Year 2010 Horoscope and Reports

As we are just approaching year 2010, just wanted to remind about some of the free 2010 horoscopes and 2010 astrology reports available -

• Year 2010 Horoscope
• Jupiter Transit in Year 2010 (Jupiter in Aquarius) 
• Shani (Saturn) Sade Sati in Year 2010
• Personalized Annual Horoscope for 2010 based on your birth chart

Hope you will like it.

 

Enjoy!!!

Astrology Software for Mobile Phone for Free

I am extremely pleased to announce world’s first astrology software for Mobile Phone/ Cell Phone that to absolutely FREE. It has almost all the features of AstroSage.com and can be accessed from your Mobile phone browser. All you need is an Internet connection (GPRS/ EDGE/3G) on your mobile phone. Now-a-days generally all mobile phones have Internet connection, so your mobile phone must already be ready for this "FREE astrology software for Mobile Phone".

Just point your mobile browser to http://astrosage.com/m/ and wow you have full astrology software in mobile phone that too absolutely free. As this software is Internet based, you need not to install anything on your Mobile Phone.

You can create birth chart, horary chart, match horoscopes, get daily predictions, daily panchang and much much more.

All Mobile Platforms like Windows Mobile, Palm OS, Apple iPhone, Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Samsung, LG, Nokia, O2, HTC, Motorola, WAP etc. are supported.

What you are waiting for? Pick up your mobile phone and hit http://astrosage.com/m/ and you have world of astrology in your mobile phone.

Mangal Dosha Report, Sade Sati Report and More

I am pleased to announce that now Mangal Dosha and Sade Sati reports can be easily accessed from the home page of AstroSage.com. Here are the direct links -

• Sade Sati Report
• Free Mangal Dosha Report

We have added remedies for Mangal Dosha on the Mangal Dosha report.

Apart from this, now December 2010 horoscopes are also available.

Also would also like to remind you that 2010 Yearly Horoscopes are already there at AstroCAMP.com.

2010 Horoscope Based on Vedic Astrology Moon Sign

Vedic astrology Moon-sign based horoscopes are available at AstroCAMP now. Please check it out -

Aries - Horoscope 2010
Taurus - Horoscope 2010
Gemini - Horoscope 2010
Cancer - Horoscope 2010
Leo - Horoscope 2010
Virgo - Horoscope 2010
Libra - Horoscope 2010
Scorpio - Horoscope 2010
Sagittarius - Horoscope 2010
Capricorn - Horoscope 2010
Aquarius - Horoscope 2010
Pisces - Horoscope 2010

You can find your personalized 2010 horoscopes at AstroSage.com.

Diwali Pujan Muhurta in 2009 - Some Important Points to Remember

There are few important points one need to consider while selecting Diwali Pujan muhurta -

1. Pradosh Kaal
The best time for Laxmi pujan is 3 muhurta (144 minutes) from sunset. Three muhurta (6 ghadi or 144 minutes) period everyday is called Nitya Pradosh and considered auspicious. Few people consider sunset time +-144 minutes and others also consider sunset time +- 72 minutes. In my opinion, closer to sunset time, the most powerful be the muhurta.

2. Lagna (Ascendant)
In my opinion, ascendant is the most important part of muhurta selection. It is said that if Lagna is good, one need not to worry about other doshas. Generally sthira lagna (Vrishabha - Taurus, Simha - Leo, Vrishchik - Scorpio, Kumbha - Aquarius) are considered most auspecious for the Diwali Pujan. We need to judge chart of the time according to astrological principles e.g. there should not be planets in 6,8,12 houses. In case we have to perform puja during that time, we should pray for the afflicted planet first and that peform the pujan. This is called shuddhi-karma.

3. Chaughadia or Chogadia
24 hours are divided into 16 equal time divisions and each divsion is known as Chaughadia. These 16 divisions are allocated to 7 choghadias as follows -

1. ‘Udwega’ - owned by Sun - Bad
2. ‘Amrit’ - owned by Moon - Good
3. ‘Roga’ - owned by Mars - Bad
4. ‘Laabh’ - owned by Mercury - Good
5. ‘Shubh’ - owned by Jupiter - Good
6. ‘Chara’ (or 'Chala') - owned by Venus - Medium
7. ‘Kaala’ - owned by Saturn - Bad

One should pick a good chaughadia for diwali pujan muhurta.

It is important to understand that all above mentioned points - pradosha kaal, lagna and chaughadia change for each location and that is the reason there is no standard muhurta for all the cities. In other words, diwali pujan muhurta for Delhi will not be the same as muhurta for Agra. It is important you consult local panchang, local news paper or local astrologer so that you know exact muhurta for your location. You can also use http://www.astrosage.com/ which can give you location specific calculation. Though for someone from non-astrological background it will be difficult and I would recommend consulting local newspaper or local astrologer.

Related Articles
1. Panchang & Diwali Muhurta for Laxmi Pujan
2. Diwali Pooja: Some Important Points to Know

Pakistan Terrorist Attacks and My Predictions

On 20th August this year, while analyzing Pakistan's independence chart and some other mundane charts, I posted on Twitter -

Mundane #Astrology: Coming one year seems extremely difficult for #Pakistan. Civil war, cold war and war in general.
(posted on Twitter at http://twitter.com/punitastrologer/status/3428002895 on 20th August 2009)

It is not more than two months since I had posted it and Pakistan is already burning. See this - http://bit.ly/1FjIFu and http://bit.ly/1XEsAl. In the last two weeks alone there are seven major terrorist attacks/ bomb blasts and hundreds of people are killed. Pakistan is already feeling the heat and the situation is not going to get easy soon.

Isn't astrology amazing? If an astrologer like me who spend very little time on Mundane astrology (branch of astrology used for predict about nations) can give some good predictions, imagine how important Mundane astrology can be if used by government in a systematic and scientific manner. How important it can be as planning tool for a country?

Gold touched all time high, as predicted

On an earlier blog post on July 30th, I had written at http://www.astrocamp.com/vedicastrology/2009/07/mercury-enters-leo-jupiter-enters_30.html post where I had mentioned that “Jupiter in Capricorn will be debilitated and hence the price of gold should go up. This should especially happen after 13th / 14th October when Jupiter becomes direct.”

I am not a regular follower of Gold price, so it has been brought to my attention by one of my blog reader that today on 14th October i.e. Gold touched all time high. Here is the story titled “Gold touches new high of Rs 16,120” on Busienss Standard at http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/gold-touches-new-highrs-16120/373158/

I pay respect to God and our sages for giving us such a divine science called "Astrology" and choosing me as one of the students.

Horoscope & RSS Feed are back

As I mentioned earlier, traffic on AstroSage.com has increased a lot and hence we have to move to a new and more powerful server to manage that much traffic. Due to this moving process, some of the feautres like daily horoscope and RSS feed became unavailable. Most of the features are restored now, but if you still find any feature not working, please let us know.

Saturn leaves Leo, enters Virgo & Sade Sati Report

Today on 9th September, Saturn will leave Leo sign (Simha Rashi) around 12:00 midnight IST and will enter in Virgo sign (Kanya Rashi). Saturn is a slowest moving planet among nine planets and hence its sign change is considered important from astrological perspective. Change of sign will have impact both on individuals as well as on nations. Leo is a sign of Sun which was unfriendly to Saturn and hence some astrologers believed that disturbances and recession in past two years were due to Saturn's presence in Leo. Now Saturn is entering into Virgo which is owned by Mercury who is friendly to Saturn and hence astrologers are expecting a better time ahead.

