Nakshatra

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Nakshatra (Sanskrit: नक्षत्रम्, romanized: Nakṣatram) is the term for a lunar mansion in Hindu astrology. A nakshatra is one of the 27 (sometimes 28) sectors along the ecliptic. Their names are related to the prominent star or asterism in or near the respective sectors. Every nakshatra is divided into four padas (lit. "steps"). The starting point for the nakshatras according to the Vedas is "Krittika" (it has been argued that this is because the Pleiades may have marked the start of the year at the time the Vedas were compiled, presumably at the vernal equinox), but in more recent compilations, the start of the nakshatra list is the point on the ecliptic directly opposite the star Spica, called Chitrā in Sanskrit. This corresponds to Ashwinī, a part of the modern constellation of Aries. These compilations, therefore, may have been compiled during the centuries when the sun was passing through Aries at the time of the vernal equinox. This version may have been called Meshādi or the "start...

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