Indu Lagna Calculator

The seven kala values

Each of the seven visible planets carries a fixed number of kalas in this method: the Sun 30, the Moon 16, Mars 6, Mercury 8, Jupiter 10, Venus 12 and Saturn 1. Rahu and Ketu have none, which causes no difficulty, because they rule no sign in this scheme and the method only ever asks for the kala of a sign's lord. The numbers do not depend on the chart; they are the same for everyone.

Because each total is the sum of two kalas, it can run from 2, when Saturn rules both ninth houses, up to 60, when the Sun does. The Sun can only be a ninth lord when the ninth sign is Leo, which happens for a Sagittarius lagna or a Moon in Sagittarius, and any total above 32 always involves the Sun, since two Moons make the next largest sum.

Two ninth lords and a count from the Moon

Start from the lagna. Count nine signs from it, the lagna itself being the first, and note the lord of that ninth sign. Do the same from the Moon's sign: count nine, note the lord. Add the kalas of the two lords. Divide the total by 12 and keep the remainder; if the total divides exactly, use 12 rather than 0. Finally count that many signs from the Moon's sign, again with the Moon's own sign as the first, and the sign you reach is the Indu Lagna.

Scorpio and Aquarius are each given two lords in some traditions. This calculator uses Mars for Scorpio and Saturn for Aquarius, as our engine does, so a ninth house in either sign takes the kala of 6 or of 1. A remainder of 12 sends the count all the way round to the sign just before the Moon's: a total of 24, for example, puts the Indu Lagna in the twelfth sign from the Moon.

The sign is the result

The method produces a sign, not a degree. Some software, including our engine, attaches the Moon's own degree to that sign so that the point can be drawn on a chart, and the result prints that degree for the same reason. It is a convention of display. The sign, its lord and the planets placed in it are what the traditional reading uses.

Once the sign is known, readers who use the Indu Lagna look at the planets that occupy it and at the house it forms from the lagna, and they count other signs from it. In that practice, natural benefics placed in the Indu Lagna are described as favourable for resources. This page reports the sign, its house and its occupants as reference figures and does not convert them into a statement about anyone's finances.

The 1961 chart, worked through

In the illustrative chart, 13 December 1961 at 05:30 in Channarayapatna with the Lahiri ayanamsa, the lagna is Scorpio and the Moon is in Aquarius at 3°18′. The ninth sign from Scorpio is Cancer, ruled by the Moon, which carries 16 kalas. The ninth sign from Aquarius is Libra, ruled by Venus, which carries 12. Together they make 28.

Twenty-eight divided by twelve leaves 4, so the count runs four signs from Aquarius: Aquarius, Pisces, Aries, Taurus. The Indu Lagna is Taurus, printed at the Moon's 3°18′. Counted from the Scorpio lagna, Taurus is the seventh house. No planet occupies Taurus in this chart, so the reading turns to its lord, Venus, which stands in Scorpio in the first house, the seventh sign from Taurus.

What changes the Indu Lagna

Two inputs move the result. The Moon changes sign about every two and a quarter days, and with it both the starting point of the count and the ninth lord counted from the Moon. The lagna changes sign roughly every two hours, which can change the other ninth lord. A birth time known only to the nearest few hours can therefore leave the Indu Lagna uncertain even when the Moon's sign is settled.

Because only signs enter the method, the result does not drift gradually as the degrees change. It stays put and then jumps when the Moon or the lagna crosses into a new sign. If either sits within a degree or so of a boundary, check the birth time, and if two candidate times give two Indu Lagnas, keep both in view rather than choosing one.

How is the Indu Lagna calculated?

Find the lord of the ninth sign from the lagna and of the ninth sign from the Moon, and add their kalas: Sun 30, Moon 16, Mars 6, Mercury 8, Jupiter 10, Venus 12, Saturn 1. Divide by 12, using 12 for a zero remainder, and count the remainder from the Moon's sign.

What does a remainder of zero mean for the Indu Lagna?

A total that divides exactly by 12, such as 24, is counted as 12. Counting twelve signs from the Moon's sign, with that sign as the first, lands on the sign just before it, so the Indu Lagna is the twelfth sign from the Moon.

Why does the Indu Lagna show the Moon's degree?

The method yields a sign only. Our engine places the point at the Moon's degree inside that sign so that it can be drawn on a chart, and the result shows the same figure. The traditional reading uses the sign, its lord and its occupants.

Is the Indu Lagna the same as the Chandra lagna?

No. The Chandra lagna is simply the Moon's sign used as a first house. The Indu Lagna is a separate sign counted from the Moon by the kala method, and in the example chart the Moon is in Aquarius while the Indu Lagna is Taurus.

Does the Indu Lagna need my exact birth time?

Not to the minute. It depends on the signs of the lagna and the Moon, not on their degrees. The lagna changes sign about every two hours, so the time should be good enough to settle the rising sign, and the Moon's sign must be certain.

Which lord does the calculator use for Scorpio and Aquarius?

Mars for Scorpio and Saturn for Aquarius, the same as our engine. Some traditions also give these signs Ketu and Rahu as co-lords, but the nodes carry no kala value in this method, so the classical lords are used.