Nirayana
निरयन
Sidereal zodiac, fixed to the stars; the basis of Jyotish.
Definition
Nirayana ('without the ayana') reckoning measures longitude from a fixed point among the stars, so its rasis and nakshatras stay aligned with the star groups that name them. Jyotish uses the nirayana zodiac for charts, nakshatras and saṅkrāntis, obtained by subtracting the ayanāṃśa from tropical positions. The choice of reference star, for instance Citrā (Spica) at 180° in the Lahiri system, defines which ayanāṃśa is used.
Articles that use this term
- SiddhantaExplainer
Gochar explained: transits, sign changes and retrograde motion
What a transit calendar actually lists, why a graha seems to move backwards, and how the classical texts and modern astronomy describe the same motion.
8 min read · 29 September 2026
- PanchangaExplainer
Sankranti: the Sun's twelve sign entries
Why Makar Sankranti stays near 14 January while Diwali wanders, how the twelve sankrantis are classed, and the slow drift that will move the date.
6 min read · 26 September 2026