The ayanamsa is the angle between the tropical and sidereal zodiacs. Choosing it correctly is what makes a chart genuinely Vedic.
In short
Stellr uses the Lahiri (Chitrapaksha) ayanamsa — the official standard adopted by the Indian government and the most widely used in Vedic astrology — to convert tropical planetary positions into sidereal ones.
What an ayanamsa is
Because of the precession of the equinoxes, the tropical zodiac (tied to seasons) drifts against the actual stars by about 50 arcseconds a year. The ayanamsa is the accumulated offset — currently roughly 24 degrees.
Why Lahiri
The Lahiri (Chitrapaksha) ayanamsa is the official standard adopted by the Calendar Reform Committee of India and is the most widely used in Vedic practice, which makes Stellr's charts comparable to mainstream Vedic sources.
How Stellr applies it
After getting tropical positions from the ephemeris, Stellr subtracts the Lahiri ayanamsa for the birth moment to place every planet in its sidereal sign and nakshatra.
Frequently asked questions
What ayanamsa is most common in Vedic astrology?
The Lahiri (Chitrapaksha) ayanamsa is the most widely used and is the official Indian standard. Stellr uses it by default.
How big is the ayanamsa today?
It is roughly 24 degrees and grows by about 50 arcseconds per year due to precession.
