Article text is currently English only. The calculation below and the rest of the interface follow your chosen language.
In short
Nirayana describes a position measured on the sidereal zodiac: the tropical longitude with the ayanamsa taken off. Its opposite is sayana, the position with the ayanamsa left in. Every position this app shows is nirayana, computed on the Lahiri ayanamsa; the English pages say "sidereal" and several Hinglish pages say "nirayana" for the same numbers.
What the term means
Nirayana is the Indian term for a sidereal position: a longitude counted from the star-fixed start of the zodiac rather than from the equinox. In practice it is the tropical longitude minus the ayanamsa. A nirayana chart is one in which every graha and the Ascendant have been converted this way. Its counterpart is sayana, the position with the ayanamsa still in it.
Where the term comes from
The word does not appear in BPHS or Saravali as translated in this project's library. BPHS makes the same distinction in other words: Ch. 28 Sl. 3-4 contrasts the Sun "with Ayanamsa", the Sayana Sun, with the Sun's sidereal longitude. The modern case book Advanced Predictive Astrology uses the term constantly in its printed charts, heading the house tables "Nirayana Bhava" and "Nirayana Bhava Chalit (Cuspal)", with the ayanamsa used printed on each chart.
How this app uses it
- Every position the app reports is nirayana. The formulas return longitudes measured from the equinox of the birth date, and the Lahiri ayanamsa for that date is subtracted from each before anything is named.
- For 19 January 1985, 11:14 IST, New Delhi, the Moon's sayana longitude is 276.30 degrees; minus the ayanamsa of 23.64 it is 252.66 nirayana, which is Sagittarius 12.66.
- The English pages call these positions sidereal; several Hinglish pages call them nirayana. The numbers are the same.
- The app draws no cuspal table, so it has no "Nirayana Bhava Chalit"; its houses are whole signs.
Pages that use this term
- Vimshottari dasha calculator - the dasha set from the Moon's nirayana longitude.
- Compatibility - both charts cast nirayana on the Lahiri ayanamsa.
- Vimshamsa (D20) calculator - a divisional chart cut from the nirayana chart.
- Methodology - the engine set beside a printed Nirayana Bhava Chalit chart.
- Moon sign and nakshatra - the same conversion in English terms.
- Ayanamsa calculator - the amount removed on any date.
Related terms
- Sidereal zodiac - the frame nirayana positions are measured in.
- Lahiri ayanamsa - the amount this app removes.
- Tropical zodiac - where the formulas start.
- Cusp - the Bhava Chalit's house boundaries.
Ayanamsa (Lahiri)
The gap between the tropical and sidereal zodiac, for any date you name - no birth details needed.
This date is sent only to compute the answer. Nothing is stored, no account is created, and no email is asked for.