Cafe CakeBee - Luring in time and again!

Cafe CakeBee is another recent cafe which has cropped up in town. Located in a quaint location in a small suburb in Alwarpet, it rings the right noises. The space is quite massive with very nice open seating arrangements in the lower tier on top of a closed air conditioning surrounding at the top. You are also greeted to some lovely looking desserts and bakery products displayed as you enter.

We were here on a weekday evening and just had a couple of stuff. We started our foray with a starter in the form of New way Mac n cheese. These were fried nugget balls comprising inset a swirled up layer of mac n cheese and coming alongside a raunchy tomato dip.

For the mains, tried their Primavera pizza which was aced artistically. It had the cheese, the veggies, the sauces and the crust. All of them intermingled with each other delightfully giving the tongue a soul satisfying taste.

To round up with desserts, we had the brownie with salted caramel ice cream. It was gooey, chocolaty, fudgy, crumby, saucy, salty, icy and all that. It was wonderful to polish this one off.

On the whole it was a satisfying experience. The service was neat and tidy. The rates were little on the upper side. Overall, though Cafe CakeBee passed the test resolutely and if you're the kind looking for a cozy cafe associated with good food, this outlet can definitely be checked out.

P.S : I have been visiting this place time and again and have thoroughly enjoyed some of their crafty creations which I am specially describing below based on my experience.

Saffron Cream Sauce with splash of vodka pasta:
This was done up immaculately and simply watered along the mouth. Swish, swash, swirl - this pasta possessed the firepower to induce the taste buds to have a glorified gala.

Pistachio basil pesto pasta with pine nuts and sun dried tomatoes:
Relished slurping this one up. Deliciously creamy and a hard hitting flavour of pesto to give the requisite smack.

Mezze Platter:
A good old fashioned Mezze platter comprising all the essential Mediterranean goodies to sizzle up a feist!.

New York Cheese Cake with Sorbet Ice cream:
Simply devoured this mouth watering melting new york cheese cake with soft slushy marmalade mellow orange sorbet. Ended up being a dream combination and the mouth just floored delicately with excitement.

Bharat Bistro - Agmark Premium Quality!

There are some restaurants where you don't mind paying a premium and Bharat Bistro right royally falls in that list. Whatever little stuff we had was exceptionally good and that made the experience very pleasing.

We just had 4 items and all of them bowled us over. First the paneer tikka with 2 versions of cheese was simply superlative. It lauded up both on the taste as well as on the presentation side.

On the main course, the Amritsari Dhaba meal comprising of roti herbed rice, hara bara kabab, bhoondi raita, paneer makhni and pindi chole was just out of the world. We relished every single bite of this glorious dhaba styled meal. The picture itself will definitely depict a beautiful tale.

The other one we tried happened to be the Dal Makhni trio. I simply butterly fall for lip smacking Dal Makhni. This lissom lass conjured up in a trio of flavours certainly possessed the lilt to lure me in. It was all sorts of love and we were simply floored.

On the dessert section, we went for the delectable gulab jamun cheesecake. As eclectic and exquisite as it gets, this cake was interspersed with layers of Jamun and coming along side finely cut pieces of jamuns, strawberry and a motley of rose gulkhand ice cream. This dessert was truly mouth inspiring.

On the whole, it totally lived up to its worth. The ambiance is kind of nice with lots of new age interiors and giving itself a bright stark greyish touch. It's more like a crossover Indian restaurant modelled as a cafe. The rates are a little pricy but found it agreeable to the magnanimous spread and taste. The service however could be spruced up a bit. There was waiting time with regard to providing menu cards and refilling of water. However the little nitty gritty accounts for nothing when viewed on the wholesome effect as we left Bharat Bistro having had a delightfully crafty meal that pleased us to punch.

Fab Cafe - Designed for the health conscious!

Fab Cafe is one of the latest cafes to hit townsville and is cropped atop the newly opened Fab India Store in Alwarpet. It's perched on the top floor and gives a very easy yet elegant appearance. The view of the city is quite apparent from the windows.

This is a fully health driven cafe and one of it's kind in the city. They have a variety of cuisines touching across different borders but the underlining factor happens to be that this is dine out exclusively for the health conscious.

We were here on a lazy weekend evening and had a 'Glow Hydration' drink which comprises of coconut water, aloe vera, orange, pineapple and chia seeds. Truth be told it felt quite refreshing and rich on taste. To munch we tried the spinach, onion and water chestnut momos. These were very good coming along with a red and green chive garlic dip. The momos were stuffed and went very well with the immaculate dips.

