A kundli divides life into 12 houses (bhavas), counted from the lagna (ascendant) - the sign rising in the east at birth. In the North Indian chart, the top diamond is always the 1st house; in the South Indian chart the signs are fixed and the lagna is marked.
| House | Rules | Karaka |
|---|---|---|
| 1st (Tanu) | Self, body, health, personality | Sun |
| 2nd (Dhana) | Family, wealth, speech, food | Jupiter |
| 3rd (Sahaja) | Courage, siblings, communication, short travel | Mars |
| 4th (Sukha) | Mother, home, property, vehicles, inner peace | Moon |
| 5th (Putra) | Children, intelligence, education, romance, investments | Jupiter |
| 6th (Ari) | Enemies, debts, illness, service, competition | Mars, Saturn |
| 7th (Kalatra) | Marriage, spouse, partnerships, business | Venus |
| 8th (Ayu) | Longevity, sudden events, inheritance, research, secrets | Saturn |
| 9th (Dharma) | Father, luck, guru, higher learning, long journeys | Jupiter |
| 10th (Karma) | Career, status, authority, actions | Sun, Mercury, Jupiter, Saturn |
| 11th (Labha) | Gains, income, friends, wishes fulfilled | Jupiter |
| 12th (Vyaya) | Expenses, losses, foreign lands, sleep, liberation | Saturn |
Groups of houses
- Kendras (1, 4, 7, 10): the pillars - strength and stability.
- Trikonas (1, 5, 9): fortune and dharma - the most auspicious.
- Dusthanas (6, 8, 12): challenges - but also research, healing, foreign success.
- Upachayas (3, 6, 10, 11): houses that improve with time; malefics do well here.
Reading a house
- Which sign is on it, and where is that sign's lord placed?
- Which planets sit in it, and what do they rule?
- Which planets aspect it? (All planets aspect the 7th house from themselves; Mars also the 4th and 8th, Jupiter the 5th and 9th, Saturn the 3rd and 10th.)
- The karaka's condition.
Example: for a Tula lagna, Saturn rules the 4th and 5th - a yogakaraka. Saturn in the 10th (Karka) for this lagna can give a career built slowly but solidly.
Make your free kundli to see which planets sit in which house, then ask the astrologer to read any house in detail.