Kundli Matching (Guna Milan)

Written by Orbitarot · Sources: our own engine, positions checked against NASA JPL Horizons (method); place data GeoNames (CC BY 4.0); interpretations our own · Updated October 17, 2026

What kundli matching is

In many Indian families, the two kundlis are compared before a marriage is arranged. The most widely used method in North and Central India is Ashtakoot milan, the matching of eight kootas (factors), which together give up to 36 gunas (points). Every koota is read from the Moon: the Moon sign (rashi) and the birth star (nakshatra) of each person, in the sidereal zodiac.

It is a tradition that people consult, and families weigh it in very different ways: some treat the score as one input among many, some ask an astrologer to read the full charts, and many couples simply enjoy seeing it. South India often uses a different system, the ten poruthams, which this calculator does not compute.

How the 36 points are shared out

The eight kootas are weighted 1 to 8, so the later ones count for much more. Nadi and Bhakoot alone hold 15 of the 36 points. The last column shows how often each koota gives its full points across 46,656 pairs of Moon positions spread evenly around the zodiac, computed with the same tables the calculator uses.

Two facts follow from the tables. Nadi dosha (both stars in the same nadi) occurs in 33.3% of pairs and Bhakoot dosha in 50.0%, so meeting one of them is common. And Tara can never score 0: for two different stars the two counts always add up to 29, so at most one direction can land on an unfavourable tara.

What a score of 18 means, and what it does not

The usual rule of thumb is that 18 of 36 is the minimum many families look for before going further; scores in the high twenties and thirties are described as very good. Over every pair of Moon positions, 68.8% of pairs reach 18 and the average score is 20.7. So a score above 18 is common, and it is not a promise of anything.

A score below 18 is not a verdict either. Astrologers who use the method usually go on to the doshas and their exceptions, Manglik status and the full charts before forming a view. The score is a traditional measure; the decision to marry belongs to the two people and their families, and this calculator never makes it for anyone.

Person 1 and Person 2: why the order can matter

The classical tables were written for a bride and a groom, so most calculators ask for the boy's and the girl's details. Five of the eight kootas give the same points whichever way round you enter the two people. Three do not: Varna (one point when the boy's Moon sign carries the same or a higher traditional label), Vashya and Gana (for example a Deva boy with a Manushya girl scores 6, the other way round 5). Across all pairs, swapping the two people changes the total in 69.3% of cases, by at most 3 points.

We label the forms Person 1 (boy) and Person 2 (girl) because that is how the tables are read. For a same-sex couple, or any couple who prefer not to use those roles, there is no traditional rule for who takes which place: enter the two people in either order, use the Swap button, and the result also tells you the score the other way round.

Matching by nakshatra, and why we do not match by name

The eight kootas only need each person's nakshatra and pada (the quarter of the nakshatra), because they decide the Moon sign as well. If you know both birth stars, from a kundli, a family record or our nakshatra calculator, choose match by nakshatra. If you do not know the pada, choose "Not sure": when a nakshatra spans two Moon signs, or the Vashya change at 15 degrees of Sagittarius or Capricorn, the result lists every possible score.

Kundli matching by name works differently. Traditionally a child's name often starts with a syllable assigned to the pada of their birth star, so some sites turn the first syllable of a name back into a nakshatra. That gives the star the name was chosen for, which is only the birth star when the name was given that way, and many names were not. We do not guess a nakshatra from a name; if you know the birth star, use it directly.

How we calculate, and how it compares with AstroSage and Prokerala

Each Moon comes from the same engine as our kundli and nakshatra calculator: positions checked against NASA JPL, converted to the sidereal zodiac with the Lahiri ayanamsa. The koota tables were compiled from 26 sources, including B. V. Raman's Muhurtha and published matching reports, and where sources disagree we follow the convention of the large Indian matching sites.

To check it, we entered 25 test couples into Prokerala's Guna Milan calculator, chosen to cover every Vashya combination and the Yoni pairs where sources disagree: all eight koota scores were identical for 25 of 25. We also reproduce Prokerala's published sample report (20 of 36) and an AstroSage celebrity match (10 of 36). One AstroSage report scores 26 where we give 25, because AstroSage gives the buffalo and serpent yonis 2 points where Prokerala and the published tables give 1. A summary is on our method page.

Nadi and Bhakoot dosha are shown with the classical exceptions each pair meets. Like AstroSage and Prokerala, we keep those kootas at 0 points either way, so the score stays comparable with theirs.

Manglik dosha in matching

With birth details, the result also checks both charts for Manglik dosha the same way as our Manglik dosha calculator: the house of Mars counted from the lagna, the Moon and Venus, and the common cancellation conditions. Because six houses out of twelve qualify, Mars falls in a listed house in a large share of charts, and many traditions treat two Manglik charts as balancing each other. We show the facts for both people and leave the weighing to you. For a Western view of the same two people, try the synastry chart.

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