Saturn is called Shani in Sanskrit and is the most fearsome planets in astrology. Saturn also causes Sade Sati (seven and half year period) which people believe inauspicious and fear a lot. Saturn entering in Virgo also means that people having Cancer moon sign will not be under influence of Shani Sade Sati (seven and half year period of Saturn) now onwards. On the other side, Shani Sade Sati will start for the people having Libra (Tula) as Moon sign. So with Saturn being in Virgo, people having Leo, Virgo and Libra will be under influence of Sade Sati.

Truly speaking, there is nothing to fear about Shani Sade Sati and I have written a detailed article about Shani Sade Sati. Please read to understand and know more about Shani Sade Sati.

Finally the most important point for which I am writing this article - we are tomorrow announcing Sade Sati report on AstroSage.com. So please visit AstroSage.com for a detailed Sade Sati report for the whole life. I am also hoping that the same report will also be availble on HindiLok.com in Hindi language. 

Update on Sade Sati Report:
The report can be accessed now from AstroSage.com birth chart as well as MyKundali.com. Report will be found on left menu under the heading 'predictions' by the name of S'hani Sade Sati'.
Related Articles:
1. Shani Sade Sati - Results, How to Calculate and Remedies
2. Shani Sade Sati calculator with detailed report

YSR Reddy Missing - Dead or Alive?

According to news sources Mr. Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, popularly known as YSR & chief minister of Andhra Pradesh state, is missing since around 9:12 AM this morning. Search operations are going on. According to Times of India online edition, "From remote sensing satellites, fighter jets, UAVs, troops on the ground to barefoot deer-hunting tribals with bows and arrows- a mission of huge magnitude was underway on Wednesday night to trace YSR Reddy's missing helicopter." Everyone in India is asking the same question - what happened to YSR? Is YSR dead or alive?

As I don't have birth chart of YSR, natal astrology will not be of much of the use. In absence of birth details, horary astrology seemed the only resort. Horary astrology (Prashna Jyotish in Sanskrit) is a branch of astrology which is useful when birth details are not available. Some astrologers claim that horary is more accurate than the natal (birth chart) astrology.

So around 5PM today, I decided to cast horary chart to get the answer. Here are the query details for the horary chart -

Query: YSR dead or Alive?
Date of query: September 2nd, 2009
Time of query: 5:01 PM
Place of query: Agra, UP, India
Longitude: 78:00E
Latitude: 27:09N
Horary Number: 215

The detailed horary chart can be found here. Here is my analysis of the horary chart -

First house is house of overall well being. 8th house is the house of longevity. If these houses are connected with maraka (death giving) and badhaka (obstructing) houses, death is indicated.

In the present chart, ascendant sub lord is Saturn in 7th house. 2nd house and 7th house are called Maraka houses in Vedic astrology and presence of Saturn in 7th makes it Maraka. Saturn owns 12th and the 1st house. 12th house is the house of departure from this world & house of moksha etc., and indicates death if connected with maraka and badhaka houses. Saturn is in Nakshatra of Sun who is lord of 7th house and also posited in 7th house. So Saturn is a very strong Maraka planet.

Now see 8th house. 8th house sub lord is Venus. Venus is lord of 4th and 9th house and is situated in 6th house. According to Vedic astrology, for fixed ascendant, 9th house is the Badhaka house. Sixth house is the house of wound and diseases and generally gives indication of problem to the body. Venus is in the Nakshatra of Saturn and we have already talked about the fact that Saturn is a strong maraka planet.

Now let us analyze present dasa. Current maha dasa is of Moon who is lord of 6th house (disease/ wounds) and posited in 12th (departure from the world). Sub-period (bhukti) is of Venus and we have already talked about maraka and badhaka connections of Venus.

So to conclude, the chart doesn't present any good picture and chances of his survival looks bleak as per my analysis. I wish my analysis goes wrong. Quite a few of my fellow astrologers have predicted otherwise and I wish their predictions come out true. You can also read some of those analysis in the KP Astrology Discussion forum.

Note: This article is based on KP method of Horary astrology. KP Horary astrology uses an arbitrary number between 1 to 249 for calculating house positions and the above chart has been calculated using horary number 215.

Swine-Flu Prevention - The Ayurveda Way

They say that prevention is better than cure. It becomes even more important in present Swine Flu situation where new viruses like H1N1 are challenging human body. Generally I do not write anything other than astrology on this blog, but seeing the seriousness of present situation, I want to share my experience on this topic.

Ayurveda is not merely about medicine but about the way of living. Ayurveda daily routine and life-style is probably the only method to prevent such diseases. I have noted some of the very important advises that are relevant in case of swine flu and are noted keeping present life style in mind. Here are those, I hope these will be useful -

• Take Chyawanprash daily. Role of Chyawanprash in improving resistance power is generally well known in India. I myself experimented with it extensively and telling you based on my own experience. I feel that Chyawanprash is nothing less than miracle.
• Practice Anulom-Vilom Pranayam for minimum 5 minutes a day. This is a yogic method to improve resistance power. Though not directly related to Ayurveda, but pretty useful in present situation.
• Sleep latest by 11:00 PM and avoid staying up late. A time after 11:00 PM is known as kapha period and body immune system is not that powerful to fight infectious disease after this time.
• Avoid over exertion.
• Try to move around the place of work instead of sitting in one place or do some kind of physical work. This will help you to refresh yourself, especially when you feel dull & lethargic. The idea is to avoid exertion, as one can be infected only at a time when body lacks the power.
• Do not delay or skip your meals, meals should be taken at regular timings and in fixed quantities.
• Always have fresh food and avoid stale food. Ghee is preferred over oil for food preparation. Ghee has divine healing power and oil can not be a replacement of Ghee. If possible, use Cow Ghee.
• Daily use of Honey, Ginger (Adarakh) and Basil (Tulasi) helps controlling excessive kapha. This is good for controlling Kapha, but I don't think that it has any significant impact on improving resistance power. I would give priority to Haldi Milk and Chaywawanprash.
• Take one cup milk with one tea-spoon full of Haldi. This is also good way to increase digestive fire which is required to fight against such diseases. Again I myself have seen miraculous power of this medicine in similar situation and highly recommend it.
• Avoid refrigerated, microwaved, re-warmed, stale food, etc. Food should be taken immediately after cooking.

These are some simple but very effective suggestions. I strongly advocate them.

Swine Flu, Drought and Solar Eclipse

Mundane astrology is a difficult subject and precise prediction requires a lot of efforts. I generally do not write very often on national and international affairs. Though recently on July 11th, I had written an article on Solar eclipse and its possible impacts. In the article I had made some observations on impact of solar eclipse. Today's Times of India newspaper top stories - 1. "(Swine) Flue kills 3 more, toll 10" and 2. "161 districts are draught-prone but don't panic" reminded me about my recent article on solar eclipse. The introductory paragraph of the article goes as follows -

"Cancer is a watery sign. If the eclipse falls in Cancer sign, sedition, diseases, epidemics, extreme changes in weather leading to drying up of rivers and canals etc. are indicated."

It is unfortunate that we are seeing almost everything that is written in this paragraph. We have already seen drought in many parts of India and now swine flu has already given indication of severity of current problem. I am not sure whether Swine Flu can be called epidemics or not at this point of time, but I hope that it will be controlled at this point itself and will not spread further.

