The Big Jupiter Transit to Sagittarius!

Everyone is awaited with bated breath for the impending Jupiter transit which is looming large as it get sets to enter it's own sign of Sagittarius. Transits of slow moving planets such as Saturn, Rahu/Ketu and Jupiter generally garner a lot of interest among the general public and very many are curious about how it will play out for them. To be frank, just with a single planet transit nothing really can be deduced and in essence studying these transitory phenomenons just portray a glimpse of how the upcoming picture is likely to shape up. I suggest don't take transits too seriously but just use it as a generic indication in the overall scheme of things.

Jupiter along with Venus is considered as the only two pure natural benefic planets in vedic astrology. There is an extra footprint for Jupiter because it's transit is somewhat sporadic taking place only once a year on an average as opposed to it's contemporary Venus who transits a sign virtually every other month. Thus, you will see Jupiter coming to this particular sign of Dhanus Rasi or Sagittarius zodiac after almost 12 years and next time it is expected to happen again after only another dozen years. Also the fact that it will be congregating with Saturn & Ketu who are already stationed in the sign of Sagittarius adds that dose of extra prominence. And for the uninitiated, let me share a bite of a masala chilli spicy information. The last time these 3 planets joined forces in the fire sign of Sagittatius was behold way back almost 300 years ago in 1723.

While studying transits, the two key reference points are the Ascendant (body) and the Moon (mind). The Ascendant or Lagna harps on the physical angle where as the Moon rasi throws it's weight on the emotional side. These two many a time are complementary and is known to signify the physical framework and mental structure of an individual. As per all shastra's it's the moon sign which is pivotal when ascertaining transits but factoring in the Lagna also makes sense as any horoscope in general is always read with reference to the Ascendant being the first house. Apart from these two indexes, it's valid to also perhaps consider the karaka planet in question which is Jupiter as it would add an extra dimension in knowing how many signs Jupiter has moved from it's own natal placement. After all, this transit is all about Jupiter and it's known to have an expansive tendency.

I believe it would be futile to look at transits without considering the tool of Ashtakavarga which is a point based handy system and designed quite exclusively for transits. One important point to note in the placeholder is that even in this system, it's the planet Jupiter that contributes the maximum points of 56 out of a maximum of 337.

As mentioned out of the 56 points contributed, it casts 9 benefic dots or points to the Ascendant whereas the Moon is bestowed with only 5 benefic dots.
From the Lagna, Jupiter is given benefic dots in houses 1,2,4,5,6,7,9,10,11
From the Moon, Jupiter is given benefic dots in houses  2,5,7,9,11
Thus in essence out of a possible 24 points (12 for Lagna & 12 for Moon), Jupiter is conferring 14 points (9+5) which is only about 60%.

We find here that places 2,5,7,9,11 are commonly beneficial from both the point of view of the Lagna as well as that of the Moon with the Lagna additionally benefiting the 1st (temporal strength), 4th (default place of exaltation as per natural zodiac), 6th (service) and 10th (fame & recognition). Jupiter in essence is the karaka for the 2nd (wealth, resources), 5th (children & intelligence), 9th (father, luck) and 11th (gains, desires). Jupiter placed from itself is given benefic dots in houses 1,2,3,4,7,8,10,11. It is interesting to note here that Jupiter is devoid of being a benefic when it transits into the 5th and 9th from itself. Some food for thought here as I believe this could be on account of Karako Bhava Nashaya concept which indicates that the signifying planet fails to give results for the houses it connotes and we know that the fundamental natural karaka of Jupiter is 5th house and as per default rasi / Kala Purusha chart it holds ownership of the 9th house.

Thus, lets now look at the signs where Jupiter is expected to cast his auspiciousness in the upcoming one year time frame in the office of Sagittarius. One needs to look at both their Ascendant sign & Moon sign and infer the result accordingly.

Results of Zodiac Signs:
Mesha / Aries: Transiting in to the 9th sign of Sagittarius
Lagna - Positive (9th sign is favourable from Lagna)
Moon - Positive (9th sign is favourable from Moon)
Overall: Good

Rishaba / Taurus: Transiting in to the 8th sign of Sagittarius
Lagna - Negative (8th sign is not favourable from Lagna)
Moon - Negative (8th sign is not favourable from Moon)
Overall: Bad

Mithuna / Gemini: Transiting in to the 7th sign of Sagittarius
Lagna - Positive (7th sign is favourable from Lagna)
Moon - Positive (7th sign is favourable from Moon)
Overall: Good

Karka / Cancer: Transiting in to the 6th sign of Sagittarius
Lagna - Positive (6th sign is favourable from Lagna)
Moon - Negative (6th sign is not favourable from Moon)
Overall: Neutral

Simha / Leo: Transiting in to the 5th sign of Sagittarius
Lagna - Positive (5th sign is favourable from Lagna)
Moon - Positive (5th sign is favourable from Moon)
Overall: Good

Kanya / Virgo: Transiting in to the 4th sign of Sagittarius
Lagna - Positive (4th sign is favourable from Lagna)
Moon - Negative (4th sign is not favourable from Moon)
Overall: Neutral

Thula / Libra: Transiting in to the 3rd sign of Sagittarius
Lagna - Negative (3rd sign is not favourable from Lagna)
Moon - Negative (3rd sign is not favourable from Moon)
Overall: Bad

Vrischika / Scorpio: Transiting in to the 2nd sign of Sagittarius
Lagna - Positive (2nd sign is favourable from Lagna)
Moon - Positive (2nd sign is favourable from Moon)
Overall: Good

Dhanus / Sagittarius: Transiting in to the 1st sign of Sagittarius
Lagna - Positive (1st sign is favourable from Lagna)
Moon - Negative (1st sign is not favourable from Moon)
Overall: Neutral

Makara / Capricorn: Transiting in to the 12th sign of Sagittarius
Lagna - Negative (12th sign is not favourable from Lagna)
Moon - Negative (12th sign is not favourable from Moon)
Overall: Bad

Kumbha / Aquarius: Transiting in to the 11th sign of Sagittarius
Lagna - Positive (11th sign is favourable from Lagna)
Moon - Positive (11th sign is favourable from Moon)
Overall: Good

Meena / Pisces: Transiting in to the 10th sign of Sagittarius
Lagna - Benefic (10th sign is favourable from Lagna)
Moon - Malefic (10th sign is not favourable from Moon)
Overall: Good

Individual Score for all 144 Lagna & Rasi combinations:
The table below assigns scores for all 144 Lagna and Rasi combinations. The tool used for this is Ashtakavarga benefic dots given for Jupiter's placement with respect to both Lagna and Moon. A beneficial placement from Lagna is given 40 points whereas a beneficial placement from Moon is given 60 points. The reason Moon is allocated slightly higher weight-age is because study of transits in general are reckoned with respect to the level of the mind which in essence is the rasi in which Moon is positioned in the Natal horoscope.

Statistical Analysis:
- Houses 3,8,12 are bad for Jupiter both from the angle of Lagna as well as Moon. Hence the 3 major zodiac signs facing the brunt this time happen to be Rishaba (Taurus), Thula (Libra) and Makara (Capricorn).
- Houses 1,4,6,10 are good for Jupiter from the view point of Lagna but not from the Moon. Thus the neutral signs for this Jupiter transit are Karka (Cancer), Kanya (Virgo), Dhanus (Sagittarius) and Meena (Pisces).
- Houses 2,5,7,9,11 are great for Jupiter from the lens of both the Lagna as well as that of Moon. The propitious zodiac signs with regard to this particular Jupiter transit are Mesha (Aries), Mithuna (Gemini), Simha (Leo), Vrischika (Scorpio) and Kumbha (Aquarius).
- Out of the above 5 zodiac signs, the best of the lot can be said to be Mesha followed by Simha as Jupiter is not only a friend to both Mars (ruler of Mesha) and Sun (ruler of Simha) but it's presence as ruler of Sagittarius means it holds ownership to their trikona lords viz 9th and 5th lord respectively. For Scorpio also it's highly favourable but just slightly lesser as we are more inclined to the place of Dhanus which happens to be 2nd lord for Scorpio and hence not as felicitous as owning 5th and 9th lordship. This would be followed by Kumbha (ruled by Saturn) and Mithuna (ruled by Mercury) as Jupiter holds kind of a neutral relationship with these 2 planets.
- Combining Lagna and Moon, we have a sum total of 144 positions (12 Lagnas & 12 Moon signs) out of which 60 places (42%) are providential and 36 places (25%) are not conducive from both stand points. 48 places making up roughly 33% is favourable from Lagna perspective alone.

