Your lagna is the sign that was rising on the eastern horizon at the moment you were born. It becomes the first house of your kundali, and the other eleven houses follow from it in order. Finding it needs three things — birth date, exact birth time and birthplace — because each sign rises for only about two hours.
Find your lagna
Enter your birth date, time and place. The more exact the time, the firmer the result.
Free · astronomically computed · Lahiri ayanamsha
What is the lagna?
The Earth turns on its axis, so in twenty-four hours all twelve signs rise one after another on the eastern horizon. The sign that was rising at the moment you were born is your lagna, also called the janma lagna or udaya lagna — the birth ascendant.
Vedic astrology calls the lagna the tanu bhava, the house of the body: your physical self, temperament, health and the general direction of life. Every house in the kundali is counted from it — the next sign becomes the 2nd house, the one after the 3rd, and so on to the 12th. That is why a different lagna changes every house in the chart.
The planet that rules the lagna sign is the lagnesh, the lagna lord. Mangal rules Mesh lagna, Shukra rules Vrishabh. Where the lagnesh sits in your chart, and how strong it is, is the first key to reading the whole kundali.
How is the lagna worked out?
The lagna is computed from the moment of birth, the latitude and longitude of the birthplace, and the star-fixed (sidereal) zodiac. We use the Lahiri ayanamsha, the one most widely used in India.
Signs do not rise for equal lengths of time. At Delhi, Meen lagna rises in about 1 hour 25 minutes, while Kark takes about 2 hours 20 minutes. The gap narrows in South India and widens further north. That is why a few minutes of birth time can change the lagna, especially when the birth falls near the start or end of a sign.
The calculator above tells you exactly that: how many minutes earlier or later your birth time would have to be for the lagna to change. If the margin is under ten minutes, it is worth confirming the birth time.
The Western "rising sign" comes from the tropical zodiac, which today runs about 24 degrees ahead of the sidereal one. So a Western rising sign is often one sign ahead of your Vedic lagna.
Lagna and rashi are not the same
Your rashi is the sign the Moon was in at birth; your lagna is the sign rising at that moment. Rashifal is read from the Moon sign, not the lagna. For the difference, and your own Chandra kundali: Lagna vs Rashi →
More on the lagna
The twelve lagnas and their lords
Each lagna's ruling planet is its lagnesh.
Mesh lagna →
Lagnesh Mangal
Vrishabh lagna →
Lagnesh Shukra
Mithun lagna
Lagnesh Budh
Kark lagna →
Lagnesh Chandra
Singh lagna →
Lagnesh Surya
Kanya lagna
Lagnesh Budh
Tula lagna
Lagnesh Shukra
Vrishchik lagna
Lagnesh Mangal
Dhanu lagna
Lagnesh Guru
Makar lagna
Lagnesh Shani
Kumbh lagna
Lagnesh Shani
Meen lagna
Lagnesh Guru
Other lagnas
Special lagnas
Hora, Ghati, Bhava and Varnada lagna, and Pranapada — special ascendants computed from the time of birth, following Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra.
Open →Lagna today
Which lagna is rising right now, and today's full lagna table for your city.
Open →Navamsa chart
The Navamsa lagna, vargottama planets and the chart of marriage.
Open →Bhava Chalit chart
Houses built from the lagna degree: which planets change house.
Open →Jaimini lagnas
Arudha lagna (public image), Upapada lagna (marriage) and Karakamsha lagna (the soul's path) — the lagnas of the Jaimini system.
Looking for a wedding "lagan", the auspicious time for a marriage? See the vivah muhurat page. Vivah muhurat →
Questions about the lagna
Can I find my lagna without a birth time?
Not reliably. The lagna changes roughly every two hours, so without a birth time you can only say which lagnas were possible that day. If you know an approximate time, enter it and look at the calculator's "how many minutes" line — it shows how much leeway your estimate has.
How long does one lagna last?
About two hours on average, but not equally. At Delhi, Meen lagna lasts about 1 hour 25 minutes and Kark about 2 hours 20 minutes. The length depends on the latitude of the birthplace.
How many kinds of lagna are there?
The main lagna of the kundali is the birth lagna. Alongside it astrologers read the Chandra lagna (the Moon's sign taken as the 1st house), the Surya lagna, the Navamsa lagna, and special lagnas such as Hora, Ghati and Bhava lagna. The Jaimini system adds Arudha, Upapada and Karakamsha lagna. In a wedding context "lagan" means something else — the marriage muhurat.
What is the difference between lagna and rashi?
The lagna is the sign rising at birth and speaks of body, temperament and life direction. The rashi is the Moon's sign at birth and relates to the mind and emotions. The lagna changes about every two hours, the rashi about every two and a half days.
What is the lagnesh?
The planet that rules the lagna sign is the lagnesh — the Sun for Singh lagna, Shani for Makar. The house the lagnesh sits in tends to be where much of life's attention goes.
What is a vargottama lagna?
When the lagna falls in the same sign in the birth chart and the Navamsa chart, it is called vargottama. It is held to strengthen the lagna. The calculator above shows this too.
Why do my Vedic lagna and Western rising sign differ?
Vedic astrology uses the sidereal (star-fixed) zodiac and Western astrology the tropical (season-fixed) one. They differ by about 24 degrees today, so the Western rising sign is often one sign ahead.