longitude of the Sun and Moon.
A panchang yoga is distinct from the astrological yogas, planetary combinations like Raj yoga, found in chart interpretation reports. Some panchang yogas, like Vaidhriti, are traditionally considered inauspicious for starting new activities.
In the API: basic_panchang returns the day's yoga in its yog field.
Karana
A karana is half of a tithi, so a lunar month contains 60 karanas built from a cycle of 11 recurring names.
Panchang readings use karana alongside tithi and nakshatra to judge whether a specific time is auspicious for an activity.
In the API: basic_panchang returns the current karana in its karan field.
Muhurta
A muhurta is an auspicious time window, calculated from planetary hours (hora), the day of the week, and other panchang factors.
Different activities, such as travel, marriage, or starting a business, traditionally call for different muhurta types.
In the API: hora_muhurta returns the day's and night's planetary hour windows as hora.day and hora.night arrays, each entry with a time range and a ruling hora planet.
Matching
Ashtakoot (guna milan)
Ashtakoot, also called guna milan, is the standard Vedic matching method that scores compatibility between two birth charts across eight factors, or koots.
The eight koots are varna, vashya, tara, yoni, maitri, gan, bhakut, and nadi. Each koot has a maximum point value.
The total out of 36 indicates match quality, with 18 usually treated as a minimum threshold.
In the API: match_ashtakoot_points returns each koot as its own object (for example tara, nadi) with total_points and received_points, plus a total object with received_points and minimum_required.
Manglik (mangal dosha)
Manglik status, or mangal dosha, flags whether Mars sits in specific houses (1, 2, 4, 7, 8, or 12) of a birth chart.
Some Vedic matching traditions treat manglik status as a compatibility risk, unless both partners share it or other chart factors cancel the dosha.
Manglik status is a single factor among many, not a verdict on the whole chart.
In the API: manglik returns is_present (boolean), manglik_status, and percentage_manglik_present, along with the specific chart aspects that triggered it.
Dasha (Vimshottari)
A dasha is a planetary time-period system that shows when a planet's effects are strongest in a person's life.
Vimshottari, the most common system, divides a life into sequential periods ruled by each of the nine grahas.
The sequence starts from the Moon's nakshatra at birth. Each major period contains several levels of nested sub-periods.
In the API: current_vdasha returns the currently running periods as major, minor, sub_minor, sub_sub_minor, and sub_sub_sub_minor, each with a planet and a start/end date.
Systems and settings
Varshaphal (annual chart)
Varshaphal, also called Tajika, is the Vedic annual chart system. The chart is recalculated each year on the date the Sun returns to its exact natal position.
Varshaphal forecasts themes for the year ahead. The annual chart has its own lord, muntha (progressed ascendant), and dasha system, distinct from the natal chart's Vimshottari dasha.
In the API: varshaphal_details returns the year's ruling factors: panchadhikari, varshaphala_muntha, and varshaphala_year_lord, for a given varshaphal_year.
KP system (Krishnamurti Paddhati)
KP, or Krishnamurti Paddhati, is a Vedic astrology system that adds sub-lords to each planet and house cusp. A sub-lord is a finer subdivision than sign or nakshatra alone.
KP supports more specific event-timing predictions. KP practitioners often favor the system for yes-or-no questions: will an event happen, and when.
In the API: kp_planets and kp_house_cusps both return a sub_lord and sub_sub_lord field alongside the standard sign and nakshatra data.
House systems
A house system is the mathematical method used to divide the ecliptic into twelve houses once the ascendant is known.
Placidus is the most common default in Western astrology. Other traditions use whole sign, equal house, koch, and topocentric systems, which produce different cusp degrees from the same birth data.
In the API: house_cusps/tropical takes a house_type parameter (placidus, koch, topocentric, poryphry, equal_house, whole_sign) and returns each house's sign and degree under that system.
Ashtakvarga
Ashtakvarga is a Vedic point-scoring system that rates the strength of each zodiac sign for each planet. The points come from the benefic and malefic contributions of all planets and the ascendant.
Sarvashtakvarga, the combined view across all planets, highlights which signs are generally strong or weak in a chart.
In the API: sarvashtak returns ashtak_points, a per-sign object (for example aries, taurus) listing each planet's contributed points and a total.