I also made certain observations on the possiblity of regions going to be affected and was also very close. The original article can be found at http://www.astrocamp.com/vedicastrology/2009/07/solar-eclipse-on-22-july-2009-india-and.html

The reason for writing current article is two-fold. One, I want to communicate the importance of Mundane astrology. Just imagine how useful it can be, if it is used by government as a serious governance tool? Government spends million of rupees on meteorological department, so why they can not spend money on astrology and use it in a systematic way?

Anyways, second, I also wanted to remind astrology community that solar eclipses are important predictive tools and should not be ignored (especailly, eclipses of higer magnitude). In fact, it requires serious systematic research on solar eclispe and I am sure we will be able to obtain higher precision in predictions (location, nature, timing etc.).

Third (I know I earlier mentioned two-fold), no harm in little bit self-promotion ;-)

Janmashtami on August 2009 - Shri Krishna Janmashtami

Krishna Janmashtami is one of the main festivals of Hindus. In 2009, Janmashtami is being celebrated on August 14th in Northern parts of India, while date of Janmashtami is 13th of August in other parts.

According to Hindu mythology, Lord Krishna took birth as the son of Devaki and Vasudev on the eighth day of the dark half (Krishna Paksha) of Bhadrapad month, when the Rohini Nakshatra was ascendending. This is the reason Rohini Naskshatra has given special importance for this festival.

This festival is known with different names in different parts of India e.g. "Krishnashtami", "Saatam Aatham", "Gokulashtami", "Ashtami Rohini", "Srikrishna Jayanti", "Sree Jayanthi" or sometimes simply as "Janmashtami".

The festival of Janmashtami is observed with lot of gay and happiness all over India. Special poojas are performed both in homes as well as temples. The entire day is devoted to remembering and singing the praise of Lord Krishna. Devotees welcome and celebrate the birth of their favourite god with lot of fervor.

If you are interested in puja process and rituals for Janmashtami, please see - Krishna Janmashtami Pooja Process and Aarti

Chandra Grahan (Lunar Eclipse) on August 6, 2009

A penumbral lunar eclipse (upchhai chandra graham) will occur on August 6, 2009. The eclipse will last for about three hours. The August 6 grahan will not be visible to the naked eye as its magnitude is only 0.402, according to NASA. As the magnitude of this chandra grahan is so low, there will not be any significant astrological impact. This chandra grahan should be ignored for all religious or astrological purposes.

Next major lunar eclipse will be on New Year’s eve 31st December 2009 full moon day or bright half of Hindu Paush month (Hindu Paush month, shukla paksha, Poornima). This eclipse will be on Ardra Nakshatra and Mithun Rashi (Gemini sign). This chandra grahan will be visible in through-out India. According to Indian standard time, entry time of the eclipse will be 24:22 (night 00:22 AM), max will be 24:53 (night 00:53 AM), and end will be 25:24 (night 01:24 AM). The total time of the eclipse will be approx. 1 hour 3 minutes.

As a partial lunar eclipse, this will also be visible in parts of Russia, China, Mangolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Britain, and quite a few other European and Gulf countries.

AstroSage.com Server Upgradation

To keep up with the increased number of visits, we are upgrading infrastructure for AstroSage.com. During the upgrade process, some of the AstroSage.com features may not be working. Most importantly new registrations will not be possible. Everything should back to normal on new infrastructure in a day or two. Appreciate your patience and support.

Mercury enters Leo, Jupiter enters Capricorn

Today on 30th July 2009, we have seen two significant astrological events. First, Mercury left Cancer sign and entered Leo sign and Magha star. Cancer/ Leo junction has special meaning in Vedic astrology because it marks change in both sign as well as star.

In Vedic Astrology, Leo sign is owned by Sun and Magha star (Nakshatra) is owned by Ketu. So generally saying Mercury will be influenced by Sun and Ketu. How it will affect you? Generally zodiac sign horoscopes are not good to get accurate predictions so I am not interpreting it from the zodiacal sign perspective. Though, to help you interpreting this combination, I would like to make one important point. As stated earlier, this change is influenced by Sun and Ketu and if these planets are affected in your birth chart, you can see some problems for you. There are various steps to judge affliction of a planet, but to keep it simple I would suggest is check their placement in 6th, 8th or 12th house from ascendant. Also see if Sun is in Libra sign where it gets debilitated. If these are the cases, this combination can affect you in a negative way. If you are not sure about the placement of Sun and Ketu in your birth chart, your can use http://www.mykundali.com/ or http://www.astrosage.com/ to find it out. By the way, Mercury is going to be in Leo till 20th of August.

Other major event is about retrograde Jupiter entering in Capricorn Sign (Makar). Previously it was in Saturns’s another sign Aquarius (Kumbha Rashi) and now being retrograde entered back to Makar which also means that it got debilitate again. Jupiter is going to be in this sign till 19th December and then it will head back to Aquarius (Kumbha). During this period Jupiter is going to be in Mars’ Dhanishta star which again means that good or bad results will depend upon the placement of Mars in your birth chart. If your Mars is well placed, you will enjoy all benefits of this combination. On the contrary, if Mars is afflicted by being 6th, 8th or 12th house from ascendant, being debilitated (in Cancer sign), this combination can affect you adversely.

On the Mundane astrology side, it is generally said that if a planet is badly placed, the price of the metal related to that planet will increase. Jupiter in Capricorn will be debilitated and hence the price of gold should go up. This should especially happen after 13th / 14th October when Jupiter becomes direct.

Rakhi / Raksha Bandhan Hindu Festival

Rakshabandhan is one of the most important festivals of Hindus. This festival signifies the unbroken love between brother and sister. This festival is celebrated on full moon day of savan Hindu month. In this year 2009, it will be celebrated on 5th August.

The word "Rakshabandhan" stands for bonding someone for sprititual and physical security. That's why when a sister ties Rakhi knot, she says, "Brother! I have come to you; I hope you will protect me from all the evils."

On this auspicious day, sisters tie a sacred band called Rakhi on the wrists of their brothers and feed them sweets. In return, brothers give various gifts to their sisters. Draupadi, wife of Pandavas and daughter of king Drupad, used to consider lord Krishna her brother. Once Krishna's hand got wounded and it started bleeding badly. The moment Draupadi saw it, she torn a corner of her Sari and wrapped it on Krishna’s hand. Mythology says that Krishna conjured up bolts of clothes for Draupadi to repay the debt when Duhshasana tried to disrobe her.

There is another similar incident in history of India when Hindu queen of Chittor Karmawati sent Rakhi to emperor of Delhi Humayu. Humayu accepted it and fought the battle with king of Gujrat Bahadurshah for honor of the queen. The divine love and emotion between brothers and sisters are the soul of this festival. Hindus all over the world celebrate it on large scale.

On this day, sisters place paddy-ears on walls after taking bath and worship it with Kheer made of rice, sweets and vermicelli (sevai) etc. Bands of Rakhi are glued on these paddy-ears using kheer or sweets. Those women who bed wheat etc. on Naga Panchami put these tiny plants on place of worship, and hook them on the ears of their brothers after tying Rakhi.

Once the eldest of Pandavas, king Yudhishthir asked about it to Lord Krishna, "O Krishna! Please tell me the story of Rakshabandhan which eradicates all afflictions." Krishna replied, "Yudhishthira, once gods and demons fought a great battle for twelve consecutive years. King of gods, Indra, finally lost the battle. Gods became lackluster and Indra with other gods, after losing all the hopes of victory, went to Amaravati.

