Lagna Calculator: Your Vedic Ascendant and Lagna Chart
Your Lagna (ascendant) is the sidereal zodiac sign rising on the eastern horizon at the moment and place of your birth. It becomes the first house of your birth chart. Enter your exact birth time and place to calculate it.
How the Lagna is calculated
The calculator converts your local birth time to Universal Time (applying the time zone and daylight-saving rules in force on that date), finds the ecliptic degree rising on the eastern horizon at your birth latitude and longitude, and subtracts the Lahiri ayanamsa to convert it to the sidereal zodiac. The sign containing that degree is your Lagna; each following sign becomes the next house.
Signs do not all rise in the same time: depending on latitude, some signs take well under two hours to rise and others well over two. That is why the place of birth matters as much as the time.
Worked example
For 15 August 1990, 6:30 AM, Chennai, the rising degree is 5°23' of sidereal Leo, so the Lagna is Simha (Leo) with Sun as Lagna lord. The ascendant degree falls in Magha nakshatra, pada 2. In this chart the Moon is in Taurus, house 10 from the Lagna.
The 12 Lagnas and their lords
| Lagna | Sign | Lagna lord | 7th house (partnership) sign |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mesha Lagna | Aries | Mars | Libra |
| Vrishabha Lagna | Taurus | Venus | Scorpio |
| Mithuna Lagna | Gemini | Mercury | Sagittarius |
| Karka Lagna | Cancer | Moon | Capricorn |
| Simha Lagna | Leo | Sun | Aquarius |
| Kanya Lagna | Virgo | Mercury | Pisces |
| Tula Lagna | Libra | Venus | Aries |
| Vrishchika Lagna | Scorpio | Mars | Taurus |
| Dhanu Lagna | Sagittarius | Jupiter | Gemini |
| Makara Lagna | Capricorn | Saturn | Cancer |
| Kumbha Lagna | Aquarius | Saturn | Leo |
| Meena Lagna | Pisces | Jupiter | Virgo |
Your Lagna also decides which planets act as functional benefics or malefics for you, which our remedy finder uses when it chooses remedies. To check Mars placement from your Lagna, use the Manglik dosha calculator.
Frequently asked questions
Why does the Lagna need an exact birth time?
The whole zodiac rises over the horizon in about 24 hours, so a new sign rises roughly every two hours. Near the start or end of a sign, a difference of a few minutes can change your Lagna.
Is the Lagna the same as the rising sign in Western astrology?
It is the same astronomical point, but Vedic astrology measures it in the sidereal zodiac. Your Vedic Lagna is therefore usually one sign earlier than your Western rising sign.
What is the Lagna lord?
The planet that rules your ascendant sign. For example, Mars rules Mesha and Vrishchika lagna and Saturn rules Makara and Kumbha lagna. Its strength and placement are read as central to the whole chart.
Which house system does this calculator use?
Whole-sign houses, the traditional Vedic method: the entire Lagna sign is the 1st house, the next sign is the 2nd, and so on. Bhava chalit charts that split houses by degree can place a planet near a sign boundary in a different house.