Span: 23°20' Virgo – 6°40' Libra (sidereal)
Ruling lord: Mars
Presiding deity: Tvashtar (celestial architect)
Symbol: bright jewel/pearl
Shakti (classical power): accumulate merit / form
Chitra is the 14th of the 27 nakshatras, occupying 23°20' Virgo to 6°40' Libra in the sidereal zodiac. If the Moon stood in this stretch of sky at your birth, this is your Janma Nakshatra, your birth star.
The traditional reading is: stylish, sharp eye for design, wants to stand out.
The behavioural marker most often named: notices every visual detail and shapes a striking image that others stop to admire.
The classical anchor for this is the shakti, the power assigned to each nakshatra in the Taittiriya Brahmana. For Chitra it is accumulate merit / form, and the deity Tvashtar (celestial architect) and symbol bright jewel/pearl carry the same idea in image form.
Every nakshatra is quartered. Each quarter, a pada, is 3 degrees 20 minutes wide and maps onto a navamsa sign, which shades the reading:
| Pada | Span (sidereal) | Navamsa sign |
|---|---|---|
| Pada 1 | 23°20' Virgo – 26°40' Virgo | Leo |
| Pada 2 | 26°40' Virgo – 0°00' Libra | Virgo |
| Pada 3 | 0°00' Libra – 3°20' Libra | Libra |
| Pada 4 | 3°20' Libra – 6°40' Libra | Scorpio |
Because a pada lasts roughly six hours, you need your birth time to know which of the four is yours.
Chitra is ruled by Mars.
Because Chitra is ruled by Mars, anyone born with the Moon here begins life in the Mars period of the Vimshottari dasha cycle, which runs 7 years. That starting point shifts the timing of every period that follows, which is why two people of the same age can be in completely different chapters.
Chitra is nakshatra number 14 of 27, spanning 23°20' Virgo to 6°40' Libra in the sidereal zodiac. Its ruling lord is Mars, its presiding deity is Tvashtar (celestial architect), and its symbol is bright jewel/pearl.
Each nakshatra is quartered into padas of 3 degrees 20 minutes. For Chitra the four padas fall in the navamsa signs Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, in that order.
Mars rules Chitra. In the Vimshottari dasha system the Mars period lasts 7 years.
Not sure whether Chitra is yours? It takes your date, place and ideally time of birth.
Find my nakshatraThe span and the pada boundaries are arithmetic and exact. The lord, deity and symbol follow the classical sources and vary little between them. The character reading renders the shakti, deity and symbol in plain words; the classical texts themselves are terse here, and anything longer is later compilation.
Recorded source for this entry: BPHS; shakti to accumulate merit / form; deity Tvashtar (celestial architect), symbol bright jewel/pearl, lord Mars