Conclusion:
This is just a high level cockpit analysis of Jupiter's transit to Sagittarius. A horoscope has a plethora of factors to be viewed and transits happen to be just one solitary area. Again even from the transit angle, we have looked only at a particle of Jupiter and things could take twists & turns with the other big fellow Saturn also expected to move signs very soon. However, despite the inherent limitations, transits act as a gleam of light and tends to be a trigger point source especially when one is looking forward to an event taking place. You never know, the torch of transit can add that extra impetus with Jupiter's light of reflection being the harbinger that you're really looking forward to.

Yearly Transit Horoscope Charts in Vedic Astrology

Everyone is seemingly interested to know what the upcoming year holds for them and in the astrological parlance there are methods to deduce how things are likely to pan out through the yearly charts. There are different variations of reading yearly charts and I am listing below snippets of the methodologies adopted and how to utilize them. In my humble opinion, Vedic Astrology is a very vast tool and just with one factor you cannot really come to a conclusion. Results should be witnessed from a unified wholesome picture and the more factors supporting with basis points, the higher are the chances of events fructifying.

I shall now list down 7 types of Yearly Transit charts and give a low down on what they are all about and how to use them.
- General Transit Chart
- Tajika Solar Return Chart
- Tithi Pravesh Lunar Return Chart
- Lal Kitab Varshapal Chart
- Bhrigu Chakra Paddathi Chart
- Sudharshan Chakra Dasha Chart
- Progression Chart

General Transit Chart
This is the general way of reading transit charts taking the fixed position of Moon as per your Natal horoscope and reading the other planets with reference to the natal Moon position. It's a good ploy to do the same with the Ascendant as well as most of the time Lagna & Moon go in sync with one another with the Ascendant representing the physical aura and the Moon projecting the mental mindset. The chart can be drawn up at the time of date of birth of every year concerned and the transit placements of planets need to be considered with respect to both Lagna and Moon. In case an impending planet transit is to take place few days from your birthday date, it is good to keep that in mind as well. Additionally it would also be good to check the position of the planet in transit with respect to the same planet as placed in the natal chart. For instance if Jupiter was in Aquarius at birth but at the time of charting yearly horoscope if it is in Sagittarius, it means it's placed 11 places from it's own natal position which could indicate conferring some sort of gains.

Illustration:
Let's say someone's birth Ascendant is Cancer and natal moon is in Virgo. For instance if it's the 24th year of an individual and we find that at time of drawing up of chart, Jupiter is placed in Scorpio. We know that Jupiter in transit is said to give best results in 2,5,7,9,11. Thus, we can infer that from a physical point of view Jupiter shows positive results but however from a mental framework Jupiter in 3rd is not said to be favorable and hence we can say that overall this transit of Jupiter will be of a middling level ie successful from view point of physical self but negative from an emotional point of view. Like this we can assess the scope of other transit planets also with respect to both Ascendant and Moon.

Summary:
Methodology: Reading of yearly horoscope by fixing the Natal Ascendant and Moon as the base and reading the transits of planets based on this reference
Transit of Planets: Considered into account and effects needs to be read from both Natal Ascendant and Natal Moon
Chart Erection: The date of birth in every year
Focus: Read the horoscope inferring the transiting planets with reference to both Natal Ascendant and Natal Moon

Tajika Solar Return Chart
This methodology as the name suggests adopts the Solar Return Chart but here we do not fix a Lagna or Moon and all the 9 planets in addition to the Ascendant are read as per what is projected in the map of heavens at the time when chart is cast. The chart is drawn up at the time of the solar return which effectively means the degree stamp in which Sun returns to its natal position which would most likely be on the date you were born or a day apart either side. Tajika has a few other specific factors to be kept in mind such as Lord of the Year which is key and generally considered to be the strongest among 5 factors mentioned below:

A) Lord of the sign occupied by the Sun or Moon:
If the Solar return chart commences at day time, then lord of the sign where sun is placed in Annual Horoscope is considered whereas if the solar return chart originates during night time, then lord of the sign where moon is placed in Annual Horoscope needs to be considered. For this purpose, Day time is reckoned from sunrise to sunset and Night time is accounted from sunset to next sunrise
Illustration:
Let's say Sunrise is at 6:05 AM and Sunset is at 6:09 PM. Sun's Natal degree is 12.20'. Let's say we are casting the chart for the 33rd solar year and the time when Sun touches it's Natal degree is at 4:45 PM, then lord of sign where Sun sits needs to be taken, if however it was 8:40 PM in the night when sun reaches it's natal position, then Lord of sign where Moon is sitting has to be considered.

B) Lord of the Ascendant in the Birth Horoscope:
This is plain and simple, you take your original Ascendant as seen in birth horoscope and consider the ruler of the sign for the lord of the year.
Illustration:
If one is born in Mithuna Lagna, then Mercury is to be considered and likewise if one were born when Aquarius was rising, then Saturn has to be taken into account since it rules Aquarius.

C) Lord of the Ascendant in the Progressed Horoscope:
This happens to be the lord of the sign where the Ascendant is stationed at the time the chart is drawn which is when the Sun reaches its exact natal degree position.
Illustration:
Lets say when Sun reaches it's Natal Degree in the Solar Return chart, the Ascendant at that point of time is Capricorn. Thus, Saturn being ruler of Capricorn is to be considered for Lord of the year

D) Lord of Muntha:
It is believed that for every completed year, the Ascendant moves a sign. Muntha is said to travel one sign in each year beginning from the natal position. We need to consider the Lord of the progressed Ascendant for the year in reckoning to determine the Lord of the year.
Illustration:
Lets say natal Lagna is Gemini and we are now drawing up chart for the 26th year. In this case the 1st year begins with Gemini and it completes a cycle in the 12th year with Lagna being in Taurus. The same channel operates for years 13-24. Lagna returns to Gemini for the 25th year and in the 26th year it will be in Cancer. Thus, the Muntha sign will be Cancer and the lord of Muntha will be Moon.

E) Lord of Thrirasis:
This depends on whether the solar return chart is erected during day time or night time. Based on that a fixed lordship is assigned to all signs and wherever the Ascendant of the Solar chart falls depending on whether it was during the day or night we need to look up to the Day time and Night time planetary rulers of the signs and select them accordingly.
Aries - Sun (Day), Jupiter (Night)
Taurus - Venus (Day), Moon (Night)
Gemini - Saturn (Day), Mercury (Night)
Cancer - Venus (Day), Mars (Night)
Leo - Jupiter (Day), Sun (Night)
Virgo - Moon (Day), Venus (Night)
Libra - Mercury (Day), Saturn (Night)
Scorpio - Mars (Day), Venus (Night)
Sagittarius - Saturn (Day), Saturn (Night)
Capricorn - Mars (Day), Mars (Night)
Aquarius - Jupiter (Day), Jupiter (Night)
Pisces - Moon (Day), Moon (Night)
Illustration:
let's say Sunrise is at 6:05 AM and Sunset is at 6:09 PM and the solar return chart is determined at 4:20 PM which falls in Day time in the Ascendant of Scorpio, then we need to consider Mars being the Day lord of Scorpio. Likewise let's say the solar return chart is cast at 9:15 PM which falls in Night time in the Ascendant of Leo, then we need to take Sun since it is the night lord of Leo.

Summary:
Methodology: Reading of yearly horoscope based on solar return chart by giving importance to the Lord of the Year comprising of 5 key factors
Transit of Planets: Fully taken into consideration
Chart Erection: Yearly Solar Chart (When Sun returns to it's exact degree point in the zodiac sign)
Focus: Read the horoscope inferring the transiting planets based mainly with respect to the Tajika  Lagna arising for the year and also subjecting a magnified zooming to the assessed Lord of the Year.

Tithi Pravesh Lunar Return Chart
The Tithi's are the one's that make up a lunar month and each of the months consists of 15 Tithis constituting the brighter half and another 15 Tithis representing the darker half. The Tithi one is born assumes paramount importance as it is formed based on the inter-relationship of the Sun (Father) and Moon (Mother) and hence can be an important reckoning to indicate the start of a new birth. Thus, the return of the Tithi in the respective luni-solar month is considered as the orientation of a new year. It can end up being a few days away or after your actual Birthday date as a lunar year tends to be shorter than a solar year. The Tithi Pravesh Chart is constructed at the exact time containing the remaining tithi percentage of your birth in the respective luni solar month. As it's like a new arising, reading a chart based on the remaining tithi percentage can give a basis of how the year is likely to pan out.

