Ascendant
Lagna (ascendant)
Your lagna, or ascendant, is the sidereal sign rising on the eastern horizon at your exact birth moment. It anchors the entire house structure of the chart: every house is counted from it. Because the horizon moves about one degree every four minutes, the lagna is the single most birth-time-sensitive point in a kundli.
Questions
- How accurate does my birth time need to be?
- The ascendant advances roughly one degree every four minutes and changes sign about every two hours. An error of ten minutes shifts the degree noticeably; an error of two hours can change the rising sign and rebuild the whole house layout.
- Is the lagna the same as my sun sign?
- No. The sun sign depends only on the date. The lagna depends on the time and place as well, and for most people the two are different signs.