A rashi is one of 12 equal 30° slices of the sidereal zodiac — Mesha, Vrishabha, Mithuna, and so on — and rashi here refers to whichever one the Sun itself is passing through right now. The Sun takes roughly a month to cross each rashi, moving into the next one at a moment called a sankranti.
Today's rashi
Kanya
Shown for India (IST). Your own region may look slightly different.
Why it matters
Rashi is what actually names a masa: a lunar month is called after the rashi the Sun enters during it (see Masa). It's also the basis of a sankranti festival — Makar Sankranti, for instance, marks the Sun's entry into Makara (Capricorn) each January.
How it's calculated
We measure the Sun's sidereal longitude (its position against the fixed stars, correcting for the ayanamsa) and divide by 30° to find which of the 12 equal slices it currently falls in.
12 rashis
All 12, in order
- 1Mesha
- 2Vrishabha
- 3Mithuna
- 4Karkataka
- 5Simha
- 6Kanya
- 7Tula
- 8Vrischika
- 9Dhanu
- 10Makara
- 11Kumbha
- 12Meena