Illustration:
Let's say if someone was born in Shukla Paksha Tritiya Tithi with 40% remaining in the lunar month of Pushya when Sun was stationed in the sign of Capricorn. Now lets say for 32nd year if we are computing Tithi Pravesh chart, we need to cast the chart when Sun returns to the sign of Capricorn and the respective Shukla Paksha Trithiya Tithi is operating and having 40% remaining percentage. The Lunar month could continue to be Pushya or even move to Magha on account of ensuring Sun ends up being in the same rasi as that of birth.

Summary:
Methodology: Reading of yearly horoscope based on Lunar return chart considering the remaining birth tithi percentage
Transit of Planets: Fully taken into consideration
Chart Erection: Luni-Solar Chart (When Sun and Moon re-unite to form the exact Tithi percentage remaining as witnessed at birth in the respective solar month in which Sun is transiting)
Focus: Read the horoscope inferring the transiting planets based mainly with respect to the Tithi Pravesh Lagna occuring for the year.

Lal Kitab Varshapal Chart
This is employed based on the principles of Lal Kitab Astrology. In this chart we do not consider the positions of any planets witnessed presently as per the transits but instead deploy alterations to the positions of the planets as per the natal chart making planets change houses. Lal Kitab does not give importance to signs and the first house is always reckoned from Aries. For instance if at birth you are having Sun, Mercury, Venus in the 8th house, in year 30 all these planets will move to 12th house, in the 10th house in 31st year, 6th house in 32nd year and so on and so forth. There is a 120 year table noting down the houses where the planets placed in your natal chart will move for that particular year in operation.

Illustration:
Let's say someone were born in Cancer Lagna with Jupiter in the first house, Moon & Mars in 3rd house, Sun/Mercury/Venus in 4th house, Rahu in 5th house, Saturn in 8th house and Ketu in 11th house. Now if we were to draw up Lal Kitab Varshapal chart for say 25th year, one needs to look at the placement of planets in the 25th year as seen below:

House No. of planets as per horoscope               1 2  3  4 5 6 7 8  9 10 11 12
House position of planets in 25th year                 1 6 10 3 2 8 7 4 11  5 12  9

Thus as per Lal Kitab Varshapal chart for 25th year, Jupiter will be in 1st house, Moon&Mars will be in 10th house, Sun/Mercury/Venus will be in 3rd house, Rahu in 2nd house, Saturn in 4th house and Ketu in 12th house. Please note chart ascendant will always be Aries and Rahu/Ketu need not be in 1/7 axis when drawing up the Varshapal chart.

Summary:
Methodology: Reading of yearly horoscope based on shifted planetary position of houses as per 120 year Varshapal Table reckoned from each running year
Transit of Planets: Not taken into consideration
Chart Erection: The date of birth in every year
Focus: Read the horoscope inferring the shifted house positions of planets from natal chart

Bhrigu Chakra Paddathi Chart
This method does not employ transit positions and the key to this measure is rotating the Ascendant each year in a house in cycles of 12. The 1st house rules the first year of one's life, 2nd house rules the second year, 3rd house rules the third year and so on and so forth with the 12th house ruling one's twelfth year. Now, this cycle is continued with the 1st house ruling the 13th year, 2nd year lording the 14th year etc. Please note the positions of the planets are static and don't change at all. It's just that with each year passing by, that particular house gets activated and we can expect results with respect to the particular year and house in question.

Illustration:
Let's say someone has just turned 28 and is entering into his 29th year. Now since we are taking cycles of 12, we see that quotient is 2 (12 times 2 is 24) and reminder is 5 (29-24). Hence we can say that the 5th house is getting activated and we must see results based on which planets are sitting in that house, the aspects it receives and the position of the owner of the 5th house. In case we are looking into the horoscope of a Simha Lagna native, then Dhanus being the 5th house gains prominence and we need to look at the planets placed in Sagittarius as well as the aspects received and also importantly analyse the role of Jupiter being the house lord of Sagittarius.

Summary:
Methodology: Reading of yearly horoscope based on planets placement in natal chart by shifting the Ascendant one house for each year
Transit of Planets: Not taken into consideration
Chart Erection: The date of birth in every year
Focus: Read the horoscope inferring the activated house by considering the placement of planets, aspects received and the role played by the lord of the activated house

Sudarshana Chakra Dasa Chart
It is a technique where a yearly chart is studied from 3 different base points namely the position of  Ascendant, Moon and Sun which is said to denote the body at physical level, mind at mental level and soul at spiritual level respectively. In this system each of the 12 houses beginning from the 1st house is allotted a period of one year and chart for a forthcoming year is read by shifting all of the Ascendant, Moon & Sun individually to the year in question and reading the effect of the transiting planets based on the horoscope erected which adopts the solar return chart.

Illustration:
Let's say someone's birth horoscope has the Ascendant in the sign of Aries, Moon in Virgo and Sun in Pisces. If we want to read about the upcoming events in the 16th year, we need to consider the number 4 since we are dealing with a cycle of 12 and 16 divided by 12 will give quotient of 1 and reminder 4. Now we need to shift each of Ascendant, Moon and Sun 4 signs from their respective zodiac positions and read the solar return chart based on all these 3 reference points indicating the body, mind and soul. Thus in this case the 3 reference points will be Physical/Body Level Ascendant Cancer (4th from Aries), Mental/Mind Level Moon Sagittarius (4th from Virgo) and Spiritual/Soul Level Sun Gemini (4th from Pisces)

Summary:
Methodology: Reading of yearly horoscope based on solar return chart considering 3 reference points - Ascendant, Moon & Sun by progressing them at the rate of one sign per year
Transit of Planets: Considered into picture and effects needs to be read from all 3 basis points
Chart Erection: Solar Return Chart in each year
Focus: Read the horoscope inferring the transiting planets with respect to the progressed Ascendant (body), Moon (mind) & Sun (soul).

Progression Chart
This is a hypo illusionary chart utilizing the planets taking a year or more to transit such as Jupiter, Rahu/Ketu and Saturn. These are the planets whose transits we anticipate with an extra dose of excitement as there is plenty of expectations on the kind of results which they are going to bestow for those born in each Lagna or Rasi. Based on the year in question, we extrapolate how many signs these forces would have traversed based on their average transit motion which is considered as 1 year for Jupiter, 1 and half years for Rahu/Ketu and 2 and half years for Saturn. Most likely, these planets may match up with the same positions as seen in the running transit chart.

Illustration:
Let's say someone's natal Jupiter is in Cancer, Rahu in Libra, Ketu in Aries and Saturn in Capricorn. Now assuming we are drawing up chart for 22nd year, Jupiter will be Aries (Since one round of 12 gets completed in Gemini with the 13th year beginning in Cancer onwards and by counting one year for each sign the 22nd will be in Aries). Rahu will be in Leo (Rahu travels in reverse and hence one round of 18 years which is 1.5*12 gets completed in Scorpio. 18-19.5 years will be in Libra again, 19.5 to 21 years will be in Virgo and 21 to 22.5 will be in Leo). Since Rahu is in Leo, Ketu will automatically be in Aquarius being exact opposite. With respect to Saturn, it'll be in Virgo (Saturn travels 2.5 years in a sign and hence would have crossed 8 signs from natal placement at age of 20 which is 2.5*8 and will be in the 9th sign which is Virgo from 20-22.5 years of age).

Summary:
Methodology: Reading of yearly horoscope based upon utilizing those planets taking a year or more to transit across a sign
Transit of Planets: Not considered in reality but more as an extrapolation
Chart Erection: The date of birth in every year
Focus: Read the horoscope inferring the progressed position of yearly transit planets such as Jupiter, Rahu/Ketu & Saturn with respect to both Natal Ascendant and Natal Moon.

Kurtos - Chimney Cakes transported from Hungary!

The chimney cakes concept has caught on big time in a short stint of time. These have originated originally from Hungary and it's nice to see a specialty snack from Europe being transported to our very own Singara Chennai.