The king of demons won over all three worlds (loka). He pronounced banishment of Indra and banned yajna and sacrifices etc. Due to fear of demons, all good activities like yajna, practice of Vedas and divine celebrations etcetera stopped. King Indra could not tolerate it. He called the guru of gods, Brihaspati and told him, 'O Guru! I want to fight a final battle with these demons and I will keep fighting this time until I die. Destiny is most powerful of all. Let the inevitable take place.' First Brihaspati tried to calm him down. But seeing unflinching determination of Indra, he asked for divine ritual for protection. On the day of full moon of Shrawan month, this ritual was performed.

येनवद्धो बली राजा दानवेन्द्रो महाबलः।
तेन त्वाममिवध्नामि रक्षे माचल माचल॥

Brihaspati, the guru of gods, gave the divine protection to Lord Indra using this mantra. Indra, the conqueror of ancient demon Vritta, with his wife follow the order of Brihaspati and defeated demons to establish Dharma again."

Nag Panchami/ Nagara Panchami/ Nagpanchmi - Hindu Festival

Nag panchami is celebrated on 5th day of bright half of Shravan month (Shrawan Shukla Panchami). In this year 2009, Nag panchami will be celebrated on Sunday 26th of July.

Naga is the word for snake in Sanskrit and this day is called Nagapanchami because snakes are worshiped on this day. According to astrology, Snake god is the lord of 5th day of a Hindu month, so it is considered to be the day meant for snakes. Garud Puran says that statues of snakes should be placed on both sides of the house on this day and Maha-naags like Ananta etc. should be worshiped.

According to Skand Puran’s Nagar Khand, all desires come true if one worships the snakes of Chamatkarpur. Narad Puran says one should observe fast on Kartik Shukla Chaturthi to avoid snakebite. It also suggests later that snakes should also be worshiped on Bhadrapad Krishna Panchami , fast should be observed and all family members should feed milk to snakes.

One time food should be taken on prior date 4th (Chaturthi) and complete fasting should be done on 5th (Panchami). On this day, draw five snakes using turmeric and sandalwood ink with the pen of silver, gold, wood or clay, and worship them with Kheer, Panchamrit, Dhoop, incense sticks, Naivedya and lotus flower etc. After the rituals, feed dishes like Kheer and laddu to Brahmins. One should not dig any surface on the day of Nagapanchami.

To worship snake god, make the snake of a rope and tie seven knots in it. Then place it on a wooden bench. Worship the deity with turmeric, rice and flowers etc. and offer the mixture of milk, ghee and sugar to the holy deity.

Sing hymns after worship and offer the mixture of milk, honey and some sugar to snake by putting it in front of any snake burrow. Take a little soil from there and draw the picture of a snake on the corner walls of home. Listen the story of Nagapanchami at the end.

Surya Grahan on 22nd July - Exact Time

Lots of people asked me about exact start, maximum and end time of Surya Grahan for their city/ country. It is not possible to reply individually, so though I'll tell you how to calculate it by themselves.

You can calculate exact eclipse time for your place using NASA Surya Grahan Calculator (http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/JSEX/JSEX-index.html). If you do not find your city in the city list of NASA calculator, you will require latitude and longitude of your city. Latitude and longitude of your city can be found from http://www.astro.com/atlas.

This is a short article, but don't miss these posts on Surya Grahan -
1. Surya Grahan Calculator
2. Chandra Grahan Calculator
3. Surya Grahan on 22nd July - India and World Forecasts
4. Three Eclipses in a Row - Good or Bad
5. When is the Next Solar Eclipse

Solar Eclipse on 22 July 2009 - India and World Forecasts

[Update January 15th, 2010]: for information on Surya Grahan on 15th January 2010, please go here.

There will be a complete Solar Eclipse on 22nd July 2009. According to Hindu date it will be on Shravan month Krishna paksha (dark half) 30, Wednesday, Samvat 2066. This eclipse will be visible throughout India. According to Indian Standard Time, Solar Eclipse will be seen between 5:31 AM to 7:25 AM. This eclipse will be on Pushya Nakshatra and Cancer Sign (Karka Rashi).

Eclipses are of four types - total, annular, hybrid and partial (see the box). Interestingly among 224 solar eclipses in 21st century, this solar eclipse on 22nd July will have longest duration of totality. As a side note, the longest annular eclipse of 21st century will be on January 15, 2010. So we are going to observe some of the rarest eclipses of this century.

There are four types of solar eclipses:

1. A total eclipse occurs when the Sun is completely obscured by the Moon.
2. An annular eclipse occurs when the Sun and Moon are exactly in line, but the apparent size of the Moon is smaller than that of the Sun. Hence the Sun appears as a very bright ring, surrounding the outline of the Moon.
3. A hybrid eclipse (also called annular/total eclipse) transitions between a total and annular eclipse. At some points on the surface of the Earth it is visible as a total eclipse, whereas at others it is annular. Hybrid eclipses are comparatively rare.
4. A partial eclipse occurs when the Sun and Moon are not exactly in line and the Moon only partially obscures the Sun. This phenomenon can usually be seen from a large part of the Earth outside of the track of an annular or total eclipse.
   (Source: Wikipedia)

Different sources give slightly different time for start, mid and end time for eclipses. For the upcoming Solar Eclipse on 22nd July, I am getting following details for New Delhi -

NASA Solar Eclipse Calculator
Start: 5:39, Max: 6:26:35, End: 7:24:36

Shri Brajbhoomi Panchang
Start: 5:34, Max: 6:27, End: 7:25

Chintaharan Panchang
Start: Grastodit (eclipsed while rising), Max: 6:27, End: 7:25

From this we can see that there is slight difference in calculation for eclipses. Though for all practical purpose all three times should be good enough. Above eclipse times are for New Delhi, India. Exact start, max and end time for solar eclipse vary slightly for each city. If you want to find out exact time for the solar eclipse for your city, please use NASA Solar Eclipse calculator.

Max effect time for 22nd July solar eclipse is somewhere between 6:20 (Salem, Trivendrum, Mysore, Maduri, Tiruchirapalli, Cochin, Coimbatore etc.) to 6:30 (Imphal, Srinanagar). Overall eclipse time is somewhere between 5:31 IST to 7:25 IST.

We should also note that eclipse at the time of sun-rise (grastodit) is considered worst astrologically and it is happening in Allahabad, Indore, Guwahati, Jabalpur, Patana, Bhopal, Badodara, Varanasi, Siliguri, and Surat cities to name a few. Please see the eclipse google map and the eclipse chart for India for knowing the cities where sun will rise eclipsed.

Sign-wise astrological forecast for Solar Eclipse on 22nd July 2009
As I mentioned earlier, eclipse doesn’t have any significant effect on individuals and are more related to Mundane astrology (branch of astrology used to predict world affairs and world events, as opposed to individual's events). In my opinion, the eclipse predictions for each sign that we are seeing everywhere do not have much astrological value and hence I am not writing any predictions here.

For the readers who are here only for the astrological predictions for their sign, I do not want to disappoint them. Hence, I am borrowing short predictions from Chintaharan Panchang as follows -

1. Aries - Agony
2. Taurus - Financial Gain
3. Gemini - Physical Problems
4. Cancer - Hurt
5. Leo - Financial Loss
6. Virgo - Gain
7. Libra - Happiness
8. Scorpio - Defamation
9. Sagittarius - Fatal Pain
10. Capricorn - Pain to/ due to Female
11. Aquarius - Happiness
12. Pisces - Worry

(These predictions are based on Moon sign and NOT Sun sign. If you do not know your moon sign, please check our moon sign calculator here.)

