The twelve rashis
In Vedic astrology “your rashi” usually means your Moon sign — the sign the Moon occupied at birth — measured in the sidereal zodiac.
A rashi is one 30° division of the zodiac. Vedic astrology measures the twelve rashis in the sidereal (star-based) zodiac, about 24° behind Western signs. Each has a ruling planet, an element (fire, earth, air, water) and a modality (movable, fixed, dual). Your Moon sign is the rashi most used for horoscopes and matching.
Mesha (Aries)
Mars · Fire · Movable
Sun: 14 Apr – 14 May
Vrishabha (Taurus)
Venus · Earth · Fixed
Sun: 15 May – 14 Jun
Mithuna (Gemini)
Mercury · Air · Dual
Sun: 15 Jun – 15 Jul
Karka (Cancer)
Moon · Water · Movable
Sun: 16 Jul – 16 Aug
Simha (Leo)
Sun · Fire · Fixed
Sun: 17 Aug – 16 Sep
Kanya (Virgo)
Mercury · Earth · Dual
Sun: 17 Sep – 16 Oct
Tula (Libra)
Venus · Air · Movable
Sun: 17 Oct – 15 Nov
Vrishchika (Scorpio)
Mars · Water · Fixed
Sun: 16 Nov – 15 Dec
Dhanu (Sagittarius)
Jupiter · Fire · Dual
Sun: 16 Dec – 13 Jan
Makara (Capricorn)
Saturn · Earth · Movable
Sun: 14 Jan – 12 Feb
Kumbha (Aquarius)
Saturn · Air · Fixed
Sun: 13 Feb – 13 Mar
Meena (Pisces)
Jupiter · Water · Dual
Sun: 14 Mar – 13 Apr
How are the rashis grouped?
By element: fire (Mesha, Simha, Dhanu) for energy and initiative; earth (Vrishabha, Kanya, Makara) for practicality; air (Mithuna, Tula, Kumbha) for ideas and communication; water (Karka, Vrishchika, Meena) for feeling and intuition.
By modality: movable signs (Mesha, Karka, Tula, Makara) start things, fixed signs (Vrishabha, Simha, Vrishchika, Kumbha) sustain them, and dual signs (Mithuna, Kanya, Dhanu, Meena) adapt.
What is the difference between Moon sign, Sun sign and ascendant?
Vedic horoscopes and Kundli Milan mostly use the Moon sign. The Sun stays in one sign for about a month, the Moon changes sign every 2¼ days, and the ascendant changes roughly every two hours — which is why an exact birth time matters most for the ascendant.
For a full reading of all three, see the Complete Life Kundli; for two people, start with rashi compatibility or the Kundli Milan report.