Kurtos is located by the side of Besant Nagar Beach and makes for a great evening snack. It is a little higher in rates than your usual short eats but comes across as being pretty stuffed and very filling. This outlet here is a little one and they have varied options on both the savory and sweetened side along with a bit of salads and shakes for company.

I was more aligned to try the savoury ones and hence went for an indian version of a butter panneer kurtos along with a traditional savoury Hungarian cake. I unfortunately didn't have the content to try the sweetened stuff and it's certainly reserved for another day as I'm greatly looking forward to try those ravishing looking cinnamon rolls.

The butter panneer chimney cone was nicely wrapped and what I liked about it was that the stuffing was right upto the brim and you did feel the masala in every bite of that soft dough roll. It was nicely herbed and the cheese garlic essence gave it the crackling taste it needed. I enjoyed relishing this hand held delight as I usually do adore these dunky delights and this one both had the taste and punch to give the perfect complementary effect.

The Hungarian classic chimney cake came with stuffings such as cheese, onion and paprika in a rolled over bread. This was more like a meal based option and the combination worked really well. It was a tad spicy largely due to the element of paprika but aligned very well on the taste factor. All in all, this too was quite enjoyable.

These chimney based items are a good addition to the ever growing Chennai food market and is perhaps another repertoire when it comes to one's snack craving appetite. The more the options always better and being the ever loving food denizen eagerly awaiting to to try varied spreads, these chimney based creations certainly gives an extra fillip to enjoy these fancy joyful wholesome cakes.

Madras Kitchen Company (MKC) - Touch of fusion yet artisanal!

MKC or Madras Kitchen Company is a newly opened restaurant as part of the sprawling Westin property in Velachery. The first impression gives you an instant thumbs up with the decor being striking and the ambiance aesthetic and appealing.

It gives a very laidback as well as an insouciant atmosphere with it's signature wood work and artisanal surroundings. The menu has been created in a very crafty manner coming in the form of a large newspaper with lots of snippets thrown in not only about the food but also the city of Chennai in general. The cuisine is largely regional with a twist as there is a lot of fusion element interspersed to it. A little bit of Asian too has been added to the fray.

We were here for lunch on a lazy weekday afternoon and looking forward to what the place has to offer. The first item itself blew us away which was an amalgamation of Amul cheese and a guntur chilli spread on a bed of bread. The fill over not only looked magnificent but also tasted superlative. Next up we tried the Asian Bao's. This was an open bao stuffed to the brim consisting of juicy pieces of tofu, capsules of edamame green gram and laced with drooly layers of mayo. This was messy, junky, dunky and damn tasty. After this we tried their innovative ghee tossed podi Idly which came with a delightful kurma and a chilli coconut relish. This was served in the school tiffin style and had an old world charm about it. From the starter section, we also tried the curd rice which came with interesting concoctions which we had towards the end of our meal.

The starter section was totally top notch and no two ways about it. In the main course, we had the bombay sampler of ragda, misal and bhaji with butter pao. Though bhaji is a popular dish down south, we very rarely get to taste ragda or misal and this was a well done up 3 in 1 combo. Apart from this we also had a crack at the aloo chole with kulche. This was decent but however the chole felt a little less boiled and the taste did not come out very apparently.

We polished our meal with two gorgeous desserts. The 54℅ chocolate textures with berries had a really rich and smooth taste to it. The Madras Kitchen Sundae with a cheese cake slitted in was really yummy and mellow.

The service was friendly and the staff were very welcoming in not only answering our queries but also suggesting us on how to go about with our choices. If you're looking for regional cuisine with a sleek fusion element interlaced to it, you should certainly check out Madras Kitchen Company.

Vedic components of Time!

The breakdown of time as a component is very fascinating in the vedic sphere. The division of time from a higher level to the minutest level is indeed hair raising and you'll get alarmed at how atomically intricate the sages went with the lowest metric of time recorded to a depth underneath of up to a staggering 1/60750th of a second.

Let's say for instance that someone were born on the 4th of June 1986 at 10:05 PM in Chennai, India. Just by classifying on a broad scale of time we can perhaps say that the person was born in:
Akshaya Varsha  (60th of 60 years)
Uttara Ayana (1st of 2 Ayanas)
Vasantha Rutu (1st of 6 seasons)
Vaisakha Masa (2nd of 12 months)
Krishna Paksha (2nd of 2 fortnights)
Buddha Vara (4th of 7 days)
Ratri Samay (2nd of 2 times of a day)
Roga Gowri Panchang (3rd of 8 parts during night time of a day)
Shani Hora (17th of 24 hours of a day)

If someone were to ask you the time in which you were born you can always flummox anyone by stating in detail the time period in which you took birth on this earth. You can even add the details of the Nakshatra, Tithi, Karana, Yoga and various other measures as an extra fillip.

These are just various layers and from Paksha onwards it could even take another off shoot route by going in another direction such as the Ahoratra, Muhurtha, Ghati et al. But on a broad classification, at least to within an hours time the classification listed draws down to a pretty finite level. I shall now explain some important components of time by first listing down a summary on a high level followed by explanation on the components.

• Varsha (Samvatsara - 60 year cycle)
• Ayana (Sun's Northern and Southern movement)
• Ruthu (6 types of seasons) 
• Masa (12 months of Lunar calendar/Solar Calendar)
• Paksha (Bright half/Darker half of moon)
• Vara (7 days from Sunday to Saturday)
• Samay (Day divided into day time sunrise and night time sunset)
• Gowri Panchanga (Portion of sunrise and sunset divided into 8 equal parts each)
• Hora (Day classified into 24 hours beginning from lord of the day in decreasing distance)

Varsha (Samvatsara) / Year:
A time cycle consists of 60 years and can also translate to 5 cycles of Jupiter. It is based on a rough estimate of the time taken by the 2 biggies Jupiter and Saturn to come together which happens approximately once in 60 years. Jupiter takes roughly 1 year or 12 months in a sign and hence takes 12 years to complete the zodiac. Saturn on the other hand takes 2.5 years or 30 months and hence it takes 30 years to go around the zodiac. The lowest common multiple of 12 and 30 happens to be 60 and hence once every 60 years you would see Jupiter and Saturn crossing each other's path.

The first year of the cycle is called 'Prabhava' and the last year of the cycle is termed 'Akshaya'. The current 60 year cycle runs from 1987-88 to 2046-47. Now these 60 years by themselves are divided into 3 parts ruled by the trinity with the first 20 years ruled by Brahma, the next 20 years by Vishnu and the last 20 years by Shiva.

A Samvatsara is said to begin immediately after Ammavasya in the Tithi of Shukla Paksha Pratipada in the lunar month of Chaitra. This is followed mostly in the Northern part of India but however sections of South India believe that a year starts when Sun enters Mesha in the month of Chithirai. This difference of opinion could lead to a minor difference in the start of a new year based on whether lunar or solar calendars have been adopted.

Year	Samvatsara	Deity
1	Prabhava	Brahma
2	Vibhava	Brahma
3	Sukla	Brahma
4	Pramoduta	Brahma
5	Prajapati	Brahma
6	Angirasa	Brahma
7	Srimukha	Brahma
8	Bhava	Brahma
9	Yuva	Brahma
10	Dhattu	Brahma
11	Isvara	Brahma
12	Bahudhanya	Brahma
13	Pramathi	Brahma
14	Vikrama	Brahma
15	Vrushapraja	Brahma
16	Chitrabhanu	Brahma
17	Svabhanu	Brahma
18	Tarana	Brahma
19	Parthiva	Brahma
20	Vyaya	Brahma
21	Sarvajit	Vishnu
22	Sarvadhari	Vishnu
23	Virodhi	Vishnu
24	Vikrti	Vishnu
25	Khara	Vishnu
26	Nandana	Vishnu
27	Vijaya	Vishnu
28	Jaya	Vishnu
29	Manmatha	Vishnu
30	Durmukhi	Vishnu
31	Hevilambi	Vishnu
32	Vilambi	Vishnu
33	Vikari	Vishnu
34	Sarvari	Vishnu
35	Plava	Vishnu
36	Subhakruth	Vishnu
37	Shobhakruth	Vishnu
38	Krodhi	Vishnu
39	Visvavasu	Vishnu
40	Parabhava	Vishnu
41	Plavanga	Shiva
42	Kilaka	Shiva
43	Saumya	Shiva
44	Sadharana	Shiva
45	Virodhikrta	Shiva
46	Paridhavi	Shiva
47	Pramadicha	Shiva
48	Ananda	Shiva
49	Raksasa	Shiva
50	Nala	Shiva
51	Pingala	Shiva
52	Kalayukti	Shiva
53	Siddharthi	Shiva
54	Raudri	Shiva
55	Durmati	Shiva
56	Dundubhi	Shiva
57	Rudhirodgari	Shiva
58	Raktakshi	Shiva
59	Krodhana	Shiva
60	Akshaya	Shiva

Ayana (Northern/Southern movement of Sun):
An Ayana is basically 2 half years within a year known as the solar half and lunar half. It depends on the Sun's course of movement. The 2 Ayana's are termed Uttara Ayana (solar half) ruled by Sun and Dakshina Ayana (lunar half) ruled by Moon.