Mundane Predictions for Solar Eclipse on 22nd July 2009 (India)
According to late J. C. Luthara, "the eclipse of Sun are usually followed by events which mainly concern the ruler of the country, the government of the country, high government officials, ministers, administrators, nobility, top political personages, judiciary, bureaucracy, top business magnates, high religious persons etc. but normally, it is the ruler of the country who is mainly affected. Other personals mentioned may or may not be affected."

For New Delhi, Max Time for this solar eclipse is 6:27 AM. During this time, Ascendant will be Cancer 15 degree 8 minutes. Both ascendant and Sun will be passing through Pushya Nakshatra. Sun will be in first decandate (drekkana) of Cancer and Ascendant will be in 2nd decandate of Cancer.

Cancer is a watery sign. If the eclipse falls in Cancer sign, sedition, diseases, epidemics, extreme changes in weather leading to drying up of rivers and canals etc. are indicated. More specifically, extreme change in weather is associated with the first decandate (first part) of Cancer where as "increase in prostitution, rivers and canals dry up" are results associated with second decandate (second part) of Cancer. The ascendant is rising at the time of max eclipse in New Delhi, so no wonder we are already seeing drought like situation in India. Some of these results may be applicable to the whole world, but will affect India because total eclipse will be seen in India.

According to Varahamihira, if Sun rises eclipsed there will be danger to autumnal crops as well as to the king. So the rulers (Prime minister, President, Ministers of Ruling parties) can be hit by this eclipse and they should be careful this year. As the Patna and Bhopal are two state capitals where total eclipse can be seen, rulers, top officials and ministers of these states can be affected as well. Beware Manmohan Singh, Nitish Kumar and Shivraj Singh.

Astrologically Eastern India - Bihar, Jharkhand, Bangadesh, Meghalaya, Assam, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura etc. are some of the regions that are governed by Ardra, Punarvasu and Pusya Nakshatra. As we know that the eclipse is on Pushya Nakshatra, we can observe some problems related to Eastern India. As Bihar is a part of Eastern India as well, it gives doubly indication of problems in Bihar in upcoming period.

Independence chart of India has Taurus ascendant. This eclipse is falling in Cancer sign which is the third house in the chart of India. Third house signifies communication, transportation, neighbors, and railway ministry. Eclipse in 3rd house indicates that India will not be having good relations with neighbours. We can also expect some serious border crashes this year. Mamta Banerjee’s newly formed railway ministry can also face some hardship. There can be some rail, road, air, and water accidents in general.

Mundane Predictions for Solar Eclipse on 22nd July 2009 (International)
According to Western astrology Scotland, Holland, New Zealand, North and West Africa, Isle of Mauritius, Paraguay are some of the countries related to the sign Cancer. These places, and more specifically the places which are close to sea (due to eclipse in Cancer sing) may be affected by this eclipse. Same results that are ascribed for India can also be mentioned for these countries like danger to crops and rulers, drying up of water sources etc.

Routine to be followed During Solar Eclipse
Solar Eclipse has given a lot of importance in Hinduism. At the time of the eclipse, people are suggested to observe fast, bathe in the sacred rivers. They should do charitable acts. They should donate cows, money and gold. One is suggested not not to take food during the eclipse. One should take food only after seeing the sun free from the eclipse. Pregnant women are advised not to see the eclipse otherwise the child born may have some kind of defect. Householders are forbidden from sexual intercourse on the day of the eclipse, for the same reason. Eclipse time is also considered very auspicious for sadhana (spiritual practice).

Related Articles

• Three Eclipse in a Row - Good or Bad

References

• Eclipses in 21st century
• NASA Google Eclipse map for 22nd July
• NASA Eclipse World Map
• NASA Eclipse Map for India

Three Eclipses in a Row - Good or Bad?

Whenever there is an eclipse astrologers find some method to term it as rare as well as disastrous. Upcoming three eclipses are no exceptions. We are hearing all sort of scaring predictions and prophesies for the upcoming eclipses. TRP hungry and ignorant electronic media due worsening the whole scene by showing all sort of different stories.

One article on Rediff says, "The world will witness a rare astronomical event- a series of triple eclipses starting July 2009. The fist in the series of triple eclipses will be a lunar eclipse on July 7 which will be followed by a solar eclipse on July 22 and then a lunar eclipse on August 6." The same article quotes D K Hari and his wife Hema Hari mentioning events like Kurukshethra war, destruction of city of Dwaraka, World War I, and World War II - all were followed by triple eclipses.

The first eclipse will occur on July 7, 2009, which will be visible in Australia, the Pacific and Americas. The solar eclipse on July 22, 2009 will be visible in India, Nepal, China and Central Pacific and the lunar eclipse on August 6, 2009 will be visible in America, Europe, Africa and West Asia.

Eclipses are very significant in astrology especially Mundane astrology (branch of astrology used to predict world affairs and world events, as opposed to individual's events). Generally eclipses give indications of bad happenings and that is the reason astrologers haste in predicting mishaps and destructions. For the present eclipses, we must note some very important point before we reach to any conclusion. Firstly, both the lunar eclipses on 7th July as well as 6th August are Penumbral which means partial and not fully darkening the Moon's light. Penumbral Lunar Eclipse is not regarded as eclipse for astrological as well as religious purpose, so should not be used for any astrological predictions. Any astrologer making lunar eclipses of this year as a basis of his astrological predictions is making a mistake. Also the magnitudes of Lunar eclipses are so less that it is almost insignificant even for astronomical purposes.

What will be the impact on me?
Nothing measurable. Firstly, the magnitude of lunar eclipses are insignificant. Secondly, eclipses makes noticeable impact on nations and not on individual. I'll write more about only significant eclipse on July 22nd, 2009 here so don't forget to subscribe.

Will I have to follow religious daily routine (din-charya) prescribed for eclipse?
For Lunar eclipse, No. For Solar eclipse on 22nd July, Yes. You can know more about the daily routine needs to be followed on the day of eclipse here.

Related Articles
1. Solar Eclipse on 22 July 2009 - India and World Forecasts
2. PDF of NASA's graphic illustration of visibility of Lunar Eclipse on 7th July
3. When is the Next Solar Eclipse
4. Solar Eclipse (Surya Grahan) Calculator & Daily Routine
5. Lunar Eclipse (Chandra Grahan) Calculator
6. My articles on Mundane Astrology

Jyotish Tutorial

People keep asking me about free resources on Internet where they can learn astrology. This blog has lots of astrology articles whereas related website www.AstroSage.com provides all the necessary tools to create a horoscope. I have written tutorial but that is on KP System which is advanced system of astrology and can be slightly confusing for beginners. There are also plenty of free e-books available on Internet, but those as well not that well suited for beginners. As we know there are many resources on Internet, but it is difficult to find a systematic tutorial on Vedic astrology for beginners.

Having said that, Now-a-days, I generally recommend these two online tutorials to Jyotish enthusiasts -

• http://www.scribd.com/doc/3923061/KN-RAO-S-Astrology-Lessons
• http://www.scribd.com/Jyotish-Primer-by-Rohiniranjan/d/26854607

Both the tutorials are from scribd, so can be downloaded in PDF format for later reference. The first tutorial based on KN Rao's PAC DARES methodology which is a nice way to explain some important Jyotish concept. The second tutorial is comprehensive enough to give a good start to a beginner.

I must tell here that there are too many systems in Vedic astrology and no tutorial and no book can cover them all. At the end of the day, an astrologer has to devise his own methodology which suits him most. These tutorials will just help you getting basics and you should refer to the e-books mentioned in the related article section to improvise your knowledge further.

