/v1/panchang/nakshatra

Nakshatra + pada + lord at moment.

What this tells you

Nakshatras are the 27 lunar mansions of the sidereal zodiac, each 13°20' wide. Every nakshatra has a ruling planet, a deity and a temperament (gana). The Moon's nakshatra at birth (janma nakshatra) sets the Vimshottari dasha sequence, and the nakshatra of the day is a core input to muhurta. This endpoint returns the nakshatra the Moon occupies at local sunrise on `date`, its pada at that moment, and when the Moon leaves the nakshatra.

`end_jd` is a Julian Day in UT. `end_local` is local wall-clock time in the request `tz`, formatted "YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS" with no offset. If the Sun does not rise on `date` (polar day or night) the API returns 422 `data_unavailable`.

Request

All requests require an Authorization header with your dv_live_* API key.

example request

curl "https://api.lifeastroapi.com/v1/panchang/nakshatra?date=2027-01-15&tz=Asia%2FKolkata&lat=28.6139&lon=77.209" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"

Query parameters

Checked against the API: a parameter is marked required when the request fails without it.

Name	Required	Example	Description
`date`	yes	`2027-01-15`	Date (YYYY-MM-DD).
`tz`	yes	`Asia/Kolkata`	Timezone: IANA name (Asia/Kolkata) or UTC offset (+05:30).
`lat`	yes	`28.6139`	Latitude in decimal degrees.
`lon`	yes	`77.209`	Longitude in decimal degrees.
`ayanamsa`	no	—	Ayanamsa (sidereal offset) to use. Defaults to lahiri.

Response (200 OK)

The real response to the example request above, generated from the API itself. Long arrays are trimmed to their first two items. Field names are stable across versions.

200 response

{
  "date": "2027-01-15",
  "location": {
    "lat": 28.6139,
    "lon": 77.209,
    "alt": 0
  },
  "tz": "Asia/Kolkata",
  "index": 26,
  "name": "Revati",
  "pada": 2,
  "ruling_planet": "Mercury",
  "deity": "Pushan",
  "gana": "Deva",
  "end_jd": 2461421.264565,
  "end_local": "2027-01-15 23:50:58"
}

Field reference

Every field in the response, with its type, a real example, and what it means.

Field	Type	Meaning
date	string	Echo of the `date` parameter (local date). example: `"2027-01-15"`
location	object	Echo of `lat`, `lon` and `alt` (metres, default 0). example: `{ "lat": 28.6139, "lon": 77.209, "alt": 0 }`
tz	string	Echo of the `tz` parameter. `end_local` is in this zone. example: `"Asia/Kolkata"`
index	integer (0–26)	Position of the nakshatra, counted from 0 (Ashwini = 0, Revati = 26). example: `26` Jyotish: 27 nakshatras divide the sidereal zodiac into slices of 13°20'. The Moon's sidereal longitude at sunrise decides which one is returned.
name	string	Nakshatra name. example: `"Revati"` Jyotish: English names in order: Ashwini, Bharani, Krittika, Rohini, Mrigashira, Ardra, Punarvasu, Pushya, Ashlesha, Magha, Purva Phalguni, Uttara Phalguni, Hasta, Chitra, Swati, Vishakha, Anuradha, Jyeshtha, Mula, Purva Ashadha, Uttara Ashadha, Shravana, Dhanishta, Shatabhisha, Purva Bhadrapada, Uttara Bhadrapada, Revati.
pada	integer (1–4)	Quarter of the nakshatra the Moon is in. Each pada spans 3°20'. example: `2` Jyotish: Each pada corresponds to one navamsa (D9) sign.
ruling_planet	string	Vimshottari lord of the nakshatra. example: `"Mercury"` Jyotish: Lords repeat in the order Ketu, Venus, Sun, Moon, Mars, Rahu, Jupiter, Saturn, Mercury, starting from Ashwini. The lord of the birth nakshatra sets the first Vimshottari mahadasha.
deity	string	Presiding deity of the nakshatra. example: `"Pushan"`
gana	string	Temperament: Deva, Manushya or Rakshasa. Used in Gana Koota matching. example: `"Deva"`
end_jd	number	When the Moon leaves this nakshatra, as a Julian Day in UT. example: `2461421.264565`
end_local	string (YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS)	When the Moon leaves this nakshatra, in local time (request `tz`), with no offset suffix. example: `"2027-01-15 23:50:58"`

Usage tips

How to use it

Sunrise value, not the current one
The nakshatra is taken at sunrise on `date`. The `time` parameter does not change it. After `end_local`, the next nakshatra (index + 1, wrapping 26 → 0) is running. `pada` is the pada at sunrise only.
Choose the ayanamsa
Nakshatra depends on the sidereal zodiac. Pass `ayanamsa` (lahiri by default; also raman, krishnamurti, fagan, yukteshwar, true_chitrapaksha) to match your users' tradition.
Gana is for matchmaking
The `gana` field feeds Gana Koota in Ashtakoota matching. Pairs with the same gana score highest.
Localized names
Pass `locale` (for example `hi`) to get `name`, `ruling_planet`, `deity` and `gana` in that language. Use `index` for logic, not the name.

Errors

Every error follows the same envelope. Use the error.code field (not the message) for conditional logic in your integration.

401 Unauthorized

{
  "error": {
    "code": "unauthorized",
    "message": "missing or invalid API key",
    "request_id": "req_01hqy7k8c3e7m1n"
  }
}

402 Payment Required

{
  "error": {
    "code": "trial_exhausted",
    "message": "your free trial credits are exhausted — pick a plan to continue",
    "top_up_url": "https://lifeastroapi.com/pricing",
    "request_id": "req_01hqy7k8c3e7m1n"
  }
}

429 Too Many Requests

{
  "error": {
    "code": "rate_limited",
    "message": "rate limit exceeded; retry after 12 seconds",
    "request_id": "req_01hqy7k8c3e7m1n"
  }
}

Try it

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