The zodiac divides into 27 nakshatras of 13°20′ each. The one your Moon occupied at birth is your janma nakshatra — the most personal point in the chart, and the basis of the Vimshottari dasha system.
The nakshatra is finer than the rashi and carries far more specificity — it determines your dasha sequence, and its gana, nadi and yoni are used directly in marriage matching.
It is set by the Moon's exact position at birth, so you need your date, time and place. The Moon moves through a nakshatra in about a day, so an accurate time matters.
Each nakshatra divides into four padas of 3°20′, each falling in a specific navamsa sign. The pada refines how the nakshatra expresses itself.
The Moon. Your janma nakshatra is where the Moon sat at birth, which is why it differs from anything based on your Sun sign.
Twenty-seven, each 13°20′ wide. Some traditions also reference a 28th, Abhijit, which overlaps the others.
Occasional emails when something genuinely moves — eclipses, retrogrades, dasha shifts — written the same way as these articles. No horoscope spam.