How to Read Your Kundali: A Beginner's Guide to Lagna, Houses and Dasha
The first time most people see their kundali, it looks like a diamond full of numbers and two-letter abbreviations. It's less cryptic than it looks. This guide walks through the five things worth understanding first, in the order an astrologer would read them. 1. What you need to make one Date of birth, exact time of birth, and place of birth. The time matters most: the ascendant (lagna) changes roughly every two hours, and the house positions shift with it. If your time is uncertain by more than 15–20 minutes, treat house-level readings with caution. You can generate a free chart in North or South Indian style with a free online Kundali maker . 2. The lagna (ascendant): your starting point In the North Indian chart, the top-centre diamond is always the 1st house, and the number written in it is your lagna sign (1 = Aries, 2 = Taurus … 12 = Pisces). Everything else is counted from here, anticlockwise. In the South Indian chart, signs are fixed and the lagna is marked with a l...