The service was partly patchy. There was no sight of order being taken place and we had to literally go and call the stewards personally to tell what we wanted to have. The stuff however was served fairly quickly. One big detriment seems to be the price. It feels a bit too hard on the pocket and you feel like you've spent a lot having consumed little. This was the biggest grouse I had but other than that it was actually a lovely place to visit. The health aficionados are surely bound to lap up Fab Cafe.

Pumpkin Tales - Surely tells mouth watering stories!

Pumpkin Tales struck the right chords and how. Located in a quiet little shrub off a by lane in Alwarpet, the place appeals with it's nicely done up interiors. It gives a very good vibe and the alternating colours of orange, yellow and red makes it appear aesthetic. The space is well spread out and there is a sure shot buzz around it. A bakery is perched at the bottom where you get to purchase exotic stuff and in the top tier is the restaurant.

They have an elaborate breakfast menu as well to go on top of the fine dining spread they serve for lunch and dinner. They serve a diverse potpourri of eclectic cuisine touching upon American, continental, European, Singaporean in addition to a large fare of bakery products.

We were here for dinner and began our sojourn with the roasted fennel and tomato soup. This was delightfully done up with an abundance of flavours. Certainly a good way to begin proceedings. The cheese mood was prevalent in our meal and for our appetisers we went with a flat bread pizza and a calzone. The former was a roasted veggie version bunched up with zucchinis, roasted tomatoes, floored up by tomato sauce and consisting of a delectable squishy layer of cheddar and mozzarella. The calzone we tried was one containing spinach, mushroom and mozzarella. This one too was decked up with cheese and it was nice consuming this juicy mix of ingredients and the bread was super smooth.

On the small bite section, we had the garlic sherry mushrooms. These were very nice too with the crunchiness of the garlic going well in tandem with softish button pieces of mushroom and the slightly liquid texture also seemed enjoyable. Apart from this also tried one of their bakery products namely the cheese sticks. This was definitely a good bite to crunch along with the aroma of cheese hitting in hard.

For the main course, we tried the rainbow pasta. This was colourful to look at with a flurry of veggies being part of the fray with cheese smeared in giving it a lovely creamy texture. This was quite rich with the addendum of ricotta cheese, cashews, mushrooms, spinach along with red and yellow pepper making it like a swirl of colours and hence aptly titled the rainbow pasta.

On the dessert side, the display had some enticing creations and we decided to go with cheese cake and not one but two of them. First up the chocolate hazelnut was as lovely as it could get with the mellow of the soft cream with nuts luring you in. And then it was time to test the vanilla and strawberry bean one. This too was top notch and pressed all the right buttons.

On the whole, our encounter with Pumpkin Tales happened to be pretty pleasing. The service was quick witted and our dishes barring the calzone reached our tables well on time. The pricing seems a little high for the quantity served. However the quality makes up for it not making you slouch too much. This was a place of plusses and I would love to check out their breakfast fare quite soon.

Durrants @ Welcome Hotel - Old Fashioned infusing the Yesteryear feel!

The one thing which strikes about this bar is you that you don't find places like this anymore. It is old fashioned and takes you back to the good ol days when how bars actually used to be. It does not swarm you with swirls of colours or attractive wall papers but instead works on the old world charm that is so missing these days.

The decor carries a very woody feel. The seating is laid back and the tinge of yesteryear is inherently visible on them. The surroundings are stacked with antiquities and the lighting is dim with the bar at the center serving all kinds of stuff from scotch to beer to vodka, rum, gin and what not. If you're a person of the past, nostalgia will certainly hit you with feel good memories.

Just that it has not moved on like the way the other newbie pubs have adds credibility and it's lovely to see that they have stuck to tradition. The name Durrants is named after 'Charles Durrant' - Madras Presidency's first wine merchant.

Before our evening meal, we stopped here for some drinks and starters. They have all kinds of liquor available including the imported ones. The best bet however is on the superlative deals they have. This is an area where they are really attractive as the offers are fabulous. Lots of buy one get one's, special discounts, summer quencher deals and many more.

I had a shot at a scotch and beer along with some sumptuous panneer tikka and cauliflower for company. This is also a place where you can ideally spend long hours at your leisurely comfort.

On the whole, an old school bar which happens to possess a vintage charm of it's own.

HuTong - Smearing the aroma!

Hutong greets you with a kicking smearing aroma as soon as you land up at this place. The Chinese aroma is in all its splendor as you get in. The place is shrouded in a peaceful locality in the Seethamal Colony at Alwarpet.

It is a pretty small space with limited seating arrangements. In our recent dinner experience there wasn't anything to crib at all and everything went on expected lines. It's a Chinese outlet and the menu sticks to that.

