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North, South and East Indian chart styles

A Vedic chart is drawn in three ways: the North Indian diamond, the South Indian square and the East Indian style of Bengal. They are not different systems, just different drawings of the same data. All you need to know is what stays fixed in each style — the houses or the signs.

JyotiSoft editorial team · dates checked by calculation

In short

North Indian: the houses are fixed. The top central diamond is always the 1st house; houses run anticlockwise.
In the North Indian chart signs are shown as numbers: 1 is Aries, 2 Taurus … 12 Pisces.
South Indian: the signs are fixed. Pisces is in the top-left box and the signs run clockwise; the lagna is marked separately.
East Indian is like the South Indian, but the signs run anticlockwise with Aries at the top centre.
Planets, degrees and conclusions are identical in every style.

Why there are several styles

The square chart is India's tradition; the round chart came to Jyotish from Western astrology. Different regions of India developed their own ways of drawing the square: diamonds inside a square in the north, a twelve-box grid in the south and Kerala, and another variant in Bengal and Odisha. An astrologer usually reads the style they trained in, but the content of the chart does not depend on the drawing.

The North Indian chart: houses are fixed

The square is divided by its diagonals and an inner diamond into twelve fields. The top central diamond is always the 1st house (the lagna). From there the houses run anticlockwise: the top-left triangle is the 2nd house, below it the 3rd, the left diamond is the 4th, the bottom central diamond the 7th, the right diamond the 10th.

Signs are not written out — each field carries the number of its sign: 1 Aries, 2 Taurus, 3 Gemini and so on to 12 Pisces. If the top diamond shows 5, the lagna is Leo. So you see at once which planets are in which house, while the sign has to be read from its number.

The South Indian chart: signs are fixed

The square is a 4×4 grid without its four central boxes. Each of the twelve boxes always belongs to the same sign: top-left is Pisces, to its right Aries, Taurus, Gemini, then clockwise down the right edge Cancer and Leo, along the bottom from right to left Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, and up the left edge Capricorn and Aquarius.

The lagna is marked in its box with a diagonal line or “Asc”/“La”. The houses are counted clockwise from it. You see each planet's sign at once, while the house number has to be counted.

The East Indian (Bengali) chart

The East Indian style also fixes the signs but draws them differently: Aries in the top central box, with the signs running anticlockwise. It is used in Bengal, Odisha and Assam; outside eastern India it is rare, and JyotiSoft does not draw it yet.

Reading any chart in three steps

1. Find the lagna: in the North Indian chart it is the top diamond, in the South Indian the marked box. 2. For the planet you need, find its sign and house: in the North Indian chart the house is visible and the sign is its number; in the South Indian the sign is visible and the house is counted from the lagna. 3. Look at the house lord: where the ruler of the sign occupying that house sits. Then read the chart step by step as in how to read a Vedic chart.

Which style to choose

If you are starting out, the South Indian style is easier: the signs never move, and it is easy to compare different charts — yours, your partner's, the navamsha and other vargas. The North Indian style is handier when the houses matter most: the kendras (1, 4, 7, 10) and trikonas (1, 5, 9) are visible at a glance. Many astrologers read the main chart in North Indian style and the vargas in South Indian.

Chart styles in JyotiSoft

In the JyotiSoft Mini App the chart style is chosen in the settings: North or South Indian. In the PDF reading the birth chart is drawn in North Indian style and the divisional charts in South Indian, so they are easy to compare. The calculation is the same either way; if two programs show different content, the style is not the cause — see why programs show different charts.

Questions

Which is more correct — North or South Indian?

Both are correct: they are different drawings of the same data. Choose the one you find easier to read.

How do I find the lagna sign in a North Indian chart?

Look at the number in the top central diamond: it is the sign number. 1 is Aries, 4 Cancer, 7 Libra, 10 Capricorn.

Why is Pisces in the top-left box of a South Indian chart?

That is how the grid is fixed: the signs run clockwise from Pisces. The boxes never change for any chart; only the lagna mark moves.

Where is the 7th house in a North Indian chart?

In the bottom central diamond, opposite the lagna. The 4th house is the left diamond and the 10th the right.

Can I use a round chart for Jyotish?

The positions can be drawn in a circle, but Jyotish uses the square: houses, aspects and vargas are read on it by convention.

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