Chitra means bright, many-coloured, and its symbol is a jewel; the brilliant star Spica marks it. Its deity is Tvashtar, the architect of the gods, and the nakshatra stands for design — the making of beautiful, well-built things, from buildings to arguments to the self. People with the Moon here have an eye: they see how a thing should look and are restless until it does. They are charismatic, artistic, self-possessed and a little vain.
Mars rules the nakshatra and gives the eye its drive; the star straddles Mercury's Virgo (padas one and two) and Venus's Libra (three and four). In Virgo the design is technical — engineering, surgery, craft; in Libra it is aesthetic and social — fashion, architecture, diplomacy. A Moon here starts life in the Mars mahadasha, seven years, and Rahu's long period follows.
The four padas of Chitra
Each nakshatra is divided into four padas of 3°20′. The pada says which sign the Moon is in when a nakshatra straddles two, and which navamsa (the ninth-harmonic sign) it falls in — the finer grain astrologers read for temperament and marriage.
| Pada | Span | Sign | Navamsa |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 23°20′–26°40′ | Virgo | Leo |
| 2 | 26°40′–30°00′ | Virgo | Virgo |
| 3 | 0°00′–3°20′ | Libra | Libra |
| 4 | 3°20′–6°40′ | Libra | Scorpio |
Chitra in kundli matching
Three of the eight kootas of guna milan are read from the nakshatra alone. Yoni (Tiger): the instinctive match by the nakshatra's animal — it has no close friend among the other yonis; the Cow is its enemy. Gana (Rakshasa): fierce — strong-willed, sharp, not easily led; the same or a compatible gana scores in full. Nadi (Madhya): the middle pulse, pitta; two Moons in the same nadi are the heaviest dosha, with the classical exemptions. Check a match to see all eight for two charts.
Born under Chitra
The Vimshottari dasha starts from the nakshatra of the natal Moon. A Moon in Chitra begins life in the Mars mahadasha of 7 years, less the part already spent by the Moon's degree within the nakshatra; the further into Chitra the Moon stood, the shorter the balance at birth. The exact balance needs the degree, which your free kundli gives.