What really felt impressive is they seem to play their cards close to the chest. They just specialise in what they are good at and that came out very vividly. It's a very selective menu with a few soups, starters, main course and desserts. The mains especially are in the form of bowl where your rice and noodles come with a gravy.

The aromatic veg broth soup contained the requisite veggies and had a very appealing taste. The lotus stem starter was crispy and crunchy. The presence od red chillies and roasted groundnuts certainly elevated it. The mushroom bao buns were decent and I felt it could have been a notch better.

For main course I tried the butter fried veg garlic rice with a blackened veg gravy. It was very good with the rice being really flavourful and the side gravy went along well with it containing tofu, cauliflower and few others. Ended dinner with a refreshing glass of chilled milo which was actually very nice.

On the whole, a really pleasing experience. The rates are really reasonable and absolutely worth the price. The service was quick witted and we got our dishes well on time. In essence, a really lovely Chinese alley down the side of Alwarpet.

Being Beautiful, Winning Beauty Contests and the connection with Aishwarya Rai!

There was a discussion about what makes one to be bestowed with beautiful looks and also on top of that make you win international pageant contests such as Miss World etc which are conducted on a global platform. Looking at it from an astrological POV, obviously the birth chart should have some correlation to suggest someone is breathtakingly beautiful but in addendum to that transits also matter a lot and perhaps even the running dasa period to put that beauty into optimum use and at the right time to win international honours.

The best bet native to study about this is perhaps renowned beauty queen Aishwarya Rai who not only possesses ethereal looks but also managed to win India a Miss World title after a really long period of time. Let's take her case since it's believed that her birth details are kind of accurate.
Birth details are as below:
DOB : 1st Nov 1973
POB : Mangalore, India
TOB : 4:05 AM
Ayanamsa : Raman 22-02-43.86

She is Virgo Ascendant, Poorva Ashada Nakshatra (Pooradam in Tamil) and her 4th house attains dignity with Venus, Moon and Rahu all placed in the fiery dual sign of Jupiter owned Sagittarius. These three planets individually are said to confer exceptional elegance and imagine all three of them sitting together makes her a timeless beauty. One must also notice Venus and Moon sitting in the 4th attains Dig Bal (Power). Her Lagna Lord Mercury is strong and retrograde in 3rd house and we do know she possesses exceptional communication skills.

Now let's come to the actual time when she won the event which took place in Sun City, South Africa on Nov 19th 1994. She had just finished her 21st year and stepping into her 22nd year. Looking at her solar chart 1st Nov 1994 (exact degree of Sun as at birth), you will find that she is Capricorn Ascendant with Mercury/Moon in 9th and Jupiter, Sun, Venus and Rahu combined in 10th house of Libra. And on the date of winning (19th Nov 1994) you'll still find Venus/Rahu together along with her natal Lagna lord Mercury and Sun has moved out of debilitation and closely associated with Jupiter alongside Moon being exalted in Taurus giving rise to an auspicious pournami yoga with the magical rays of Jupiter also overseeing proceedings.

Look at the glorious interplay of God. At birth Rahu/Venus conjunct, 22nd year solar chart also they are conjunct and on the day she won the title also it was conjunct. Moon which talks about the mental make up also attains impression in all these cases and on top of it the Sun was shining brightly coming out of debilitation at the time of her creating history. Her original Lagna Lord Mercury also is super powerful.

The icing on the cake was that the title was won when Moon Maha Dasa (planet in 4th house attaining dig bal in natal chart) and Mercury Antar Dasa (Lagna lord) was running for her. You could even go one step further and say the event happened in her Mars Pratyantar Dasa (8th lord in 8th house giving sudden overnight fame). Hence basically the 3 Magical M's (Moon/Mercury/Mars) working in unity to create world wide success.

Thus, in effect the universe did all it's tricks to make this event transpire. This is just from rasi chart without even going in to the divisional charts.

To cut the long story short, moral of the tale is you need to have the following planets strong for being beautiful and winning beauty contests.
Moon : Mind (Mental framework)
Sun : Grace (Royal radiance as it's a world event)
Venus : Beauty (The primary core for an event of this magnitude)
Rahu : Expansion (To expound the prevailing factors and give overnight success)
Lagna Lord (Mercury in this case) : Desire (The soul which is running towards it's desired path)

Cougar Relationship and the link with Priyanka Chopra!

Cougar relationships have always been viewed with closed lens and more so when an Indian is involved, it always tends to attract the paparazzi. The recent involvement of Bollywood heartthrob Priyanka Chopra with a person more than 10 years her junior was certainly the cynosure of all eyes and got the media into a frenzied overdrive trying to analyse the reasons for her relationship with the happening Nick Jonas, a person of another origin/country and who happens to be a whole decade younger in age.

