Same chart. Another layout.
North Indian chart calculatorFree · sidereal · in your browser
A North Indian chart maps the twelve houses in fixed diamond and triangle cells around your lagna, or rising sign. The calculator opens your chart in this layout. It's calculated in your browser, and your birth details aren't sent anywhere.
- Ashwini
- Bharani
- Krittika
- Rohini
- Mrigashira
- Ardra
- Punarvasu
- Pushya
- Ashlesha
- Magha
- Purva Phalguni
- Uttara Phalguni
- Hasta
- Chitra
- Swati
- Vishakha
- Anuradha
- Jyeshtha
- Mula
- Purva Ashadha
- Uttara Ashadha
- Shravana
- Dhanishta (Moon)
- Shatabhisha
- Purva Bhadrapada
- Uttara Bhadrapada
- Revati
Moon in Dhanishta, pada 4
Your Vedic chart
What tradition links with your placements
The nine grahas
What a North Indian chart is
A North Indian chart is a square divided by its two corner-to-corner diagonals and an inner diamond joining the midpoints of all four sides. Those lines divide the square into twelve cells: four central diamonds and eight outer triangles. Each cell represents one of the twelve whole-sign houses of your birth chart.
To read it, remember that the houses stay in fixed cells while the signs move. Instead of writing sign names or symbols, each cell displays a number from 1 to 12 to show which sign occupies that house. Planet abbreviations sit inside the same cell as their sign number, so you can see every planet's sign and house at a glance.
Where each house sits
The 1st house, which holds the lagna, is always the top diamond in the middle. The houses run counterclockwise: the 2nd is the upper-left triangle at the top, and the 3rd is the left triangle below it. The 4th house is the left diamond, the 5th and 6th are the lower-left triangles, and the 7th is the bottom diamond. Then the 8th and 9th are the lower-right triangles, the 10th is the right diamond, and the 11th and 12th are the upper-right triangles.
The four central diamonds always hold the 1st, 4th, 7th, and 10th houses, called the kendras, or angular houses. Tradition links the 1st house with self and body, the 4th with home and inner peace, and the 7th with partners. The 10th house in the right diamond covers career and public role, putting all four kendras at the center of the chart.
How to read the sign numbers
Because the houses never move in a North Indian chart, each cell uses a number from 1 to 12 to mark its zodiac sign. Following the zodiac in order, 1 stands for Aries, 2 Taurus, 3 Gemini, 4 Cancer, 5 Leo, and 6 Virgo. Continuing from 7 to 12, 7 stands for Libra, 8 Scorpio, 9 Sagittarius, 10 Capricorn, 11 Aquarius, and 12 Pisces.
To start reading the chart, look at the number inside the top diamond. Because the top diamond is always the 1st house, its number tells you the lagna sign. Under whole-sign houses, the remaining sign numbers increase by one in each counterclockwise cell around the chart, wrapping from 12 back to 1. Without a birth time, the lagna and house numbers can't be placed, because the lagna changes about every two hours on average.
The example chart, house by house
Our example chart is calculated for March 14, 1991, at 4:18 AM in Chicago, where the lagna is 15°18′ Capricorn. In the top diamond, the 1st house carries number 10 for Capricorn and holds Saturn at 10°00′ and Rahu at 1°34′. Moving counterclockwise to the 2nd house, number 11 marks Aquarius, which holds the Sun at 29°36′ and the Moon at 6°20′.
In the 3rd house, the left triangle carries number 12 for Pisces and holds Mercury at 11°03′. The left diamond is the 4th house, marked with number 1 for Aries and holding Venus at 0°50′. Below it, the 5th house carries number 2 for Taurus and holds Mars at 26°15′. The 6th house, the next lower-left triangle, carries number 3 for Gemini and is empty.
The bottom diamond is the 7th house, marked with number 4 for Cancer, holding retrograde Jupiter at 10°14′ and Ketu at 1°34′. Rahu and Ketu always move backward through the zodiac, so their retrograde motion isn't marked separately. The 8th through 12th houses are empty: 8th carries 5 for Leo, 9th carries 6 for Virgo, and 10th carries 7 for Libra. In the upper-right triangles, the empty 11th house carries 8 for Scorpio and the empty 12th house carries 9 for Sagittarius.
North Indian vs South Indian chart
Both layouts show exactly the same chart: the same signs, houses and degrees. The only difference is what stays fixed on the grid and what moves from person to person. The North Indian layout keeps the houses in fixed cells, with the 1st house on top and sign numbers rotating. The South Indian layout works the other way round: the signs stay in fixed boxes, and the houses move with the lagna.
Because the North Indian chart fixes the houses, it highlights house placements and the four central kendras right away. Because the South Indian chart fixes the signs, you always look in the same box for Aries or Capricorn without checking numbers. This site draws the South Indian chart by default, and you can switch any result between the two layouts. On this page, the calculator opens your result in the North Indian layout, and the example chart appears in both styles.
One chart, two layouts
| Number | Sign | Number | Sign |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aries | 7 | Libra |
| 2 | Taurus | 8 | Scorpio |
| 3 | Gemini | 9 | Sagittarius |
| 4 | Cancer | 10 | Capricorn |
| 5 | Leo | 11 | Aquarius |
| 6 | Virgo | 12 | Pisces |
Read next
- How to read a Vedic birth chart · nine steps on the South Indian chart
- Navamsa chart calculator · the D9, in either layout
Questions
What do the numbers in a North Indian chart mean?
The numbers 1 through 12 in a North Indian chart stand for the twelve zodiac signs, not the house numbers. Number 1 is Aries, 2 is Taurus, 3 is Gemini, 4 is Cancer, 5 is Leo, 6 is Virgo, and 7 is Libra. Continuing in order, 8 is Scorpio, 9 is Sagittarius, 10 is Capricorn, 11 is Aquarius, and 12 is Pisces. Each cell's position tells you the house, while the number inside that cell tells you which sign occupies that house.
Which house is the ascendant in a North Indian chart?
The ascendant is the lagna, which always sits in the top central diamond as the 1st house. The number written inside that top diamond shows your rising sign, such as 10 for Capricorn in our example chart. From that top diamond, the remaining eleven houses are counted counterclockwise around the chart.
Is a North Indian chart different from a South Indian chart?
Only in layout: both show the same placements, degrees and houses. A North Indian chart keeps the houses in fixed diamond and triangle cells and marks the signs with numbers 1 to 12. A South Indian chart keeps the twelve signs in fixed square boxes around the border and moves the 1st house to match your lagna.
Why does my chart look different on another site?
First, check whether the other site uses a South Indian grid or a Western wheel instead of a North Indian diamond. Western charts use the tropical zodiac, and in October 2026 the two zodiacs are 24°14′ apart, a gap called the ayanamsa. In our 4,000-moment test sample, the Sun sign differed between the zodiacs on 79.0% of moments and the Moon sign on 78.4%. Other Vedic sites may use another ayanamsa, quadrant houses, or the true node, which changes Rahu's sign on about 3% of dates.