Kundli (birth chart)
A Kundli is your Vedic birth chart: a map of where the Sun, Moon, planets and ascendant stood at the exact time and place of your birth, arranged into the twelve houses of life.
Also known as: kundali, janam kundli, janam patri, janam kundali, horoscope, natal chart
To cast a Kundli, an astrologer needs three details: your date, time and place of birth. From them come your ascendant (Lagna), the sign and house of each of the nine grahas, your Moon’s nakshatra and your Vimshottari dasha timeline. A full Kundli also includes divisional charts, such as the Navamsa, and the Panchang of the day you were born.
The chart is drawn in the North Indian (diamond) or South Indian (square) style. Both carry exactly the same information; only the layout differs. Each of the twelve sections is a house, a field of life such as family, career or marriage, and the planets in it colour that area.
Read as a whole, a Kundli describes temperament, strengths and the themes likely to stand out, while the dashas and transits show when they come alive. It is not a verdict. Two people with similar charts can live very different lives, and a good astrologer judges every factor in context rather than in isolation.