I was quite curious to rack up her horoscope to see what prompted such a relationship. Thankfully her birth details seem to be quite authentic and seems to tally with some of her traits. Sharing her birth details as per below;
DOB : 18th July 1982
POB : Jamshedpur, India
TOB : 1:30 AM
Ayanamsa : Raman 22-10-01.76

Now let's take a brief peekaboo into Priyanka Chopra's horoscope. First up, her 7th lord is sitting in 5th which clearly indicates a high probability of love marriage. Not only that, you see Venus and Rahu sitting together which accentuates it further and even more so because Venus is in dual sign of Gemini. The trigger of Rahu always tends to create something mysterious and when conjoined with Venus in a dual placement, it's almost as if its been given the freedom to play around. Also if you'd observe Jupiter in the natal chart aspects both Venus & Rahu and incidentally the period from Dec'17 to May'18, Jupiter Maha Dasa/Venus Antar Dasa/Rahu Pratyantar Dasa was only running. It looks very clear that around this period only her love would have blossomed and really come to light. It's quite funny how Vedic astrology seems to show it quite visibly in her horo chart as well :D.

Next up, looking at the dignity of her 7th (spouse). Her 7th lord is conjoined with Saturn. They are also pretty close to each other - Mars and Saturn. So Saturn has the power of giving marriage and not only that he is Yogakarak for both Taurus Lagna and Moon. Now the telling point is check Saturn's 10th aspect on Mercury. It falls exactly where Mercury is located. Both of them are exactly to the dot 24 degrees in their respective signs of Gemini and Virgo. Mercury as a planet has the significance of being a friend and can indicate a younger partner and it emphasizes the fact resolutely in her case. Saturn does also aspect Venus and Rahu but the one on Mercury is the talking point here. Saturn is also 8th from it's Mool Trikona sign giving sudden rise in the form of a strange love (younger partner and also of foreign origin)

Coming to her characteristics in general, Ascendant and Moon together in Taurus gives her a very good personality. Her 3rd lord Moon is placed in the 1st giving her excellent communication skills and making her a very confident person. 2nd is about wealth and you see not only natural 2nd house owner Venus sitting there but also Lord of 2nd and 5th Mercury sitting in it's own sign of Gemini. The house of motherland viz 4th house Sun is afflicted sitting 12 places from itself indicating that she regularly travels and frequently leaves her hometown to foreign destinations. Rahu/Ketu in 2/8 axis isn't great but here also Rahu and Ketu both sit in their respective mool trikona sign of Gemini and Sagittarius respectively. The top rated malefic for Taurus Lagna viz Jupiter is actually weak sitting in 6th place and hence will not be very harmful. Lot of planets attain power in her horoscope and it isn't a phenomenon to see her extremely successful and being the most followed Indian on Instagram.

One more thing to note is about her work and career. You find her 10th lord sitting in the 5th indicating indirectly that work will be somewhat related with creativity and intelligence. You also see Saturn sitting in the 9th Dasamsa (24 to 27 degrees) of even sign Virgo in the South East direction represented by Agni and ruled by Venus. This direction is controlled by Agni Deva and ruled by Venus who is the head of all creative works such as acting, singing, dancing etc. And another wonderful coincidence is that the planet Venus is himself sitting in the odd sign of Gemini in 2nd Dasamsa (3 to 6 degrees) which is also in the South East direction and ruled again by Venus himself. Hence Shukra Guru is playing a yeomen role in elevating her pedestal and indicating that she is in the right kind of profession. Saturn also happens to be the 10th lord in the Dasamsa D10 chart sitting in its own movable sign of Capricorn with Rahu showing a job involved with plenty of travelling.

Focusing the energy on the main topic which is of her relationship and marriage, she is likely to get married in Dec'18. It's magical to see how all the planets are harnessing the spherical energies to show this event in her chart.
Dasa check - current one running is Jupiter MD - Venus AD - Saturn PD from Sep'18 to Feb'19. Jupiter is the most natural benefic and Venus the signifier of an event like marriage and Venus happens to be in trikona to Jupiter. Also Saturn the yogakarak is closely conjunct with her actual 7th lord Mars.
Transit check - Jupiter is now exactly 7th to both her natal Lagna as well as Natal Moon again pointing out imminently that an event of a magnitude such as marriage may take place.

Wishing PC all the very best. She has well and truly been a role model and a great ambassador representing India with a lot of dignity and grace in foreign shores.

The solar lunar atmospheric rise of Kohli!

