Vedic astrology via API: from Parashara to Lal Kitab in 354 endpoints

Vedic astrology is the oldest continuously practiced astrological tradition in the world. Its formal methods (BPHS, Jaimini Sutras, Lal Kitab, KP) are used daily in India: for marriage matchmakers, choosing dates, proactive fate diagnosis. But programmatic access to quality calculations was painful until recently.

AstroWay v2.19 fixes that: 354+ Vedic endpoints, cross-checked against PyJHora (the de-facto Python reference implementation), with documented divergences.

Both zodiacs compute planet positions through the same Swiss Ephemeris, but conceptually they differ:

Vedic is not an “alternative” to Western — it’s a separate system with its own internal logical framework. Integrators building multi-tradition apps (mobile horoscope, matchmaker, daily horoscope) often want both — and having one API instead of two third-parties is significant cost savings.

Most competitors ship only Vimshottari (120-year cycle, the most popular). AstroWay covers:

1. Vimshottari (120 years) — BPHS standard, end-to-end
2. Yogini (36 years) — faster predictions, 8 planets
3. Ashtottari (108 years) — Ardradi tradition, paksha-recommendation
4. Kalachakra (signs-as-MD-lords) — most complex, paramayu varies per chart
5. Chara (Jaimini movable) — for sign-based predictions
6. Tribhagi (54 = Vimshottari/2 + extras) — accelerated Vimshottari
7. Shatabdika (100 years) — varied source counts
8. Shodashottari (116 years) — for paksha-mixed charts
9. Sthira (rare fixed-period dasha)
10. Shoola (cross-rasi method)

Each supports 5 levels: Maha → Antar → Pratyantar → Sookshma → Prana.

Divisional charts are recursive views of the same natal chart at different scales. D9 (Navamsha) — most important for marriage. D10 (Dashamsha) — career. D60 (Shashtyamsha) — finest level.

One call to /v1/vedic/vargas returns all 16 divisions at once — integrators don’t have to make 16 separate requests.

5 limbs + auxiliaries:

• Tithi (lunar day, 30 divisions of the lunar cycle)
• Karana (half-tithi, 11 types)
• Yoga (day-yoga, 27 types, based on Sun + Moon longitude sum)
• Nakshatra (one of 27 lunar mansions)
• Choghadia (8 half-hour blocks of auspiciousness)
• Hora (planetary hour)
• Rahu-kaal (inauspicious 1.5-hour window each day)

Calling /v1/vedic/panchang/full gives you all 8 elements in one JSON for a given date/location.

A yoga in Vedic is a special planetary combination that forms a noticeable life pattern. Parashara (BPHS) describes hundreds; AstroWay implements the most-cited:

• Raja — combinations of power/recognition
• Dhana — wealth
• Dharma-Karmadhipati — professional path
• Pancha-Mahapurusha — Ruchaka/Bhadra/Hamsa/Malavya/Shasha (5 planets in kendra houses in their own signs)
• Gajakesari — Moon + Jupiter in kendra
• Adhi — Mercury/Venus/Jupiter in 6/7/8 from Moon

Plus Jaimini-specific: karaka-yoga (8 chara karakas in significant houses), karakamsa (12-house projection with AK in D9), shubha-graha (functional benefic per BPHS Adhyaya 34).

A dosha is a planetary affliction that complicates a specific life area. AstroWay covers three schools:

• Parashara: Mangal Dosha (Mars), Kaal Sarp (planets between Rahu and Ketu), Pitru (ancestral karma), Shrapit, Grahan, Guru-Chandal
• Lal Kitab: Manglik (LK-specific interpretation), plus other unique doshas of this school
• KP (Krishnamurti Paddhati): sub-lord-based diagnostics

If your matchmaker serves clients across India’s regions (Punjab often uses LK, Tamil Nadu — KP, all — Parashara) — one API instead of three.

Classical Indian match process:

1. Ashtakoot (Guna Milan) — 8-fold scale, max 36 points. Less than 18 = poor match. Most popular in North/Central India.
2. Dashakoota — 10-fold, South Indian variant.
3. Manglik check — critical for Mars-afflicted natal charts.
4. Mangal match — compensates Mars-Mars.
5. Bhrigu match — predictive overlay from Bhrigu Samhita.

All through /v1/vedic/compatibility/full — one call, full compatibility report.

A “muhurat” is an auspicious moment in time for launching an event. Classical events:

• Marriage muhurta
• Vehicle purchase
• Business start
• Travel
• Naming ceremony (Namakaran — naming a newborn)
• Surgery, education start, investment, property purchase, griha-pravesh (housewarming), engagement, court cases

/v1/vedic/muhurat/{event} returns the top-3 auspicious dates in a given range.

Lahiri — default (Chitra-Paksha, official Indian government standard). Switch via the ayanamsa parameter:

• raman — B.V. Raman tradition (popular in KP)
• krishnamurti — KP-specific
• yukteshwar — Sri Yukteshwar (distance from Spica)
• fagan-bradley — Fagan/Bradley (western sidereal)
• de-luce — De Luce
• jn-bhasin — JN Bhasin

Each is a different offset (usually 23.5–24.0°). For the same client, planet positions in signs may differ — that’s important to know at the architecture stage of your app.

Every endpoint has:

• Status (GREEN/YELLOW) in docs/AUDIT-TRAIL.md
• Inline AUDIT header in source code with sources (BPHS Adhyaya N, Jaimini Sutras X.Y, PyJHora reference function)
• Snapshot test fixture for regression coverage

Divergences from PyJHora (where they exist — most often for single-author methods like Lal Kitab) are documented in AUDIT-TRAIL — integrators see the exact delta before integrating.

# Natal Vedic chart
curl -X POST https://api.astroway.info/v1/vedic/dashas/vimshottari/maha \
  -H "X-Api-Key: aw_live_..." \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "date": "1990-07-14",
    "time": "14:30:00",
    "tzOffset": "+03:00",
    "latitude": 50.4501,
    "longitude": 30.5234
  }'

Returns the current Maha-dasha lord, MD end date, and the sequence of subsequent dashas. Via /maha → /antar → /pratyantar → … you can drill down to 5 levels.

Vedic reports (PDF) are available in 21 languages including hi, ko, ja, id, tr, vi — markets with real demand for Vedic content. Pass lang=<code> to any /v1/reports/* endpoint. Details — /en/languages/.

Most Vedic endpoints — Tier 2 (20 credits). On the Free tier — 500 Vedic calls per month. Large reports (full compatibility, muhurat scanner) — Tier 3 (50 cr). PDF reports Vedic Kundli / Lal Kitab — Tier 7 (5000 cr).

• Vedic endpoint categories — navigation across 8 groups
• Vedic API marketing page — full overview with code samples in 4 languages
• Quick start — first request in 5 minutes
• Pricing — from free to Enterprise