Kundli matching explained: what the 36 points actually measure

Kundli matching sounds like one thing and is actually three: the Guna Milan score, the manglik check, and whatever an astrologer reads on top. This guide is about the first, because it is the one with a number, and the number is what families argue about.

What is being compared

Both people's moon positions at birth: the nakshatra (birth star) and the rashi (moon sign). Nothing else in the chart enters the 36-point score — not the sun, not the ascendant, not the planets. That is why the score is stable across astrologers and why it can be computed in seconds from two birth dates.

The eight kootas

Each koota compares one thing and is worth a different maximum, from one to eight:

• Varna (1) — a broad grouping of the two moon signs. Rarely decides anything.
• Vashya (2) — whether the two signs' ruling planets pull in the same direction; read as mutual influence day to day.
• Tara (3) — the distance between the two birth stars counted around the circle of 27; read as fortune and wellbeing.
• Yoni (4) — the animal symbol of each star; read as physical and emotional intimacy.
• Graha Maitri (5) — the friendship between the two signs' ruling planets; read as mental compatibility.
• Gana (6) — the temperament class of each star: Deva, Manushya or Rakshasa.
• Bhakoot (7) — the relative position of the two moon signs; read as family harmony and prosperity.
• Nadi (8) — which of three nadis each star belongs to; read as health and progeny.

Four of these — Tara, Yoni, Gana and Nadi, 21 points — read the birth star. The other four, 15 points, read the moon sign. That split is why a star-pair page can give you most of the answer and the calculator gives you all of it.

Where the doshas come from

A koota scoring zero is called a dosha in that koota, and three of them matter: nadi dosha (both in the same nadi, zero of eight), bhakoot dosha (signs six and eight apart, zero of seven) and gana dosha (Deva against Rakshasa, zero of six). Any one of them takes a big bite out of the total; two together almost guarantee a score below 18.

This is where astrologers earn their fee. The classical texts list exemptions for each dosha — same rashi with different stars, different padas, friendly sign lords — and a match that scores 14 on paper can be a clean match once they are applied. The calculator reports the dosha; a person applies the exemptions.

What the score is not

It is not a prediction, and no serious astrologer treats it as one. It is a structured way for two families to talk about compatibility using a vocabulary both recognise, and it is one input among the ones that actually predict a marriage — how the two people talk, what they want, whether the families like each other.

On TrueSaath, kundli matching is optional. When both sides want it, the calculator scores all eight kootas from birth details, explains each, and prints a report. When they do not, nobody is shown a horoscope.

Try it

The free calculator takes two sets of birth details and returns the full 36-point match with a per-koota reading. Nothing you enter is stored. For a quick look without birth details, the nakshatra compatibility chart scores every pair of stars.