Virat Kohli's run with the bat over the last year has been nothing short of path breaking and earth shattering. He has accumulated runs in gallons and gazillions and if one looks at his batting graph over the last year, it screams a phenomenal meteoric rise. Seldom has any batsman in any era enjoyed such a pyro technic run in both Tests as well as ODI form of cricket. While his test stats are daunting no doubt but these numbers have been matched in the past by other luminaries of the game but if you take his One Day International performances it's just mind boggling and beyond comprehension. He has electrocuted his way to glory by scoring runs at a razor sharp acceleration and his consistency is truly shell shocking.

This staggering run made me to also link it a bit with his astrological horoscope chart as I was somewhat curious to see how such a histrionic display could indeed be possible. Basically just wanted to see if there was any incentive that indicated the universe was also conspiring to make things happen in such an ecstatic fashion.

Before getting into the astrological stats, lets look at his bounty bag in ODIs and tests studded with diamond engraved shimmerings. I have purely taken into his account the runs he has scored since his last birthday ie the whole of the runs he has stacked up from his last Solar return (birthday) to the end of it which in essence could be attributed to his 30th year (5th Nov 2017 to 5th Nov 2018).

His ODI stats read as per below;
1202 runs in 14 matches out of which 5 of them were not out innings amounting to an unimaginable average of 133.5 runs per innings. This includes 6 three figure knocks of which two of them crossed 150. During this period he also scaled the peak of 10,000 one day international runs joining an elite list of batsman to have done so. Matches span across the period from Feb'18 to Nov'18. (No ODIs were played by India during the period Nov'17 to Jan'18).

The test stats read as below:
1673 runs in 13 tests and 23 innings out of which a single knock was a not out innings tallying up to a very impressive average of 76 runs per innings. This golden period has seen him score 7 hundreds out of which 3 came in back to back consecutive innings. The list also includes couple of double centuries to the kitty. India played 4 series during the period spread over the 12 month period between Nov'17 to Oct'18.

Now lets look at his horoscope chart. He is Sagittarius rising (Dhanus) with the following placements; Saturn in Lagna, Rahu in 3rd, Mars in 4th, Jupiter retro in 6th, Ketu in 9th, Venus & Moon in 10th and Mercury & Sun in the 11th. The current Dasa running for him is Rahu and almost his entire cricketing career has run in tandem with it's Dasa which has been extremely beneficial to him in winning lots of laurels. It's despositor Saturn is placed in Lagna itself. Rahu also happens to co-own Aquarius however the main owner still happens to be Saturn only. 3rd house represents courage, skill, strength, determination etc and Rahu has expounded all these significations which is very much apparent in his case. In Rahu Dasa, the sub Antar Dasa period running is Mercury which also happens to be his 7th lord and it's no surprise that his marriage also happened in this sub period of his 7th lord. Mercury sits 9 places (9th is supposed to be most fortunate house) from Rahu and is said to confer fortunate happenings and that's what has exactly happened.

For sudden exponential success, transits also play a role and hence we shall have a look at his different transit charts.

General Regular Transit:
Here we keep the Lagna and Moon as constants and the other major planets are reckoned from these points. The moon is the most important when seeing transits but the Lagna also has a role because mental and physical presence need to co exist for major events to take place. We mainly assess the strength of Jupiter, Saturn, Rahu/Ketu as these are the ones staying in a sign for a large period of time. Almost over the entire course of this period, Jupiter was transiting in Libra over the natal Sun and Mercury. From Lagna, Jupiter is in 11th enabling him to achieve his desires and also over current antar dasa planet Mercury which is auspicious. Also its presence over Sun gives it royal glory. Also Jupiter and Rahu the ruling Dasa planet happen to be in a trine to each other. Seeing things from Saturn's perspective, it has done one full circle of life (2.5 years * 12 signs) and returned back to its natal position. This Saturn return brings renewed changes and it has happened in the good for him. From natal Moon it's in 4th which isn't very good for comforts and lifestyles but from Moon 5th lord Trikona is Saturn and being in a 4th kendra takes away some of the negativity. Also Saturn both in transit as well as natal position is 11th from the current Rahu dasa which is a highly favourable position. Rahu/Ketu in transit is in 11th and 5th from Moon sign. Rahu already has been doing him wonders in this Dasa and his presence in 11th from Moon and that too taking its own nature has catapulted things in his favour. It has in a way offset the negative placement from Lagna where it's in 8th.

