Find the lagna and count the houses
Today you’ll learnCount twelve houses from a stated lagna, with each whole sign counted as one house.
Read the sign labels
- Ari
- Aries
- Tau
- Taurus
- Gem
- Gemini
- Can
- Cancer
- Leo
- Leo
- Vir
- Virgo
- Lib
- Libra
- Sco
- Scorpio
- Sag
- Sagittarius
- Cap
- Capricorn
- Aqu
- Aquarius
- Pis
- Pisces
The lagna is the rising sign
The lagna, also called the ascendant, is the rashi rising at the eastern horizon at a given moment. The India Meteorological Department's Rashtriya Panchang explains lagna timings in the same way: they are the times when a specified rashi rises at the eastern horizon.
The rising sign changes over the course of the day, and the eastern horizon depends on where you stand. So the lagna depends on both time and location. That is one reason a report header lists them, and it is why an unknown birth time leaves the lagna uncertain.
Counting houses from the lagna
The Brihat Jataka's translation counts houses from the ascendant. This course uses one explicit convention for its examples, known as whole-sign houses. Under it, the entire lagna sign is house 1, the next sign in zodiac order is house 2, and so on until all twelve signs have a number.
Count inclusively, which means the starting sign counts as 1, not 0. With Aries rising, Aries is house 1, Taurus is house 2 and Pisces is house 12. Here is a quick check: house 7 is always the sign directly opposite the lagna.
Reading a fixed-sign chart
The Brihat Jataka translation includes a Rasi Chakra diagram, a chart that lays out the signs. In a fixed-sign South Indian chart, each box always holds the same rashi. The sign labels never move from one chart to the next, so learners can find any sign by its box.
The house numbering is what changes. The lagna is marked in the box of the rising sign, and house numbers are counted onward from that box. Two charts can have identical sign boxes and completely different house numbers. Always find the lagna mark first.
Worked example
A fictional Leo lagna
A fictional chart marks Leo as the lagna. Count all twelve houses in zodiac order, starting with Leo as 1.
- Leo = 1, Virgo = 2, Libra = 3, Scorpio = 4.
- Sagittarius = 5, Capricorn = 6, Aquarius = 7, which is opposite Leo.
- Pisces = 8, Aries = 9, Taurus = 10, Gemini = 11, Cancer = 12.
Your turn
Try it yourself
With Capricorn rising, label Capricorn, Aquarius, Aries and Cancer by house. Then change the lagna to Cancer and find Capricorn's house.
Show the answer
For a Capricorn lagna: Capricorn is 1, Aquarius is 2, Aries is 4 (Pisces is 3), and Cancer is 7. For a Cancer lagna, count Cancer 1, Leo 2, Virgo 3, Libra 4, Scorpio 5, Sagittarius 6, Capricorn 7.
One quick check
With Libra rising, which house is Aries?
See the explanation
Count inclusively: Libra 1, Scorpio 2, Sagittarius 3, Capricorn 4, Aquarius 5, Pisces 6, Aries 7. Aries is the sign opposite Libra, so it is the 7th house.
Take these three ideas with you
- The lagna is the rashi rising at the eastern horizon.
- The lagna sign is house 1; count onward inclusively.
- In a fixed-sign chart, signs stay put and house numbers move.