Your Moon’s place among the stars
Find your Janma Nakshatra (birth star), Moon sign (Rashi), Nakshatra Pada, ruling planet, and traditional Vedic details using your exact birth date, time, and place.
Exact details give the clearest result.
The Moon’s stellar address
A Nakshatra is one of 27 lunar mansions that divide the sidereal zodiac into equal sections of 13°20′.
In Vedic astrology, or Jyotish, the sky is read through more than the 12 zodiac signs. The Nakshatras add a second layer: 27 equal segments around the same circle. Because the Moon moves quickly, its Nakshatra at birth is often treated as a more precise birth star than a broad Moon-sign label alone.
That birth placement is called the Janma Nakshatra, birth star, or Moon Nakshatra. Traditional interpretation connects it with emotional habit, instinctive response, resilience, and the tone of the mind under pressure. It is also where Vimshottari Dasha timing usually begins.
Each Nakshatra has a ruling planet, deity, symbol, Shakti, Gana, Yoni, and four naming sounds. These are part of the symbolic language of Jyotish: useful for reflection, not a scientific personality test. A fuller reading still looks at the whole chart, including the Ascendant, houses, and current planetary periods.
From local time to lunar mansion
This calculator finds your Janma Nakshatra from the Moon’s sidereal position at birth. In plain terms: it settles the birth moment, locates the Moon, applies Lahiri Ayanamsa, then places that position in one of 27 stars and one of four Padas.
Birth date, exact time, and birthplace all matter. The Moon can change Nakshatra or Pada within hours. The wrong time zone, or today’s daylight-saving rule applied to an older birth, can move the Moon enough to change the result. That risk is highest when the Moon sits near the edge of a star.
The Moon’s position is calculated astronomically, then read in the sidereal zodiac with Lahiri Ayanamsa, the same setting used for the full Vedic chart on this site. The star name and Pada come from that position. For houses, timing periods, or relationship questions, continue with the complete chart rather than the birth star alone.
Combine your date, local time, and birthplace. The calculator adjusts for that place’s historical time zone, including older daylight-saving changes when they apply.
Calculate the Moon’s place in the sky, then apply Lahiri Ayanamsa so the result uses the sidereal zodiac rather than the tropical one.
Read that position through the 27 lunar mansions of 13°20′ each, choose the matching Pada of 3°20′, and show the ruling planet with the star’s traditional details.
A traditional lens on the mind
Use the birth star as a first clue about the Moon, then read it with the rest of the chart. One Nakshatra never explains a whole life.
The Moon speaks to felt security, memory, and how quickly experience settles. Its Nakshatra makes that picture more specific: how comfort is sought, what unsettles the mind, and what helps it recover. Read this as a pattern of habit and response, not a fixed label for who you are.
Every star points to useful strengths and familiar strain. The same placement may support patience, craft, courage, or insight, and also show where those qualities tip into excess. Looking only at the flattering side leaves the reading incomplete.
Traditional symbolism can suggest how trust forms, where loyalty runs deep, and what kind of closeness feels natural. Matching methods sometimes include Nakshatra, but relationship questions still need more of the chart, including Venus, partnership houses, and the wider balance between two people.
The planet that rules your birth star also begins the common Vimshottari timing cycle, so the Nakshatra is linked to life chapters as well as temperament. Themes tied to the star often stand out more during that planet’s periods. Where those themes appear still depends on the houses and the rest of the chart.
Three layers, one Moon
People often ask for “Rashi and Nakshatra” together because the Moon is read on more than one scale at once. Your result shows all three from the same birth-star calculation.
Rashi is the Moon’s sidereal zodiac sign. Each sign spans 30° and describes the broader style of feeling, habit, and need. In your result, this appears as Moon sign / Rashi.
Nakshatra is the lunar mansion. Each spans 13°20′ and gives a finer setting inside or across the signs. This is the birth star most people mean when they use a Nakshatra calculator.
Pada is one of four quarters inside a Nakshatra. Each measures 3°20′, points to a related Navamsa (D9) sign, and carries a traditional naming sound. If birth time is slightly off, Pada is often the first detail to change.
Explore your Vedic chart
The birth star is one clear detail about the Moon. The full chart shows how that Moon sits with your Ascendant, the other planets, the houses, Navamsa (D9), and your current Vimshottari timing periods. If you want context beyond the star itself, open the complete chart calculator.
Common questions
Your Nakshatra is the lunar mansion the Moon occupied at your birth. Most people mean the Janma Nakshatra, or birth star: which of the 27 Nakshatras held the Moon that day. Enter your birth date, exact time, and birthplace above to find the name, Pada, Moon sign, and related details.
A date alone is only a rough starting point. The Moon usually stays in one Nakshatra for about a day, so people born on the same date can still have different stars or different Padas. An accurate result uses your local birth date, time, and place, finds the Moon’s sidereal position with Lahiri Ayanamsa, then places that position in one of the 27 Nakshatras and one of four Padas.
Yes, whenever you can provide it. Birth time matters most when the Moon is near the edge of a Nakshatra or Pada, where a small timing error can change the result. Birthplace matters too, because it sets the correct historical time zone and any daylight-saving change on that date. If the recorded time is uncertain, treat results near a boundary with extra care.
Janma Nakshatra means birth Nakshatra. It is the Moon’s Nakshatra at birth and is also called the birth star or Moon Nakshatra. Traditional Jyotish uses it when reading temperament and emotional pattern, and it is the starting point for Vimshottari Dasha timing periods.
Rashi is the Moon’s sidereal zodiac sign: one of 12 signs of 30° each. Nakshatra is the Moon’s lunar mansion: one of 27 equal parts of 13°20′ each. Rashi describes the broader style of the Moon; Nakshatra adds a finer layer. Many people ask for both because one Moon sign can hold parts of several Nakshatras, and one Nakshatra can cross two signs.
Each Nakshatra is divided into four Padas, or quarters, of 3°20′. The Pada shows where the Moon sits inside the star and also points to a related Navamsa (D9) sign. Traditional naming systems assign a sound to each Pada. That is one reason exact birth time still helps even after you know the Nakshatra name.
The standard Vedic system uses 27 Nakshatras around the full zodiac. Each spans 13°20′ and contains four Padas, so there are 108 quarters in total. Some older references mention a 28th star in special contexts, but birth-star calculators and Vimshottari timing almost always use the 27 Nakshatras.
Nakshatra appears in several traditional matching methods, but it is only one part of the picture. A single star pair should not decide a relationship on its own. A fuller comparison looks at both birth charts, the Moon and Venus, partnership houses, and the wider balance between the two charts.