Tajaka Solar Transit:
This is the chart which is gathered by keeping the Sun in its exact longitude as of birth. It's like a new year and a new beginning. The Sun retains its place as per what it is in natal chart but the other planets may have a directional shift. Obtaining his Solar chart for 2017 (30th year starting), his Ascendant is Gemini (Mithuna) with Rahu in 2nd, Mars in 4th, Jupiter/Venus/Sun in 5th, Mercury in 6th, Saturn in 7th, Ketu in 8th and Moon in 12th. The most favourable planet for Mithun Lagna, Venus is sitting very favourably in its own 5th house and hence is very strong. 5th is a very important house for sports & entertainment and a strong 5th lord and house denotes intelligence coming out in full fervour. The Lagna Lord Mercury is in 6th which isn't ideal but even there you find that there is a parivartana (exchange of signs) between Mercury and Mars with some of Mars strengthening qualities falling to Mercury. Also the 9th lord Jupiter and 5th lord Venus are together casting a very auspicious yog and this has really helped him surmount exceeding heights. It is to be noted that the 9th and 5th are generally the most auspicious houses in a horoscope. Hence its interesting to see that his solar return chart was pointing in the right direction.

Tithi Pravesh Transit:
This is another transit chart reckoned from the tithi in which one was born. Kohli was born in the auspicious Eka Dashi Tithi with some remaining percentage. Taking the same Eka Dashi birth tithi with exact percentage remaining in 2017 as at birth, we find that his ascendant is same as his natal Lagna Sagittarius. His Tithi Pravesh chart is as follows; Dhanus Lagna with Saturn in 1st house, Ketu in 2nd, Rahu in 8th, Mars/Moon in 10th,  Jupiter/Venus/Sun in 11th and Mercury in 12th. Here you figure that the house of desires 11th has become very powerful with the presence of Jupiter, Venus and Sun. Imagine Lagna Lord (self), 9th lord (fortune) and 11th lord (desires) all sitting together in 11th granting him herculean power to go about with his duty. The 10th with the presence of Mars is also aiding since in natural kala purusha chart Mars gets exalted in the 10th. So in essence, the TP chart also shows that he would have a very promising year.

Hence all in all, even the stars seem to be aligned for Virat Kohli which has seen him raise his game to unprecedented heights. His natal chart with a strong Dasa and Sub Dasa running in addition to powerful transits, a royal solar year and an auspicious Tithi year has led to a rollicking spree of run adrenalin which has made his 30th year of life extremely memorable.

Virat Kohli Details:
Natal Birth Chart
DOB : 5th Nov 1988
POB : New Delhi, India
TOB : 10:30 AM
Ayanamsa : Raman 22-15-18.74

Match Making - South Indian Format (Jadhaga Porutham)

With regard to matching horoscopes for marriage purposes, moon plays the most pivotal role. There are many different types of matching methods which go under the scanner and the surprising part is that in traditional format of matching, it's the planet Moon and its Rasi which is of supreme importance. All you need to know are basically the Nakshatra (Star constellation) and it's Rasi (zodiac sign). There are 27 Nakshatra's beginning from Ashwini (1) and ending with Revathi (27) and there are 12 Rasi's starting from Aries (Mesha) and finishing with Pisces (Meena).

Mentioned below are the prominent test criteria's for match making. Most astrologers just do this star/rasi match and for that you don't really need to go and examine horoscopes with an astrologer as you can do it yourself. However for advanced matching, definitely a recommended professional should be considered.

One more interesting thing to note is the basis of difference in the methodology of matching between North India and South India. In the North Indian scheme of things, 8 determinants (kootas) are taken into account and each of them are assigned weights ranging from 1 to 8. This will result in a total of 36 and if the overall score exceeds 18 or 50%, it can safely be assumed to be a decent match. In down South of India, usually no specific points are factored and they are generally matched on a scale of 10 to 12 factors with some criteria's given far more importance than the others. Though you find a few criteria's over lapping between the two systems, the computation is marginally different as in Ashta Koot Milan, each of the tests are assigned weights and hence you have different ranges whereas in Jadhaga Porutham that's not the case and most of the test results either point to a 'yes' or 'no'.

This particular post will highlight on the South Indian Jadhaga Porutham format of match making. The North Indian format has already been made as a separate post. Listed below are the 12 main porutham's (tests) considered to assess the compatibility between the bride and the groom. Out of these, the first 10 are the major ones and the last 2 are optionally considered.

1) Dina:
Indication : Good health and prosperity based on counting of Nakshatras
Nakshatra : Essential
Rasi : Not necessary
In this only the star constellations are taken into account and this technique tests the health and prosperity of the couple based on a counting criteria. The counting is always ascertained from the girl and the 2nd, 4th, 6th, 8th and 9th set of star from the girl is considered to be auspicious. For this purpose, the Nakshatras are divided into 3 sets of 9 stars each. In effect taking the 27 stars in totality, the 2nd, 4th, 6th, 8th, 9th, 11th (1+1=2), 13th (1+3=4), 15th (1+5=6), 17th (1+7=8), 18th (1+8=9), 20th (2+0=2), 22nd (2+2=4), 24th (2+4=6), 26th (2+6=8) and 27th (2+7=9) can be taken for matching purpose. There are some further exceptions outlined on top of this but the basic objective is the star of the boy needs to fall in the aforementioned star number counted from the girl. Under this proposition, there will be 15 stars out of 27 that will meet expectations.