Uttara Ayana - This is the solar half of the year which takes place with Sun's Northward course from winter solstice to summer solstice where the days are said to be lengthier. In simple parlance, it is the time of the year when Sun enters Capricorn zodiac as per the sidereal year which would roughly be around the mid of January.

Dakshina Ayana - This is the lunar half of the year which takes place with Sun's Southward course from summer solstice to winter solstice where the nights are said to be lengthier. In simple parlance, it is the time of the year when Sun enters into Cancer zodiac as per the sidereal year which would roughly be around the mid of July.

Rutu (Seasons):
There are 6 types of seasons in the calendar denoting different meanings as mentioned below:
Vasantha - Spring (Ruled by Venus)
Grishma - Summer (Ruled by Sun, Mars)
Varsha - Monsoon/Rainy Season (Ruled by Moon)
Sharad - Autumn (Ruled by Mercury)
Hemanta - Winter (Ruled by Jupiter)
Sisira - Prevernal/Cold Season (Ruled by Saturn)

Vasantha Ruthu is said to correlate with the beginning of the year whereas Sisira Ruthu takes place during the end of the year. Each Rutu is said to last for 2 lunar months. In down south however due to change in climatic conditions, there tends to be a small shift with regard to the hot and cold portion of the year. Since Grishma is said to be the summer season and tends to begin in and around April, the solar months Chithirai and Vaikasi (Mid April to mid June) are associated with it and likewise Varsha is tagged along with the solar months of Aani and Aadi (Mid June to mid August).

Masa (Months):
There are 12 months in a year and the lunar calendar is the one which is followed in vogue. There are 2 types of traditions followed with regard to the following of the Lunar months viz

Amanta - Month starts on Shukla Pratipada and ends on Ammavasya (Most popular)

Pournimanta - Month starts on Krishna Paksha Pratipada and ends on Pournima

A lunar month is roughly about 29 and half days and hence a lunar year completes it's revolution in about 354 odd days whereas a solar year comprises about 365 and a quarter days. This difference accumulates over time and hence an extra month titled Adhik Maasa is inserted to keep the lunar and solar calendars aligned. The Adhik Maasa takes place once in about 2 years and 8 1/2 months with the extra month taking place in the month where the sun remains in the same zodiac sign throughout an entire lunar month cycle.

The 12 Lunar months are as follows and tend to occur during the months mentioned:

Chaithra - Mar-Apr

Vaishaka - Apr-May

Jyeshta - May-Jun

Ashada - Jun-Jul

Shravana - Jul-Aug

Bhadrapada - Aug-Sep

Ashwija - Sep-Oct

Karthik - Oct-Nov

Margashira - Nov-Dec

Pushya - Dec-Jan

Magha - Jan-Feb

Phalguna - Feb-Mar

However in some parts of South India, the solar calendar reigns supreme which by and large depends on the ingress of the Sun in different rasis beginning from Aries onwards. Listed below are the solar months which tend to occur roughly around the mid of every month beginning from mid April onwards with the year starting from Chithirai and ending with Panguni.

Chithirai - Apr-May

Vaikasi - May-Jun

Aani - Jun-Jul

Aadi - Jul-Aug

Avani - Aug-Sep

Purattasi - Sep-Oct

Aipasi - Oct-Nov

Karthikai - Nov-Dec

Margazhi - Dec-Jan

Thai - Jan-Feb

Maasi - Feb-Mar

Panguni - Mar-Apr

Paksha (Brigher/Darker Half of Moon):

A Paksha is basically a split of a lunar month into two halves viz brighter half or Shukla Paksha (waxing period of moon) and darker half or Krishna Paksha (waning period of Moon). Every 12 degrees of angular distance is termed a tithi and as and when the Moon moves away from the Sun to a point of 180 degrees (15 tithis - 180/12) it constitutes the brighter half and from there on in the Moon returns back towards the sun from 181st to 360 degrees which is said to be the darker half. There are 30 tithis in a lunar month with the first 15 waxing and the next 15 waning. The list of Tithi classification into Shukla Paksha and Krishna Paksha are listed below:

Pratipada - 1st (Shukla Paksha), 16th (Krishna Paksha)

Dwitiya - 2nd (Shukla Paksha), 17th (Krishna Paksha)

Tritiya - 3rd (Shukla Paksha), 18th (Krishna Paksha)

Chaturthi - 4th (Shukla Paksha), 19th (Krishna Paksha)

Panchami - 5th (Shukla Paksha), 20th (Krishna Paksha)

Sashti - 6th (Shukla Paksha), 21st (Krishna Paksha)

Sapthami - 7th (Shukla Paksha), 22th (Krishna Paksha)

Ashtami - 8th (Shukla Paksha), 23th (Krishna Paksha)

Navami - 9th (Shukla Paksha), 24th (Krishna Paksha)

Dasami - 10th (Shukla Paksha), 25th (Krishna Paksha)

Ekadashi - 11th (Shukla Paksha), 26th (Krishna Paksha)

Dwadashi - 12th (Shukla Paksha), 27th (Krishna Paksha)

Triyodashi - 13th (Shukla Paksha), 28th (Krishna Paksha)

Chaturdashi - 14th (Shukla Paksha), 29th (Krishna Paksha)

Pournami/Amma Vasya - 15th (Shukla Paksha), 30th (Krishna Paksha)

Vara (Days of the week):

These are basically the 7 days in a week from Sunday to Saturday. A day consists of both sun rise and sunset and said to last for a period of 24 hours beginning from sunrise of one day till the beginning of the sun rise of the next day. Each of the days are lorded by a ruling planet as seen below:

Ravi Vaar (Sunday) - Sun

Som Vaar (Monday) - Moon

Mangal Vaar (Tuesday) - Mars

Buddha Vaar (Wednesday) - Mercury

Guru Vaar (Thursday) - Jupiter

Shukra Vaar (Friday) - Venus

Shani Vaar (Saturday) - Saturn

Samay (Time of the day):

A day is again broken into 2 parts comprising of sunrise ruling the day portion and sunset ruling the night portion. Both these segments work out to roughly about 12 hours in a day.

Din Samay (Sunrise) - Day time portion

Ratri Samay (Sunset) - Night time portion

Gowri Panchanga (8 portions each of day time sun rise and night time sun set)

Gowri Panchang is a portion of approximately one and half hours time period used to check auspicious time to start a new activity and to avoid inauspicious time. From a religious perspective it is mainly used to decipher the right time for the purpose of a Muhurat.

The sunrise time as well as sunset times are further split into 8 equal parts each and assigned to 8 planets - Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn and Rahu. The order of the sunrise period always begins from the order of the weekday and the sunset period begins from the 5th day of the weekday and follows the sequential order. The presence of Rahu alone yields breaks to this order which needs to be factored accordingly.

