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Core concept

Ayanamsa

Ayanamsa is the angular difference between the tropical zodiac used in Western astrology and the sidereal zodiac used in Vedic astrology, about 24° today. Subtracting it from a planet's tropical longitude gives its sidereal position, which decides its Vedic sign. Kundli Saathi uses the Lahiri ayanamsa, the most widely used in India, for every chart.

Ayanamsa is also spelled Ayanamsha or Ayanansh, and in Devanagari is written अयनांश; Lahiri is also called the Chitrapaksha ayanamsa. It is not a house system or a planetary position: it is the correction that shifts the whole zodiac, and it grows by about 50 arcseconds a year.

Ayanamsa illustration

What is ayanamsa?

The tropical zodiac is measured from the spring equinox point, while the sidereal zodiac is fixed against the stars. Earth's axis wobbles slowly (precession), so the equinox point drifts backward against the stars by about 50 arcseconds a year, roughly one degree every 72 years. The ayanamsa is the total drift accumulated since the two zodiacs coincided, about 24° in 2026. Vedic astrology uses the sidereal zodiac, so every planet's tropical longitude is corrected by this amount to get the position used in a kundli.

What is the Lahiri ayanamsa?

Lahiri, also called Chitrapaksha, is the ayanamsa anchored to the star Chitra (Spica), and it is the one most widely used in India. Other ayanamsas exist, such as Raman and Krishnamurti, and they differ from Lahiri by anywhere from a few arcminutes to roughly one and a half degrees, which can move a planet standing close to a sign boundary into a neighbouring sign. Kundli Saathi applies Lahiri, with Swiss Ephemeris planetary positions, to every chart and to every free calculator, so all results on the site use the same zodiac.

How does ayanamsa change your sign?

Sidereal longitude equals tropical longitude minus the ayanamsa. The Sun at tropical 10° Aries (longitude 10°) becomes 10° − 24° = −14°, which is 346°, or 16° Pisces, in the sidereal zodiac. A sign is 30° wide and the ayanamsa is about 24°, so many people's Sun or Moon lands in the sign before the one they know from Western horoscopes. That is why your Rashi often differs from your Western sign; the Nakshatra and Rashi calculator shows the Vedic result.

What in your chart depends on the ayanamsa?

Everything positional does. The Lagna, each planet's sign and degree, the Nakshatra and Pada of the Moon, and therefore the starting planet and every date of the Vimshottari Dasha, are all calculated from sidereal positions. A change of even one degree in the ayanamsa can shift a Nakshatra boundary, which is why a chart should always say which ayanamsa it uses.

Ayanamsa at a glance

  • The ayanamsa is about 24° in 2026 and grows by about 50 arcseconds a year, roughly one degree every 72 years.
  • Sidereal longitude equals tropical longitude minus the ayanamsa.
  • The Lahiri (Chitrapaksha) ayanamsa is the most widely used in India, and Kundli Saathi applies it to every chart.
  • Because a sign is 30° wide and the ayanamsa is about 24°, a planet's Vedic sign is often the sign before its Western sign.
  • The Lagna, planetary signs, Nakshatras and Dasha dates are all calculated from sidereal positions, so they depend on the ayanamsa used.

Frequently asked questions

What is ayanamsa in astrology?

Ayanamsa is the angular gap, about 24° today, between the tropical zodiac used in Western astrology and the sidereal zodiac used in Vedic astrology. It exists because the equinox point slowly drifts against the stars. Vedic charts subtract it from tropical longitudes to find each planet’s true sidereal sign.

What is the Lahiri ayanamsa?

Lahiri, also called the Chitrapaksha ayanamsa, is the ayanamsa anchored to the star Chitra (Spica). It is the most widely used in India and is the one Kundli Saathi applies. Other ayanamsas such as Raman and Krishnamurti differ from it by a fraction of a degree to about one and a half degrees.

Why is my Vedic sign different from my Western sign?

Because Vedic astrology uses the sidereal zodiac, which lags the tropical zodiac by the ayanamsa, about 24°. Since a sign is 30° wide, that offset moves the Sun or Moon into the previous sign for many people, so a Western Aries Sun is often a Vedic Pisces Sun.

Which ayanamsa does Kundli Saathi use?

Kundli Saathi uses the Lahiri ayanamsa with Swiss Ephemeris planetary positions for its birth charts and free calculators. Every planet, the Lagna, the Nakshatra and the Dasha dates on the site are calculated on that one basis, so results are consistent from tool to tool.

Does the ayanamsa change over time?

Yes. It increases by about 50 arcseconds a year, roughly one degree every 72 years, because of the slow precession of Earth’s axis. This is why the offset is about 24° in 2026, and why the same birth chart would be plotted slightly differently if calculated with a fixed value from a century ago.

Read more

See where Ayanamsa shows up in your own chart — generate your free kundli.

Related terms

  • Kundli

    Kundli is the Vedic birth chart — a diagram of the sign, house and degree of each of the nine grahas at the exact moment and place of a person's birth. Every other reading in Vedic astrology, from Dasha timing to marriage matching, starts from it.

  • Rashi

    Rashi is a zodiac sign in Vedic astrology — one of the twelve 30° divisions of the sidereal zodiac. "Your Rashi" usually means the sign the Moon occupied at birth, the sign a Vedic astrologer asks for first; the Sun's Rashi is closer to the Western sun sign.