Related Articles:
1. Astrology Tutorials by Astrologer Punit Pandey
2. Free Vedic Astrology E-Books
3. Krishnamurti Paddhati Tutorial
4. Vedic Astrology Books and Authors for Beginners

Web.Bot 2012 - Best Method for Future Predictions or a Scam

Web.Bot project caught public attention when History channel telecasted a program on "end of the civilization in year 2012". Web.Bot predictions, being in line with previous predictions made by ancient "seers" and civilizations, caught public eyes quickly. Also unlike older methods of predictions, web.bot predictions are said to be based on search engine algorithms combined with natural language processing which makes it attractive for scientific brain.

Web.bot project claims to predict Space Shuttle Columbia tragedy, 9/11 attacks, present ecomomic crisis and many many more such events in advance.

For those of you who do not know, the web bot technology uses a system of spiders to crawl the Internet and search for keywords, much like a search engines like Google. In a simple language, crawling means going to a list of web locations in an automatated fashion by a software program. When a keyword is located, the bot program takes a snapshot of the text preceding and following the keyword. Though unlike search engine, this snapshot of text is sent to a central location and processed using some astrology-like algorithm known to the developers of web.bot project only. Based on the limited information available on Internet, the algorithm uses theories similar to I Ching (Chinese Astrology) combined with the physics theory of time. The idea is to tap into the "collective unconscious" of the universe by the use of Internet and using it for predictions.

From the 'web.bot project' website – “What becomes obvious when reading about the technology is that it sometimes reads a bit like the I Ching (the Chinese Book of Changes) because the technology doesn't come out and say "go look for a terrorist attack over there" What it does is gives phrases that would be associated with how people talk about an event, or more accurately, how they change their speech to reflect their thought processes because of an event (after). The web bot technology apparently taps in to an area of preconscious awareness.”

They claim to predict Space Shuttle Columbia tragedy, 9/11 and many such events in advance. It seems they also predicted end of the civilization in year 2012 on Hisotry channel that has given them popularity. Here I quote from their website -

“The Global Consciousness Project registered what appears to have been a disturbance in "the force" or the regularly orderly operation of life associated with 9/11. Supposed "random" numbers generated all over the world appeared to become less random immediately prior to 9/11.”

Is it possible to predict future with this kind of technology? Being a software engineer, having knowledge of astrology and IChing, and having knowledge of search engine web bots, I seriously doubt the whole theory. I have my reasons for that. 

Web.Bot predictions are primarily based on the assumption that ‘we know a little bit in advance’ about the future. In other words, suppose somebody is going to attack you, you will be ready to defend yourself few seconds before the first move made by the attacker. The physics' theory of time is stated behind the reasoning of theory of 'preconsciousness'. In other words, you consciousness tells you in advance that something is going to happen. The web.bot claims to gather that collective consciousness from the Internet and process using some inhouse developed software.

This theory has some serious flaws though. No doubt that the Internet is the best place (so far available to us) to gather “collective consciousness”. There are people participating in discussion forums, writing blogs and contributing to Internet in some way or another. That information is available for web crawler to crawl and interpret using their own formula.

There are no scientific proof available to support preconsciousness theory used by the project. Assuming that the preconsciousness theory is correct and we get some clues for future in advance, I wonder why they are seeing clues shaping only few months ahead of the event? Why they are not getting it in much advance time period, especially if we see from the universal perspective (on which time theory is based), 3 months seems to be a very small period. This suits to the astrologer, but I am not able to understand why it is suiting to the universe. Similar theory, like astrology, never claims that these start getting indication of an event just three months before the time. If 'preconsciousness' theory is based on the light speed and the theory of time, whatever be the prediction, a web bot should be able to see it only few seconds ahead of event and not months ahead.  

Also are these clues provided by Internet is enough? The project is claiming success since 1990. That time there was very little community participation/ blogs/ discussion forums on Internet. From where this project was gathering information to predict that accurately that time? How that “collective human consciousness” was being gathered that time?

Also any branch of science takes some time to develop. Astrology took thousands of years before it come to the present shape and still developing. Similar to the development process of any science, astrology also requires hit and trials. The time taken by this theory to develop doesn’t look inline with the natural knowledge development process.

Then why a channel like History channel telecasting such a program on a hoax at very first place? History channel guys are the right people to answer this question, but I feel that History channel is not behaving responsibly in this case. After studying information available on Internet, it invites serious questions. The person behind the web.bot project is hidden and not disclosed his identity. Most of the sections of the website are taken down. The payments are taken using Paypal probably to maintain anonymity. There is no name of the company on the website. I wonder why they want to hide all this information.

I would also like people to read this post available on History channel’s discussion forum - http://boards.history.com/topic/Decoding-The-Past/Is-The-History/700011099. This post also suggests that whole web.bot project is a hoax/scam and created to manipulate the stock market. It seems that the History channel is knowingly/ unknowingly playing in the hand of those manipulators which is very unfortunate. Please stay away from the web.bot project. 

When is the Next Solar Eclipse

[Update January 15th, 2010]: for information on Surya Grahan on 15th January 2010, please go here.

Eclipse has religious and astrological importance in our life. Hindu religion advises observing a different daily routine (din-charya) on the day of eclipse. Astrology, especially Mundane astrology (branch of astrology used to predict world affairs and world events, as opposed to individual's events), uses eclipse as one of the most important tools for predictions.

Generally we rely on Panchang for knowing the exact date and time of eclipse. I have talked about eclipse calculators available on Internet and now there is another very good tool named Wolfram announced that can help us in finding eclipse related information. Wolfram is a new search engine technology that uses natural language processing to give results of query which are more than just keywords and answers graphically. I'll not talk more about Wolfram because that is not purpose of this post, rather stick to our topic of getting date and time for the next eclipse.

You can go to http://www.wolframalpha.com/ and search for "Next Solar Eclipse" to get the details of the upcoming eclipse. You can also simply click on this link and it will show you the date and time of the next eclipse. It will not only show you the date and time of the eclipse but also other important information like duration, countries where visible, graphical view (see image above) etc. I am sure it will be a very useful tool for astrologers as well as general Indian public.

Of course, Wolfram is not limited just to finding eclipses and it can be used for many other scientific, mathematical and astronomical purposes. You can try out following queries as well (just click the link) -

1. Compute Next Lunar Eclipse
2. Compute Next Solor Eclipse
3. Compute the location of Venus on 17th May 2009

Just to save your time, here are the dates and times for upcoming eclipses given by Wolfram-

Next Lunar Eclipse
3:09 PM IST on Tuesday, July 7, 2009 (Note: this is Penumbral Lunar Eclipse and doesn't regarded as eclipse for astrological as well as religious purpose)

Next Solar Eclipse
8:05 AM IST on Wednesday July 22, 2009 (Starts: 6:23 AM, Maximum: 8:05 AM, End: 9:47 AM)

My Panchang (Chinta Haran) tells following information about the complete eclipse on 22nd July -

"There will be complete Solar Eclipse on 22nd July 2009, Hindu date - 'Shravan Krishna 30, Wednesday, Samvat 2066.' This eclipse will be visible throughout India. According to Indian Standard Time, the entry time of this Solar Eclipse will be 5:28 AM. Mean time for Solar Eclipse will be 6:23 AM and the exit time will be 10:42AM. This eclipse will be on Pushya Nakshatra and Cancer Sign (Karka Rashi)."