The different Gowri Panchangas in a day comprise of  the following North Indian or South Indian names and is said to be ruled by a particular planet

Udyoga/Uthi -  Sun

Amrit/Amrita - Moon

Roga/Rogam - Mars

Laabha/Laabam - Mercury

Shubha/Dhanam - Jupiter

Chala/Sugam - Venus

Kaala/Soram - Saturn

Vish/Visham - Rahu

Hora (24 hours in a day based on decreasing distance of planets):

Hora happens to be a unit of time comprising usually one hour time frame which is suitable for performing specific actions. Hora is computed based on the distance of planets or in essence the order of decreasing speed of planets with respect to the earth. The first Hora in a day however is always the ruling planet of the day, for instance Sunday's first Hora will always be Sun whereas Monday's first Hora will always be Moon and so on and so forth. The Hora order from slowest planet (also farthest) to the fastest planet (also closest) is as below;

Shani (Saturn)

Guru (Jupiter)

Kuja (Mars)

Suriya (Sun)

Shukra (Venus)

Buddha (Mercury)

Chandra (Moon)

Thus, we see that time can be pretty synchronous going about in a uniform manner and can also be extremely extensive. Providing below an easy tabular format to look at what extreme awe inspiring depths time really goes into:

Time                                                     Division

1 Time Cycle (60 years)	60 Samvatsara (year)
1 Samvatsara (year)	2 Ayana (half a year)
1 Ayana (half a year)	3 Rutus (Season)
1 Rutu (season)	2 Masa (Months)
1 Masa (Month)	2 Paksha (Shukla and Krishna)
1 Paksha (Shukla and Krishna)	15 Ahoratram (24 Hours)
1 Ahoratram (24 Hours)	30 Muhurtha (48 Minutes)
1 Muhurtha (48 Minutes)	2 Ghati (24 Minutes)
1 Ghati (24 Minutes)	30 Kalas (48 seconds)
1 Kalas (48 seconds)	2 Vighati (24 seconds)
1 Vighati (24 seconds)	6 Pranas (4 seconds)
1 Pranas (4 seconds)	6 Nimeshas (88.889 milisecond)
1 Nimeshas (88.889 milisecond)	30 Tatpara (2.96296 milisecond)
1 Tatpara (2.96296 milisecond)	100 Truti (29.6296 microsecond)
1 Truti (29.6296 microsecond)	1.8 Paramanu (60750th part of a second)
1 Paramanu	60750th part of a second

Primer of Different Branches of Vedic Astrology

Astrology is an ocean and there are so many different dimensions of viewing a chart. What caught my attention is that different branches of it focus more on a selective area going deep only in that particular zone to help predict pointed results. Let's take a birds eye view of these sub branches of Astrology.

- 'Jaimini' is study of 'sign' based astrology
This form of astrology largely depends on the degrees in a sign. The basis of classification of the rasis as Movable (Cardinal), Fixed (Static) and Dual (Mutable) form a major role in delving in further. Even the aspects work on this placement with the movable signs aspecting all the fixed signs except the one placed next to it and the fixed signs aspecting all the movable signs except the one next to it. The dual signs however aspect each other in the same dual category.

- 'Nadi' is study of 'planet' based astrology
Nadi Astrology is a huge branch by itself within the realm of astrology but one defining feature of it happens to be that it largely works on the significations of planets and how they influence one another. Each planet has certain characteristics associated with it and based on the planets it touches results tends to get formed. In most versions of Nadi Astrology, the Ascendant or Lagna doesn't even have a say. It works purely on planetary relationship.

- 'Lal Kitab' is study of 'house' based astrology
Lal Kitab extensively touches on the Houses and the scope is seen extensively from the Natural or what you call the Kala Purusha Horoscope which adopts Aries as the Ascendant. The Ascendant is done away with and the houses are mapped always with Aries as the Lagna. The results are all based on planets in different houses and the yearly chart movement of planets into different houses forms a major say in delivering results. The aspects also works on a house to house basis.

- 'KP' is study of 'star' based astrology
Krishnamurthy Paddathi or KP system as it's called placed much importance on the stellar constellation in which the planets are situated. It is a hybrid version of western and Indian modes of astrology as it adopts the Placidus system for casting charts. The signifying feature of KP is that as per this methodology adopted, the owner of the star in which the planet sits is said to have the major say and direct the results accordingly.

- 'Vedic Astrology' is a study of combination of planets, signs, houses, stars and lot more.
Vedic Astrology however is an amalgamation of all the above methods and considered to be the most supreme of all systems. Thus no individual method can ever supersede the ocean that is traditional vedic astrology though they help in supplementing by providing useful information but on a holistic point of view none surpasses Vedic Astrology.

Note: There are also other techniques such as Prasna, Palmistry, Muhurthas etc which can be said to be an off shoot and helpful for astrological pursuits.

Satan (Saturn) Personified!

There mostly tends to be one very important or dominant planet in each of our horoscopes. It has a redoubtable influence on you in a way that you cannot really escape from it's presence during the whole of your lifetime.

When I look back at the planet which has had the maximum impact on me, it's undoubtedly and most certainly Saturn. The reasons attributed are as below:

1. Saturn is Vargottam in my horoscope. (Occupies same sign of Scorpio in Rasi and Navamsa)
2. Saturn itself is posited in it's own ruler ship star Anuradha Nakshatra as per Vimshottari Dasa sequence.
3. Saturn happened to be the 'Hora' that I was born in. (Hora is an hourly order in a day ruled one after another by 7 planets)
4. My entire education happened only in Saturn Dasa. It surely was the fulcrum in ensuring that I end up clearing some tough professional courses. Yes I was pretty unlucky on the relationship front which is not really a Saturn thingy but in general it did mold and make me mentally tougher.
5. It is also most auspicious 9th Lord in Rasi chart and also placed in the 9th in Navamsa.
6. 4 of my planets sit in rasis owned by Saturn and Saturn himself also happens to aspect his own Rasi. (Sun, Mercury, Venus, Jupiter all sit in the Saturnian signs of Capricorn & Aquarius).
7. The 'Yoga' I was born is Vishkumba which again is controlled by Saturn. (The Yogi planet is said to denote prosperity as per the Panchang).
8. My Moon sub Lord is Saturn which also means my Vimshottari Dasa sequence begins at birth from the Antar Dasa of Saturn only.
9. The Shadbala of Saturn happens to be the maximum among all other planets (Shadbala is a six fold technique established to find the strength of all planets)
10. As per Ashtakavarga scores, the sign in which Saturn is sitting in my natal chart Scorpio gets the maximum points. (Ashtakavarga is a point based tool to estimate the score of each houses based on planetary relation between one another)

Thus Saturn plays an indomitable part in my life proceedings and I just can't imagine a life without it Hence it goes without saying that I'm well and truly Satan (Saturn) personified 😎.

Navamsa Construction and other important concepts pertaining to D9

The Navamsa or D9 happens to be the most important divisional chart in a horoscope. It goes tete-a-tete with the rasi chart and a horoscope virtually feels incomplete without its presence. As the name D9 stands it talks about the Dharma or the 9th division or in essence reflects on a microscopic view of a rasi in 9 equal divisions. For the mathematically initiated a rasi consists of 30° with each Navamsa part containing 3°20' each.

There is a myth prevailing that Navamsa is all about marriage and spouse but in essence it is the dharma trine and can also be used to assess a native's skills, abilities and talent. It also gives a break down of the strength of a planet from where it is placed in the Navamsa and many often a weak placement in rasi can get over ruled by a strong presence in Navamsa.

Navamsa can be broken into 'Nava' meaning 9 and 'Amsa' meaning division. It is also referred to as the 'Dharmamsa'. The way it is derived is that the 9th house is all about Dharma and the 11th house speaks about desires. The 11th from 9th becomes the 7th or rather the fructification from Dharma turns out to be the D9 or Navamsa chart and since the resultant happens to be the 7th house (11th from 9th), it is pretty understandable to see it as one of the primary factors for issues pertaining to marriage. The Dharma angle here however should not be compromised and holds the major say in the scheme of things.

This particular post is not about an analysis about the D9 but more about the construction of it and I will list down 3 different methods which can be used for the same. The article will also touch upon some important concepts of the Navamsa which is like a corollary addendum when one understands how the counting works.

1) Classification based Counting:
As one is aware, the 12 rasis are classified into 3 types viz Movable (Cadinal), Fixed and Dual (Mutable) and they keep getting repeated in a cyclical order with Aries being a Movable sign, Taurus Fixed and Gemini Dual with the pattern followed again from Cancer onwards. Navamsa counting always begins from a Movable sign and there's a reason for it as when you start counting from the first movable sign the 9th will end up being a dual sign with the baton being passed on again to a movable sign with the last 9th part again falling in a dual and so on and so forth. Thus if a planet falls in a movable rasi, start counting directly from the respective movable rasi, if a planet is situated in a fixed rasi start counting from the 9th sign from it and if planet is located in dual rasi begin counting 5th from the particular sign. In all these cases the resulting counting start sign will always be movable. It's easier to understand when we look at it with illustrations.

Illustration:
Eg say Sun is in Aries 11°35', Moon in Taurus 24°50' and Mars in Gemini 5°10' in the rasi chart.