- If grooms star counted from bride falls in 2nd, 4th, 6th, 8th, 9th, 11th, 13th, 15th, 17th, 18th, 20th, 22nd, 24th, 26th and 27th, then it is very good match (Uthamam)
- If grooms star counted from bride falls in any other position, then it is not a good match (Athamam)

2) Gana:
Indication: Habits, behavior and temperament based on 3 Nakshatra groups
Nakshatra : Essential
Rasi : Not necessary
This method is for determining the temperament between the individuals. Here stars are categorized into 3 sections namely God (Deva), Human (Manushya) and Demon (Rakshasa) and are matched accordingly. The girl's star should be of equal or higher level than the boy for compatibility. For eg. if girls star and boys star both fall under the same category then its considered to be auspicious. If Girls is of God and boys is either of Human or Devil, then also it's considered but the other way round is not considered as a favorable match as the female is expected to possess higher sattwik (pure) qualities than her male counterpart.

- If brides star and grooms star both fall in the same category of Deva, Manusha or Rakshasa gana, then it is very good match (Uthamam)
- If brides star falls in Deva Gana and grooms star falls in either of Manusha or Rakshasa gana, then it is good match (Mathimam)
- If brides star falls in Manusha Gana and grooms falls in Rakshasa gana, then also it is good match (Mathimam)
- Any other case, it is not recommended (Athamam)

3) Mahendra:
Indication : Progeny in family based on Nakshatra counting
Nakshatra : Essential
Rasi : Not necessary
This is required to assess the possibility of offspring(s) in the family and also determining the longevity and bonding of the couple. This is always counted with basis from the girls star and if the boy’s birth star falls in the positions 4th, 7th, 10th, 13th, 16th, 19th, 22nd and 25th from that of the girl’s birth star, it is considered to be a happy match. Going by this proposition, only 8 stars out of 27 happen to meet this test criteria.

- If grooms star counted from bride falls in 4th, 7th, 10th, 13th, 16th, 19th, 22nd and 25th, then it is very good match (Uthamam)
- If grooms star counted from bride falls in any other position, then it is not a good match (Athamam)

4) Stree Deergam:
Indication : Wealth and Prosperity from Nakshatra counting
Nakshatra : Essential
Rasi : Not necessary
This test tells about the well being, longevity and prosperity between the couple and it is determined by the distance of the boy's star from that of the girl. The larger the distance better is the match. Always take the females star as base and count the boys star from her respective star. If the boys star is more than 13 of the girl, then it is very favourable. But in today's times, anything beyond 7 stars is considered reasonable for matching purpose. For eg if girls star is Ashwini, boys star can be anything from Poosam to Revathi as only then it happens to be greater than the said equation of 7 stars.

- If grooms star counted from the brides exceeds 13, then it is very good match (Uthamam)
- If grooms star counted from the brides exceeds 7, then it is good match (Mathimam)
- If grooms star counted from bride falls 7 stars or below, then it is not a good match (Athamam)

5) Yoni:
Indication : Sexual inclination and physical compatibility based on animal grouping
Nakshatra : Essential
Rasi : Not necessary
This is the method that tests the sexual compatibility of the couple. The nakshatras are categorised into animal categories with each star representing either a male animal or female animal. The matching is done based on different animal traits.

- If bride star is female animal and groom star is male animal, then it is very good match (Uthamam)
- If bride star and groom star are both male animal or female animal, then it is good match (Mathimam)
- If bride star and groom star fall in enemy animal category irrespective of male or female, then its not recommended (Athamam)

6) Rasi:
Indication: Family welfare and prosperity based on 12 zodiac signs relationship
Nakshatra : Not necessary
Rasi : Essential
This is for ensuring a peaceful life between the couple. Both the girls as well as the boys Nakshatra's get tagged under a particular rasi based on the star rising at birth and the points are allotted accordingly based on the zodiac sign compatibility. For good match, the grooms rasi should either be the same or be more than 6 signs away from the bride (except the 8th rasi) ie 1st, 7th, 9th, 10th, 11th or 12th rasi from brides rasi

- If grooms rasi is in 1st, 7th, 9th, 10th, 11th or 12th from the brides rasi, then it is very good match (Uthamam)
- If grooms rasi is in 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th or 8th from brides rasi, then it is not a good match (Athamam)

7) Rasi Adipathy:
Indication : Mental compatibility, friendship and understanding based on 7 planet lord parameters
Nakshatra : Not necessary
Rasi : Essential
This determines the mental compatibility between the partners and for this the ruler ship planet of the rasis in question is taken into account and compared. The basis of understanding is ascertained from the rasis in which the grooms and brides star fall into.

