Kundli Matching (Kundali Matching) Explained

What is kundli matching?

Kundli matching is the Vedic method of comparing two birth charts before a marriage, scored out of 36 points across eight tests. It is read from the moon sign and the nakshatra rather than from the sun sign. That is the first thing separating it from what horoscope means in the United States, and astrologers in the tradition have used it before marriages for a very long time. It is one tradition's way of reading love compatibility, and the only method on this site with no calculator behind it. This page covers one part of zodiac marriage compatibility. Start with which signs marry well for the Western sun-sign question, a different tradition and a different question.

In Vedic astrology, horoscope matching means kundli matching, and in India the phrase almost always carries that sense. In the United States it usually means sun-sign compatibility, which is what the two-sign selector on this site checks.

What are the eight kootas in kundli matching?

How kundli matching works in practice: the 36 points are not one score but eight, and each koota is worth a different number of them. The eight tests together are the Ashtakoota system, and the tradition's published references, from AstroSage to Vedic Rishi, list the same eight names in the same order with the same weights.

The third column reports what the tradition says each koota looks at, in the wording Vedic Rishi uses. It is one publisher's account, and nothing here claims that a koota measures the thing the tradition says it looks at.

The weights add to 36, and the heaviest three, Bhakoot, Nadi and Gana, carry 21 of them between them, so a match can fail on two tests and still clear the line. Elsewhere you will meet the same eight under other spellings: Vasya for Vashya, Dina for Tara, Rasyadipati for Graha Maitri, Bhakoota or Rashi for Bhakoot, and Ashta Koota or Ashtakoota for the method itself.

How many gunas should match for marriage?

Eighteen or more. Below 18 of 36, the tradition's published guidance is that the match is not recommended; at 18 and above it is treated as acceptable. Publishers then name bands above that line, and these four are the common ones.

• Below 18: not recommended for marriage.
• 18 to 24: acceptable, and usually with other factors checked as well.
• 24 to 32: very good.
• 32 to 36: excellent.

The upper edges differ by a point between publishers, so a score of 24 or of 32 sits in the higher band on one site and in the lower band on another. Eighteen is the only number all of them agree on, which is why it is the one this page states as the rule. What the number scores is a comparison of two charts rather than a measurement of two people, which is what the Tradition label at the top of this page means.

What is manglik dosha?

Practitioners use manglik dosha for a chart in which Mars sits in certain houses, and they describe a match between one such chart and one without as needing extra care. It is checked alongside the koota score rather than inside it.

Does it stop a marriage? In the tradition's own practice, no: it is one more thing a matcher looks at, there are readings under which it is set aside, and the answer is the astrologer's rather than a number's.

The koota weights and the 18-point line on this page were checked against the tradition's published references. The manglik material was not, and a Vedic astrologer has not reviewed this page yet, which is what the byline at the top says.

What else this method is called

The same procedure travels under three other names, and one of them means something different in the United States.

What is guna milan?

Guna milan is the scoring step of kundli matching, the part that counts the gunas across the eight kootas and adds them to a number out of 36. People use kundli matching for the whole procedure and guna milan for the arithmetic inside it, and many sites use the two interchangeably. The method is also written kundali matching, Ashtakoota matching and, in matrimonial listings, matrimonial kundli matching.

Is horoscope matching the same as kundli matching?

In India, yes. Horoscope there means the birth chart, so horoscope matching is the chart comparison this page describes. In the United States the same phrase usually means comparing two sun signs, which is a different tradition with twelve signs, no points and no 36-guna total. The zodiac hub on this site is the Western one, and it answers that question rather than this one.

The practical consequence is worth carrying: a page offering free horoscope matching may be running either method. The way to tell is whether it asks for a birth time and a place of birth, which the Vedic method needs and the sun-sign method does not. Those are the names. What this page does not do is the last thing to say.

What this page does not do

There is no kundli calculator on this site, and this page computes no score for anybody. We sell no reading, no report and no matchmaking service, and nothing here is an offer. The marriage questions this site does answer are the Western ones, in compatibility for marriage, and every method we do run is set out in how we calculate it.