Sun:
Classification - Movable (Aries)
Base - 1 (1st from movable sign)
Part - 4th part (Since it falls in degree span of 10°00' to 13°20')
Count - Start directly from the same movable sign Aries and count 4 which will be Cancer (1st from Aries is Aries and then 4th from it results in Cancer)

Moon
Classification - Fixed (Taurus)
Base - 9 (9th from fixed sign)
Part - 8th part (Since it falls in degree span of 23°20' to 26°40')
Count - Move 9th from respective sign of Taurus and then count 8 which will be Leo (9th from Taurus is Capricorn and then 8th from it results in Leo)

Mars
Classification - Dual (Gemini)
Base - 5 (5th from dual sign)
Part - 2nd part (Since it falls in degree span of 3°20' to 6°40')
Count - Move 5th from respective sign and then count 2 which will be Sagittarius (5th from Gemini is Libra and then 2nd from it results in Sagittarius)

Summary:
Planet in movable sign - start counting the division from the same movable sign
Planet in fixed sign - Move 9th from the fixed sign and start counting the divisions from the resulting movable sign
Planet in dual sign - Move 5th from the dual sign and start counting the divisions from the resulting movable sign

2) Element based counting:
Each of the rasis are also divided into 4 elements viz Fire, Earth, Air and Water starting from Aries onwards with the order repeating from Leo and again from Sagittarius as well. As discussed above under the classification mould, the counting will always begin from a movable sign as only then the symmetry ends up being maintained. Now we need to take a look at the movable sign for all the elements and the counting gets established from that particular sign.
Fire - Aries  (Leo and Sagittarius are ruled out as they are not movable)
Earth - Capricorn (Taurus and Virgo are ruled out as they are not movable)
Air - Libra (Gemini and Aquarius are ruled out as they are not movable)
Water - Cancer (Scorpio and Pisces are ruled out as they are not movable)
Let's look at this theory with an example

Illustration:
Eg Sun is in Leo 11°35', Moon in Capricorn 24°50',  Mars in Aquarius 5°10' and Mercury in 8°20' in the rasi chart

Sun:
Element - Fire
Start sign - Aries
Part - 4th part (Since it falls in degree span of 10°00' to 13°20')
Count - Start from Aries the fire movable sign and count 4 which will be Cancer (For Planet in fire, the counting needs to start from fire movable sign which is Aries)

Moon:
Element - Earth
Start sign - Capricorn
Part - 8th part (Since it falls in degree span of 23°20' to 26°40')
Count - Start from Capricorn the Earth movable sign and count 8 which will be Leo (For Planet in earth, the counting needs to start from earth movable sign which is Capricorn)

Mars:
Element - Air
Start sign - Libra
Part - 2nd part (Since it falls in degree span of 3°20' to 6°40')
Count - Start from Libra the Air movable sign and count 2 which will be Sagittarius (For Planet in air, the counting needs to start from air movable sign which is Libra)

Mercury:
Element - Water
Start sign - Cancer
Part - 3rd part (Since it falls in degree span of 6°40' to 10°00')
Count - Start from Cancer the Water movable sign and count 3 which will be Virgo (For Planet in water, the counting needs to start from water movable sign which is Cancer)

Summary:
Planet in Fire sign - start counting from Aries which is the fire movable sign
Planet in Earth sign - start counting from Capricorn which is the earth movable sign
Planet in Air sign - start counting from Libra which is the air movable sign
Planet in Water sign - start counting from Cancer which is the water movable sign

3) Star Based Counting:
This is a little different method and doesn't employ rasis directly and instead the constellations come into the picture. As one may be aware there are 27 Nakshatras making up the zodiac divided into 3 sets of 9 each. The first set of 9 Nakshatras Ashwini to Ashlesha run from Aries to Cancer, the second set of  9 Nakshatras Magha to Jyeshta run from Leo to Scorpio and the third set of 9 Nakshatras Moola to Revathi run from Sagittarius to Pisces. The reason these are broken into cycles of 9 Nakshatras is in essence because the subsequent Nakshatra after the 9th begins fresh in a new zodiac sign without having breaks in padas. Thus one can say it takes 4 rasis to cover one full set of 9 Nakshatra constellations. The trick here is that the first, fourth and seventh Nakshatra from each set will occupy the first 4 rasis (Aries to Cancer) with each of the 4 padas making up the rasis one after the other and likewise the second, fifth and eighth Nakshatra from each cycle will rule over the next 4 rasis (Leo to Scorpio) and in similar vein the third, sixth and ninth Nakshatra will lord the last 4 rasis (Sagittarius to Pisces). The concept will look easier when explained with an example.

Illustration:
Eg Sun is in Poorva Phalguni 17°35', Moon in Hastha 13°10',  Mars in Revathi 27°10' and Mercury in Pushya 11°20' in the rasi chart

Sun
Nakshatra - Second (2,5,8 set)
Zodiac Cycle - Leo to Scorpio
Pada - 2 (Poorva Phalguni 16°40'-20°00' is second pada)
Count - Start from Leo and count 2 which will be Virgo

Moon
Nakshatra - Fourth (1,4,7 set)
Zodiac Cycle - Aries to Cancer
Pada - 1 (Hastha 10°00'-13°20' is first pada)
Count - Start from Aries and count 1 which will be Aries

Mars
Nakshatra - Ninth (3,6,9 set)
Zodiac Cycle - Sagittarius to Pisces
Pada - 1 (Revathi 26°40'-30°00' is fourth pada)
Count - Start from Sagittarius and count 4 which will be Pisces

Mercury
Nakshatra - Eighth (2,5,8 set)
Zodiac Cycle -  Leo to Scorpio
Pada - 1 (Pushya 10°00'-13°20' is third pada)
Count - Start from Leo and count 3 which will be Libra

Summary:
Planet in 1,4,7 Nakshatra cycle - start counting from Aries to Cancer with 1st pada Aries, 2nd pada Taurus, 3rd pada Gemini and 4th pada Cancer
Planet in 2,5,8 Nakshatra cycle - start counting from Leo to Scorpio with 1st pada Leo, 2nd pada Virgo, 3rd pada Libra and 4th pada Scorpio
Planet in 3,6,9 Nakshatra cycle - start counting from Sagittarius to Pisces with 1st pada Sagittarius, 2nd pada Capricorn, 3rd pada Aquarius and 4th pada Pisces

Important Concepts in Navamsa:

# Vargottama
Vargottam literally means a planet occupying the same sign in both the rasi and the Navamsa and said to be auspicious as it's like a blessing because the Dharma signifies what is prevalent in the rasi chart in the Navamsa as well. From the counting mechanism it can be inferred that only in 12 cases can Vargottama even occur.

Classification based counting - 1st pada of a movable sign, 5th pada of a fixed sign and 9th pada of a dual sign
Element based counting - 1st pada of a fire sign, 5th pada of an earth sign, 9th pada of an air sign and the 1st pada of a water sign
Star based counting - In 1-4-7 cycle, Ashwini-1, Rohini -2, Punarvasu-3&4, in 2-5-8 cycle, Poorva Phalguni-1, Chitra-2, Chitra-3 and Anuradha-4, in 3-6-9 cycle, Uthara Ashada-1&2, Satabisha-3 and Revathi-4

Listed below is the set of 12 divisions of total 108 divisions (12 rasis*9parts) where a planet can end up becoming Vargotama.

Zodiac - Classification - Element - Star & Pada - Degree Span
Aries - Movable - Fire - Ashwini-1 - 00°00'-3°20'
Taurus - Fixed - Earth - Rohini-2 - 13°20'-16°40'
Gemini - Dual - Air - Punarvasu-3 - 26°40'-30°00'
Cancer - Movable - Water - Punarvasu-4 - 00°00'-3°20'
Leo - Movable - Fire - Poorva Phalguni-1 - 13°20'-16°40'
Virgo - Fixed - Earth - Chitra-2- 26°40'-30°00'
Libra - Dual - Air - Chitra-3 - 00°00'-3°20'
Scorpio - Movable - Water - Anuradha-4 - 13°20'-16°40'
Sagittarius - Movable - Fire - Uthara Ashada-1 - 26°40'-30°00'
Capricorn - Fixed - Earth - Uthara Ashada-2 - 00°00'-3°20'
Aquarius - Dual - Air - Satabisha-3 - 13°20'-16°40'
Pisces - Movable - Water - Revathi-4 - 26°40'-30°00'

As you can see there is only one portion in each sign which gets the fiefdom of being Vargotama and only 9 stars out of 27 having this privilege with 3 of them having 2 of their padas becoming Vargotama viz Punarvasu, Chitra and Uthara Ashada.

