What Is Nakshatra? A Complete Guide to the 27 Nakshatras

Alongside Tithi, Nakshatra is one of the five elements of the Panchanga, and arguably the one most surrounded by confusion — often mixed up with Western zodiac signs, or reduced to a horoscope talking point. This guide explains what a Nakshatra actually is, astronomically, and how it fits into the wider Hindu calendar system. For a very quick definition, see our one-line Nakshatra summary; this article goes considerably deeper.

What Nakshatra literally means

नक्षत्र (nakṣatra) is often translated as "lunar mansion" or "asterism" — a fixed segment of sky, not a moving body itself. The ecliptic (the Sun's and Moon's shared apparent path through the sky) is divided into 27 equal segments of 13°20' each (360° ÷ 27 = 13.33°), and each segment is named after a prominent star or star cluster traditionally visible within it.

How a Nakshatra is determined

Because the Moon completes a full orbit relative to the fixed stars in about 27.3 days (its sidereal period), it passes through roughly one Nakshatra segment per day. At any given moment, the Moon's exact ecliptic longitude tells you precisely which of the 27 Nakshatra segments it currently occupies — this is a direct, calculable astronomical fact, the same underlying calculation used throughout this site's Panchanga pages. See our calculation walkthrough for how this fits alongside Tithi.

Why the Moon, specifically

The Moon was chosen as the reference body (rather than the Sun) because it moves quickly enough — roughly 13° per day — to cycle through all 27 Nakshatras in about a month, making it practical for daily tracking. The Sun, by contrast, takes a full year to complete the same circuit, which is why solar-based systems (like the 12 zodiac signs) divide the sky far more coarsely.

The full list of 27 Nakshatras

Nakshatra	Devanagari	Ruling Planet	Presiding Deity
1. Ashwini	अश्विनी	Ketu	Ashwini Kumaras
2. Bharani	भरणी	Venus	Yama
3. Krittika	कृत्तिका	Sun	Agni
4. Rohini	रोहिणी	Moon	Brahma/Prajapati
5. Mrigashira	मृगशिरा	Mars	Soma
6. Ardra	आर्द्रा	Rahu	Rudra
7. Punarvasu	पुनर्वसु	Jupiter	Aditi
8. Pushya	पुष्य	Saturn	Brihaspati
9. Ashlesha	आश्लेषा	Mercury	Nagas
10. Magha	मघा	Ketu	Pitrs
11. Purva Phalguni	पूर्वाफाल्गुनी	Venus	Bhaga
12. Uttara Phalguni	उत्तराफाल्गुनी	Sun	Aryaman
13. Hasta	हस्त	Moon	Savitar
14. Chitra	चित्रा	Mars	Tvashtar
15. Swati	स्वाती	Rahu	Vayu
16. Vishakha	विशाखा	Jupiter	Indra-Agni
17. Anuradha	अनुराधा	Saturn	Mitra
18. Jyeshtha	ज्येष्ठा	Mercury	Indra
19. Mula	मूल	Ketu	Nirriti
20. Purva Ashadha	पूर्वाषाढा	Venus	Apas
21. Uttara Ashadha	उत्तराषाढा	Sun	Vishvedevas
22. Shravana	श्रवण	Moon	Vishnu
23. Dhanishta	धनिष्ठा	Mars	Vasus
24. Shatabhisha	शतभिषा	Rahu	Varuna
25. Purva Bhadrapada	पूर्वभाद्रपदा	Jupiter	Ajaikapada
26. Uttara Bhadrapada	उत्तरभाद्रपदा	Saturn	Ahirbudhnya
27. Revati	रेवती	Mercury	Pushan

See our interactive Nakshatra reference for more detail on each, or today's live Nakshatra calculated in real time.

Nakshatra vs zodiac sign — the key difference

Western (and Vedic) zodiac signs divide the ecliptic into 12 segments of 30° each, based on the Sun's annual position. Nakshatras divide the same ecliptic into 27 segments of 13°20' each, based on the Moon's daily position. Because 27 doesn't divide evenly into 12, each zodiac sign actually spans exactly 2¼ Nakshatras — which is why a single zodiac sign like Aries contains parts of three different Nakshatras (the tail end of Ashwini's neighbour, all of Ashwini and Bharani, and part of Krittika). The two systems measure genuinely different things and aren't interchangeable.

Janma Nakshatra — the birth Nakshatra

A person's Janma Nakshatra is simply whichever Nakshatra the Moon occupied at the moment of their birth. This is traditionally used for naming conventions (many families choose a name starting with a sound associated with the birth Nakshatra — see our Sanskrit Names guide) and in some traditions, for other calendar-timing purposes. This article describes the Nakshatra system as a calendar/astronomical framework; how individual families or astrologers choose to apply Janma Nakshatra is a separate, personal matter beyond the scope of this explainer.

Nakshatra and the Panchanga

Nakshatra is one of the Panchanga's five elements, alongside Tithi, Yoga, Karana and Vara. It's calculated completely independently of Tithi — one measures the Moon's angle relative to the Sun (Tithi), the other measures the Moon's position against the fixed stars (Nakshatra) — which is why they don't move in lockstep and a given Tithi can coincide with different Nakshatras in different months. See our full Panchanga guide for how all five elements relate.

Why Nakshatra changes through the day

Because the Moon moves continuously, the Nakshatra can change partway through a Gregorian calendar day — a Panchang will typically note the exact time of transition ("Nakshatra changes at 14:32") for this reason, similar to how Tithi transitions are noted.

Nakshatra Pada — a finer subdivision

Each Nakshatra's 13°20' span is further divided into four equal quarters called Pada, each spanning 3°20'. These Padas are used in more detailed astrological work and in some naming traditions, where each Pada is associated with a specific starting sound — giving 108 total naming-sound combinations across all 27 Nakshatras × 4 Padas, a number that also appears elsewhere in Hindu tradition (the 108 beads of a Mala, for instance).

A quick way to spot-check a Nakshatra claim

If you ever see a claimed Nakshatra-to-date mapping that seems off, a quick sanity check: since the Moon takes about 27.3 days to cycle through all 27 Nakshatras, it spends roughly one full day in each — so the same Nakshatra should recur about every 27–28 days, similar to (but not identical with) how Amavasya or Purnima recur roughly monthly. If a source claims a Nakshatra lasting several days or repeating within the same week, that's worth double-checking against a proper calculation.