As we can see there is slight variation in the start, maximum and end time of my Panchang and Wolfram data. I cross checked with Nasa utility and found that my Panchang calculation is little more closer to the Nasa calculation than the Wolfram calculation. Still I believe that Wolfram calculation is good enough for most proposes, also graphical representation is something that can not be found anywhere else.

If time permits, I'll also write about the forecast for this solar eclipse for everybody. Please subscribe to this blog to keep updated and get articles in your email.

Related Articles
1. Solar Eclipse (Surya Grahan) Calculator
2. Lunar Eclipse (Chandra Grahan) Calculator
3. My articles on Mundane Astrology

Shrapit Dosh/ Shrapit Yog/ Shrapit Yoga Explained

Shrapit Yoga is also called Shrapit Dosha. Literary meaning of the word "Shrapit" is somebody who is cursed. Talks on "Shrapit Yoga" seems to be increasing on Internet and the public is very much confused due to the lack of authentic information.

Shrapit Yoga is said to be formed when Saturn and Rahu are together in a single sign in a horoscope. Some astrologers also suggest that Saturn's aspect on Rahu also results in Shrapit Yoga. The result of the combination is told that the horoscope is cursed due to the deeds of the past life. It is suggested that even there are many good yogas in a horoscope, good results can not be obtained in the present birth, if "Shrapit Yoga" exists in the horoscope.

I have written about some of the similar doshas like Kaalsarpa Dosha in the past and my opinion is no different on this yoga. First of all there is no classical reference to this yoga. In my opinion, "Shrapit yoga" like "Kalsarpa yoga", is another factious yoga created by astrologers to make money. Scaring people is an easy way to make money and pundits very well know this fact. What a well chosen name "Shrapit Yoga" to scare people!!! Truly speaking there is nothing to fear about Shrapit Yoga.

In my opinion, a birth chart should be analyzed in totality and the results should be predicted by synthesizing various good and bad yogas in a horoscope. No single yoga can take control over the whole chart. We need to judge planets involved in the yoga and also see the strength of those planets. For example in the case of Shrapit Yoga, if Saturn and Rahu are well placed, why there will be any malefic affect?

Moreover, Rahu and Saturn are two friendly planets and the overall general result of the conjunction is positive rather than negative. This is simple Vedic astrology principle that two friendly planets go well with each other and give positive results.

In Lal Kitab, Saturn and Rahu together are called Nagmani (Snake's Jewel) and regarded to give positive results. In Lal Kitab, Saturn is taken as snake and Rahu as a Jewel which sucks snake’s poison.

According to the Nadi astrology, a person having this combination "amass money secretly even without knowledge of government (black money)". There are no malefic indications in Nadi as well.

Finally, Rahu stays for one and the half years in a sign and Saturn stays for two and the half years in a sign. So generally this combination stays for a long time. For example, you will find this combination in majority of horoscopes of the people born in year 1978/1979/1980. Are they all cursed? Was those years cursed? This is ridiculous. The astrologer who tells you that you have "Shrapit Yoga" and you have to perform costly remedies for Shrapit Yoga to get rid of its ill effect, please understand that the astrologer is a cheat and you need to look for a good knowledgeable astrologer. There will be pundits who will try to sell all kind of pooja, yantra and gems etc. to you. Beware of such cheat astrologers. I would again reiterate that there is nothing to fear about "Shrapit Dosha or Shrapit Yoga."

A quick off-topic note here. I am now a days writing on IPL astrology on a website http://www.IPLkhabar.com. Please visit the website to read articles on IPL astrology by me and some other astrologers.

Related Articles:

1. Kaalsarpa Dosha

2. Shani Sadhe Sati

Hindu New Year 2066 Forecasts (Vikram Samvat 2066)

The Hindu New Year starts from the next day after Amavasya (No moon) in the Chaitra month i.e. Chaitra Shukla Pratipada. This calendar in more popular in Northern part of India like Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Bihar, Chattisgarh, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Himanchal Prdesh, and Maharashtra etc. In Maharashtra, starting of new year is celebrated as Gudi-Padwa. In Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh this day is celebrated as Ugadi. Sindhis celebrate this day as their New Year day Cheti Chand.

This calendar is based on luni-solor system and generally followed for all religious purpose. According to English date, in this year 2009, Hindu Nav Samvat (New Year) started on March 27th. This embarks year 2066 according to this calendar.

Starting of Hindu New Year is an important astrological event. Starting time of the new year is considered important to get overall idea of the upcoming year. Astrologers calculate planetary cabinet of the coming year and read upcoming year from that. Astrological planetary cabinet consists of king of the year, prime minister of the year, lord of the paddy crops, lord of fruits and vegetation, lord of mineral kingdom, lord of clouds, lord of corns and lord of fluids etc. Each planet is responsible for telling us about the respective aspect as suggested by its name.

The name of this year which started from 27th March 2009 is "Shubha." the King of this year is Venus and the Prime Minister is Moon. Venus is exalted in the varsha pravesh chart and well placed. A well placed Venus kinf of a year suggests good rains and crops, prosperity and power to women, progress of arts, victory of virtue over vices, new treaties and agreements signed. Looks like finally some soother after recession. As the year is Shubha, which is generally considered good and the kind is Venus, we can expect some good results. Last year we have seen terrorist attacks, increase in military tension, economic slowdown and recession, crash of the share market etc. I hope it will improve from now onwards.

Moon as the prime minister suggests good rainfall, growth in luxury, improvement in health, general well being and prosperity, contentment to the people etc. As both the king and the prime minster and female planets, we can expect more women gaining power and position.

Wish you all a very very happy new year.

A note of caution is required here. Mundane predictions like this requires analysis of various aspects and charts. For example, this prediction based on only "planetary cabinet of Hindu year" should be supplemented by various other anlysis e.g. charts of the nation under consideration, solar ingress charts, lunation charts, annual horoscope of nation etc., before more conclusive forecasts can be made. Hence this forecast must be taken just as an indicative prediction and should be treated that way only.

AstroSage on Facebook

I am a big fan of social networking. I already have presence on most of the social networking websites. Though most of those profiles are my personal profiles as these social networking websites don't allow profiles for the websites. Though Facebook allows the same, so I thought it would be a good place to have a profile for AstroSage on Facebook. If you are on Facebook, you can join AstorSage fan club here -

http://www.facebook.com/pages/AstroSagecom/126920215157

There are two reasons why you should join AstroSage on Facebook. First, you can get all AstroSage related updates from within Facebook. Second, you can also show your love and support to AstroSage to the world.

Apart from this, you already know about my personal profiles and everybody is welcome to add me on their friend's list. Here are my profiles on different Social Networking websites -

• Orkut
• Twitter
• MySpace

Which is the best reference Lal Kitab?

Long back I had written an article by the name of "Which Lal Kitab Book" to tell Lal Kitab students which are the good and the bad books available on this subject. The article was written in year 2004 and since then, much water has flown through the Ganga. One very important development is that now almost all five editions of Lal Kitab are available in Hindi, which gives Hindi readers more options. Today, somebody asked about Lal Kitab reference books in my Lal Kitab discussion forum and this was my answer (with some enhancements) -

Lal Kitab is not a name of one single book. There are five books published during year 1939 to 1952 written by Pt. Roop Chand Joshi. One need to read all those books to understand Lal Kitab fully. In my opinion 1952 edition is the most exhaustive and must be the first book to be read by all Lal Kitab enthusiasts. 1952 edition also covers most of the content in previous editions and hence kind of super-set of all Lal Kitab editions. The best transliteration so far for 1952 edition is available in the form of "Arun Samhita", published by Hare Krishna Trust, Chandigarh. Due the nature of language used in Lal Kitab, it is very difficult to understand in one single reading. My suggestion to Lal Kitab students is that one need to read and reread Lal Kitab to understand it.