- If brides rasi and grooms rasi are friendly to each other, then it is very good match (Uthamam)
- If one of either brides or grooms rasi is friendly or neutral to the other, then it is good match (Mathimam)
- If both are enemy to each other, then it is not a good match (Athamam)

8) Vasiya:
Indication : Mutual physical attraction and mental happiness based on rasi compatibility
Nakshatra : Not necessary
Rasi : Essential
This is for estimating the level of mutual physical attraction between the couple. There are certain Rasi's which go along well with the other and if they are matching it is expected to be a good match, if not then the attraction factor is said to be not up to the mark.

- If grooms rasi falls in vasiya (attraction) to brides rasi, then it is very good match (Uthamam)
- If grooms rasi does not fall in vasiya (attraction) to brides rasi, then it is not a good match (Athamam)

9) Rajju:
Indication : Strength of marriage lasting based on Nakshatra body parts
Nakshatra : Essential
Rasi : Not necessary
This is an important criterion to assess how strong the marriage will be and about the health and  livelihood of the couple in question. For this each Nakshatra is linked to a body element and it is recommended that stars denoting same body part should not be matched for marriage to be long lasting. Stars of feet (Ketu/Mercury) indicate instability, stars of hip (Venus/Saturn) denote poverty, stars of navel (Sun/Jupiter) indicate issues of offsprings, stars of neck (Moon/Rahu) indicates problems to bride and stars of head (Mars) indicates problems to groom. For eg Moolam and Kettai should not be matched as they both represent the 'feet' body part.

- If brides and grooms nakshatra don't fall in the same rajju (body part), then it is a very good match (Uthamam)
- If brides and grooms nakshatra fall in the same rajju (body part), then it is not a good match (Athamam)

10) Vedha:
Indication : Hardship in marriage based on Nakshatra constellation
Nakshatra : Essential
Rasi : Not necessary
This is a factor to assess failure, hardship and incompatibility in marriage. For this purpose there are certain stars which are repellant to the other. They are supposed to be enemies and it's advised to avoid stars that are forming vedhai (enemity) to each other. For eg. Ashwini star should not be matched with Kettai and likewise Rohini should never be matched with Swati.

- If brides and grooms nakshatra don't fall in the same vedha (enmity), then it is a very good match (Uthamam)
- If brides and grooms nakshatra fall in the same vedha (enmity), then it is not a good match (Athamam)

11) Nadi:
Indication: Genetic compatibility and heredity based on 3 kinds of Nakshatra groups
Nakshatra: Essential
Rasi: Not necessary
This method computes the genetic compatibility based on the Nakshatra prevalent. The Nakshatra constellations are divided into 3 types of Nadi symbolizing 3 basic qualities of heart beat to test the genetic compatibility. It is advised that the star of the groom and bride should not fall under the same Nadi and this is somewhat similar to Rajju based match. This is however just an optional test of matching in the South Indian scheme and not given as much importance as how its viewed in the North Indian means of matching. For eg Hastham and Sadayam should not be matched as they both fall in Left Nadi, likewise Pooram and Pooradam also isn't a good match because they are in Middle Nadi and similarly Magam and Swati also shouldn't be matched as they both are in Right Nadi.

- If brides and grooms nakshatra don't fall in the same nadi (heartbeat), then it is a very good match (Uthamam)
- If brides and grooms nakshatra fall in the same nadi (heartbeat), then it is not a good match (Athamam)

12) Mara:
Indication: Conceiving ability to bear offspring based on grouping of  Nakshatras into 2 tree types
Nakshatra: Essential
Rasi: Not necessary
This method mainly tests on the ability to conceive and give birth to children. For this purpose, Nakshatras are classified into 2 tree types viz Milky trees and Dry Trees. It is highly ideal if both the girls star as well as boys star come under the ambit of milky trees. It is even beneficial if either one of their stars get assigned to a milky tree.

- If brides and grooms nakshatra both fall in the milky tree group, then it is a very good match (Uthamam)
- If either of brides and grooms nakshatra fall in milky tree group, then it is a good match (Mathimam)
- If both brides and grooms nakshatra don't fall under the milky tree group and are in dry tree group, then it is not a good match (Athamam).