# Pushkara Navamsa and Pushkara Bhaga
The Pushkara Navamsa is a specific portion in every rasi which is said to be extremely beneficial. Unlike the Vargotama which contains one division in every sign, in Pushkara Navamsa there are two special divisions of  3°20' which is said to be highly auspicious. It happens to be the 7th and 9th division in fire element signs, 3rd and 5th division in earth element signs, 6th and 8th division in air element signs and 1st and 3rd in water element signs. On top of this there is one particular degree that carries optimal strength to enhance the signification even more which is called Pushkara Bhaga which falls as one degree within the designated degree span allotted for each of the sign elements. Here there is only one degree per sign and happens to be the 21st degree for fire element signs, 14th degree for earth element signs, 24th degree for air element signs and 7th degree for water element signs.

Counting Base:
Fire Element Sign - 7th & 9th division - Libra & Sagittarius Navamsa. Pushkara Bhaga is 21st degree
Earth Element Sign - 3rd & 5th division - Pisces & Taurus Navamsa. Pushkara Bhaga is 14th degree
Air Element Sign - 6th & 8th division - Pisces & Taurus Navamsa. Pushkara Bhaga is 24th degree
Water Element Sign - 1st & 3rd division - Cancer & Virgo Navamsa. Pushkara Bhaga is 7th degree

Zodiac - Sign - Element - Star & Pada - Degree Span
Aries - Movable - Fire - Bharani-3 - 20°00'-23°20'
Aries - Movable - Fire - Krithika-1 - 26°40'-30°00'
Taurus - Fixed - Earth - Krithika-4 - 6°40'-10°00'
Taurus - Fixed - Earth - Rohini-2 - 13°20'-16°40'
Gemini - Dual - Air - Arudra-4 - 16°40'-20°00'
Gemini - Dual - Air - Punarvasu-2 - 23°20'-26°40'
Cancer - Movable - Water - Punarvasu-4 - 00°00'-3°20'
Cancer - Movable - Water - Pushya-2 - 06°40'-10°00'
Leo - Movable - Fire - Poorva Phalguni-3 - 20°00'-23°20'
Leo - Movable - Fire - Uthara Phalguni-1 - 26°40'-30°00'
Virgo - Fixed - Earth - Uthara Phalguni-4 - 6°40'-10°00'
Virgo - Fixed - Earth - Hastha-2- 13°20'-16°40'
Libra - Dual - Air - Swati-4 - 16°40'-20°00'
Libra - Dual - Air - Vishakha-2 - 23°20'-26°40'
Scorpio - Movable - Water - Vishakha-4 - 00°00'-3°20'
Scorpio - Movable - Water - Anuradha-2 - 06°40'-10°00'
Sagittarius - Movable - Fire - Poorva Ashada-3 - 20°00'-23°20'
Sagittarius - Movable - Fire - Uthara Ashada-1 - 26°40'-30°00'
Capricorn - Fixed - Earth - Uthara Ashada-4 - 06°40'-10°00'
Capricorn - Fixed - Earth - Shravana-2 - 13°20'-16°40'
Aquarius - Dual - Air - Satabisha-4 - 16°40'-20°00'
Aquarius - Dual - Air - Poorva Bhadra-2 - 23°20'-26°40'
Pisces - Movable - Water - Poorva Bhadra-4 - 00°00'-3°20'
Pisces - Movable - Water - Uthara Bhadra-2 - 23°20'-26°40'

Note: You would observe 12 Vargottama and 24 Pushkara Navamsa but within this you would find 3 divisions overlapping with each other and these are very powerful and auspicious as they happen to be both Vargottama and in Pushkara Navamsa. The respective constellations happen to be Rohini-2, Punarvasu-4 and Uthara Ashada-1

# 64th Navamsa
This is a very sensitive division in the Navamsa and is used to associate mainly negative events with regard to a horoscope. There are also other navamsa parts such as 55th, 88th etc but the 64th is the one which is considered to be really prominent. The 64th Navamsa and the 22nd Drekkana are crucial trigger points witnessed in a horoscope.

As the number 64 connotes it happens to be the 64th part taken from both Lagna and Moon. As we know there are 9 parts in a Navamsa and hence when we cross the 63rd part, 7 houses will be passed (9*7) and the first part of the 8th house will be the 64th Navamsa. There are two ways to calculate it both from the Rasi chart (cumbersome) as well as the Navamsa chart (easy). I shall explain with an example on both these methodologies.

Illustration:
Let us say we need to calculate the 64th Navamsa from Lagna and the Lagna degree is 18°30' in Gemini sign.

Rasi method: First we need to ascertain the division of the Lagna degree which happens to be the 6th division since 18°30' falls within the range of 16°40'-20°00'. Then we need to jump straight to the 8th house or 210th degree from where the Lagna is placed in Gemini which will end up being 18°30' in Capricorn sign. As the 6th division in a movable earthy sign will fall in Gemini, the lord of Gemini which is Mercury will end up becoming the 64th Navamsa, For instance if the Lagna degree happened to be 21°30' then it would end up falling in Cancer and Moon will be the 64th Navamsa.

Navamsa Method: Just look at the 4th sign from the Navamsa Lagna and the ruler of that house will be the 64th Navamsa. In our above example Lagna degree falling in 18°30' in Gemini will appear as Pisces Lagna in Navamsa. The 4th from Pisces is Gemini and the ruler is Mercury and hence he is the 64th Navamsa. The reason this method works like this is because each portion of 3°20' occupies a sign and hence it takes 12 parts of 3°20' to completes one zodiac cycle and hence similarly is the case with multiples of 12 such as 24th, 36th, 48th and 60th part. We return back to the Lagna for the 61st part, 2nd house becomes the 62nd, 3rd house is the 63rd part and finally the the 4th house from Navamsa Lagna ends up becoming the 64th Navamsa.

# Rasi Tulya Navamsa and Navamsa Tulya Rasi
This is a concept of super imposing and reading a chart. The Rasi Tulya Navamsa works on the placements of planets in the Navamsa chart but read from the Rasi  Lagna whereas the Navamsa Tulya Rasi is mainly used in transits where a major planet is said to influence a planet not only situated in the rasi but also placed in the Navamsa. A simple way to illustrate with an example of Rasi Tulya Navamsa is lets say your Rasi Lagna is Gemini whereas your Navamsa Lagna is Pisces and for understanding purpose let's presume that Venus is placed in the 2nd house in Aries in Navamsa. We read the same placement of Venus in Aries but by an alternate method of utilizing the Rasi Lagna which in this case in Gemini and hence Venus will be viewed as being in the 11th house. I believe assessing placements of planets through this methodology gives clues on the kind of results to expect.

Important Note:
We know that there are 12 zodiac signs consisting of 30° each and every sign covers a span of 9 divisions of 3°20' each and hence it takes only 9 zodiac signs in the Navamsa to cover the distance in one rasi making 3 rasis in Navamsa blank. It should be known for instance that a planet situated in whichever degree in Aries sign will never fall in the signs of Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces. Likewise each zodiac sign in the rasi will ensure that 3 zodiac signs in the Navamsa gets untouched. Sharing below the list of signs in each zodiac sign where the Navamsa signs never end up falling

Aries - Navamsas of Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces remain untouched
Taurus - Navamsas of Libra, Scorpio and Sagittarius remain untouched
Gemini - Navamsas of Cancer, Leo and Virgo remain untouched
Cancer - Navamsas of Aries, Taurus and Gemini remain untouched
Leo - Navamsas of Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces remain untouched
Virgo - Navamsas of Libra, Scorpio and Sagittarius remain untouched
Libra - Navamsas of Cancer, Leo and Virgo remain untouched
Scorpio - Navamsas of Aries, Taurus and Gemini remain untouched
Sagittarius - Navamsas of Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces remain untouched
Capricorn - Navamsas of Libra, Scorpio and Sagittarius remain untouched
Aquarius - Navamsas of Cancer, Leo and Virgo remain untouched
Pisces - Navamsas of Aries, Taurus and Gemini remain untouched