For further reading, I would suggest reading books in following sequence -

• 1942 edition (Lal Kitab - Tarmeem Shuda): Hindi transliteration of 1942 edition by Pt. Beni Madhav Goswami is available from Durga Pocket Books.
• 1940 edition (Lal Kitab ke Armaan): Hindi transliteration by Pt. Beni Madhav Goswami available from Himalaya Publications/ Sagar Publications
• 1941 edition (Lal Kitab - Teesra Hissa, also known as Gutka): Hindi transliteration by Yograj Prabhakar available from Rahul Computers, Patiala
• 1939 edition (Lal Kitab ke Farmaan): Hindi transliteration by Pt. Beni Madhav Goswami available from Himalaya Publications/ Sagar Publications. This is primarily a book on Palmistry aspect of Lal Kitab.

Two other recommended books are -

• Lal Kitab Prishthabhoomi Aur Vyakhaya by Pt. Krishna Ashant
• Lal Kitab Aur Kashta Nivaran by Sumat Prasad Kalka

Both of the above books are good introductory books, but have some serious shortcomings. For example, reasoning behind remedies is flawed in both the books. So wherever these authors have explained the working of Lal Kitab remedies, those sections should be ignored. Also Pt. Ashant book's section on background of Lal Kitab does not seems to be correct where he questions the authorship of Pt. Roop Chand Joshi. Probably both the books -Krishna Ashant's book and Arun Samhita - questioned the authorship to avoid copyright issues. Sumat Prasad Kalka's book has listed remedies for all nine planets in twelve houses. That is not only incorrect but also risky. Remedies should always be suggested by analyzing the overall chart and should not be given for individual planet position. Lal Kitab has given detailed grammar (rules for analyzing chart) and the cause of problem should be identified using the grammar and the remedies should be suggested to solve that particular problem. In other words, last two books should be used with caution.

Note:

• One can find a list of astrology book stores here.
• If you are looking for the book in English, you will have to rely on the old article for some information on the Lal Kitab books in English. Nothing much has changed on English landscape.
• I have a dedicated blog on Lal Kitab at http://www.lalkitab.in/. If you are mainly interested in Lal Kitab, you can subscribe that blog.
  

Today I have created an "AstroSage.com Fan Club" at Facebook. If you are on Facebook and love AstroSage, please join the fan club at http://www.facebook.com/pages/AstroSagecom/126920215157/

Valentine Day Muhurta - Best Time to Express Love

All set for Valentine day. You want to express your feelings, your love this day. But you fear losing him/ her. Don't worry, Vedic astrology is here to help you. I would like to share some time that can help. But first before that, let us understand what can be classified as best yoga for expressing your love according to Vedic astrology -

• Venus is the planet for love. Other than Venus, Moon, Mercury and Jupiter are also OK. One should avoid Sun, Mars, Saturn, Rahu and Ketu
• Check out the lord of your 5th sign and 9th sign. Choose time period of these planets.
• Also choose the time when Venus is in Ascendant.
• Choose the time when these planets rule of Ascendant, Hora or Moon Sub Lord

Ascendant (lagna) and Hora are city dependent. So you need to check the exact time for your city. I'll give you a URL from where you can check the good time for your city.

Before listing out good time for all signs, here are two slots which are good for all signs -
1. 10:44 AM to 11:39 AM
2. 5:15 PM To 6:10 PM

Sign	Planet of Love for You	Time period of the planet on 14th February
Aries	Jupiter	14:27 - 15:22 19:15 - 20:19
Taurus	Mercury	11:39 - 12:35 23:31 - 00:35 Night
Gemini	Venus	10:44 - 11:39 22:27 - 23:31
Cancer	Jupiter	14:27 - 15:22 19:15 - 20:19
Leo	Jupiter	14:27 - 15:22 19:15 - 20:19
Virgo	Venus	10:44 - 11:39 22:27 - 23:31
Libra	Mercury	11:39 - 12:35 23:31 - 00:35 Night
Scorpio	Jupiter & Moon	14:27 - 15:22 19:15 - 20:19 12:35 - 13:31 00:35 - 01:39 Night
Sagittarius	Jupiter	14:27 - 15:22 19:15 - 20:19
Capricorn	Venus & Mercury	10:44 - 11:39 22:27 - 23:31 11:39 - 12:35 23:31 - 00:35 Night
Aquarius	Mercury & Venus	11:39 - 12:35 23:31 - 00:35 Night 10:44 - 11:39 22:27 - 23:31
Pisces	Moon	12:35 - 13:31 00:35 - 01:39 Night

To find out exact time of these planets for your city, please note planet for your sign from above table and check time at http://www.astrosage.com/hora.asp

KP Sign, Nakshatra, Sub Table

A ready reference table to calculate Rashi (Sign), Nakshatra (Star) and Sub for a given degree can be found here -

http://kpastrology.astrosage.com/reference-tables/sign-star-and-sub-table

KP Astrology Lessons and Tutorial

Recently I have started collaboratively writing a small tutorial on Krishnamurti Paddhati (KP System) to help KP students and beginners in learning the system. If you also want to learn KP System, you can check this tutorial at -

http://kpastrology.astrosage.com/Home/tutorial/chapter-2

Please keep an eye on this page as it will be regularly updated.

Learning KP Stellar Astrology (KP System)

There is one very good discussion going on in the k_p_system yahoogroup on the books, websites and approach required to learn KP Stellar Astrology or Krishnamurti Paddhati. If you are the one who wants to learn KP Stellar Astrology System, please don't miss out this discussion at -

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/k_p_system/message/21767

Sankranti/ Lohri/ Pongal Greetings and Forecasts

This is my first post in year 2009. So would like to wish happy new year to all my readers. As we are also close to Makar Sankranti, I would also like to wish Happy Sankranti, Happy Pongal and Happy Lohri. Wish all these festivals bring joy and prosperity to you.

On the 14th January 2009, Sun will leave Sagittarius (Dhanu) and enter Capricorn (Makara). This transition of Sun from 'Dhanu' Rasi (Sagittarius) to 'Makara' Rasi (Capricorn) marks the starting of Uttarayana and celebrated in India by different names like Pongal, Lohri and Makar Sankranti.

Here is my general thinking on the planetary positions. Sun will be joining Jupiter, Rahu and Mercury in the sign Capricorn. Mars will also joining this combination on 27/28. So this is going to be an interesting combination of 5 planets in a sign. According to some mundane astrologers this period will mark start of political difficulties and disputes. There will be disagreements and difference of opinion which will lead to division.

Fiery Sun, Mars and Jupiter in watery sign may also indicate severe earth quake, fire incidents and blasts. As Rahu will have to face Jupiter, Mars and Sun, there will be incidents against lower castes and minorities.

Jupiter is also significator of moeny and finance. Jupiter is in its neecha rashi Capricorn and Sun is also joining enemy's sign. It shows that the economy will continue facing difficulties and volatility will still there in the share markets.

These are just general observations and I hope Sun's transition to northern hemisphere will bring prosperity and good luck to all of us.

Note about AstroSage.com - Horoscope Matching
There was a bug in AstroSage, due to which Horoscope Matching was producing some error on the final page. This error has been fixed now. If you still find some problem, please email to info at astrosage dot com.