Rāhu
राहु
The Moon's ascending node, a shadow graha (chāyā graha).
Definition
Rāhu is the ascending lunar node, the point where the Moon's path crosses the ecliptic northward; it has no body and is called a chāyā graha (shadow planet). Eclipses occur when the Sun and Moon are near the nodes, which is the astronomical basis of the Rāhu myth. The nodes move backward through the zodiac, completing a cycle in about 18.6 years, and Rāhu's Vimśottarī daśā lasts eighteen years.
Articles that use this term
- Siddhanta
Eclipses in the Indian sky: what is computed and what is kept
How the siddhantas compute a grahana, what Rahu and Ketu stand for in that computation, and sutak as a practice that varies from one tradition to another.
7 min read · 30 September 2026
- PanchangaExplainer
Rahu Kaal, Gulika and Yamaganda: where the day-divisions come from
Three daily periods printed in almanacs, each an eighth of the daylight chosen by weekday: how they are computed, and why we treat them as later conventions.
6 min read · 28 September 2026