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Gulika and Māndi

Gulika and Māndi are calculated zodiac points, not physical bodies. Mạghā places them at the rising degrees for the start and midpoint of Saturn's day or night portion. Both differ from Gulika Kālam, the daily timing window.

On Nila Raman's Friday of birth in Bengaluru, Saturn ruled the second eighth of the day, from 07:41 to 09:09, where Gulika and Māndi rise.Daylight from 06:13 to 17:58 splits into eight parts of 1 hour 28 minutes, with Nila's birth at 06:30 in Venus's part. Gulika is the degree rising at 07:41, Libra 17°51′, and Māndi the degree rising at 08:25, Libra 28°08′.Sunrise 06:13Sunset 17:581 Venus2 Saturn 07:41–09:0912345678Birth 06:30Each part 1 h 28 minOn Nila Raman's Friday of birth in Bengaluru, Saturn ruled the second eighth of the day, from 07:41 to 09:09, where Gulika and Māndi rise.Daylight from 06:13 to 17:58 splits into eight parts of 1 hour 28 minutes, with Nila's birth at 06:30 in Venus's part. Gulika is the degree rising at 07:41, Libra 17°51′, and Māndi the degree rising at 08:25, Libra 28°08′.Sunrise 06:1312345678Birth 06:301 VenusGulika 07:41Māndi 08:252 Saturn07:41–09:09Each part1 h 28 minSunset 17:58

Gulika 07:41 · Libra 17°51′

Māndi 08:25 · Libra 28°08′

Friday 14 October 1994, Bengaluru

Nila's Gulika rose at 07:41, when Saturn's part of her Friday began

Divide day and night into eight equal portions. Day begins with the weekday lord; night with the fifth weekday lord; the eighth is unruled. Pre-sunrise births belong to the preceding Hindu night. On Nila's Friday, Saturn's portion is 07:41–09:09. Mạghā takes Gulika at its start, Libra 17°51′, and Māndi at its midpoint, Libra 28°08′. All daytime births at that place on that date share those degrees.

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Parāśara judges Gulika by the house it occupies

Parāśara judges Gulika's effects from its longitude alone and describes them house by house (chapter 25). Most are harsh. The kinder entries are the 3rd, 6th, 10th and 11th houses, the houses of growth, where Gulika is said to bring a strong body, leadership or honour from the ruler. Mantreśvara's Phaladīpikā (chapter 25) also favours the 6th and the 11th.

Gulika feeds other techniques too. Parāśara uses the distance between Saturn and Māndi, glossed as Gulika in the English translation, to estimate the ascendant at conception (chapter 4), and Praśna Mārga builds seven sphuṭas on it. Gulika Kālam is a different thing: a window of about 90 minutes, the same for everyone in one place on one day. Gulika is a degree in one person's chart.

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Gulika and Māndi in the ledger

Choose Gulika and Mandi under Planetary ledger → Upagrahas. Rows show sign, degree, whole-sign house and nakṣatra/pāda; chart overlays use Gk/Md. Both depend on centre-of-disc sunrise and sunset without refraction.

Using the refracted upper edge shifts the sample points roughly half a degree. Births near sunrise or sunset may also switch day/night rules.

Within Saturn's part of Nila Raman's day, from 07:41 to 09:09, sources place Gulika at the start, the middle or the end.Mạghā takes Gulika at the start, 07:41 (Libra 17°51′), as Parāśara does, and Māndi at the middle, 08:25 (Libra 28°08′). Uttara Kālāmṛta takes the end, 09:09, and Narasimha Rao's textbook swaps Gulika and Māndi.Start07:41Middle08:25End09:0908:34

Start 07:41 · Gulika in Mạghā (Parāśara) · Libra 17°51′

Middle 08:25 · Māndi in Mạghā · Libra 28°08′

End 09:09 · Gulika in Uttara Kālāmṛta

Narasimha Rao: Gulika at the middle, Māndi at the start

08:34 · Māndi in Phaladīpikā for a Friday · Gulika in Praśna Mārga (Raman)

Gulika and Māndi conventions

Texts disagree on the point within Saturn’s interval. Mạghā takes Gulika at its start, following Parāśara, and Māndi at its middle. Other methods can shift the resulting longitude into another sign, so check the convention before comparing charts.

Parāśara takes Gulika from the start of Saturn's part. Uttara Kālāmṛta takes its end, and P. V. R. Narasimha Rao's textbook, Vedic Astrology: An Integrated Approach, puts Gulika at the middle and Māndi at the beginning, the reverse of Mạghā. For Māndi, Phaladīpikā and Uttara Kālāmṛta count fixed ghaṭikās (24-minute units) after sunrise: 26 on Sunday and four fewer each day to 2 on Saturday, scaled to the real length of the day. Praśna Mārga, as B. V. Raman reads it, uses that moment for Gulika too.

Mạghā follows Parāśara for Gulika and takes the middle of the same part for Māndi. The choice matters: at the end of Nila's Saturn part, 09:09, the rising degree was about 8° into Scorpio, a sign beyond her Gulika in Mạghā. Check the convention before comparing charts from different sources.

What people ask about Gulika and Māndi

Are Gulika and Māndi the same point?

Many texts treat them as one. B. V. Raman notes that the author of Praśna Mārga seems to accept them as the same, and the English Bṛhat Parāśara Horā Śāstra writes "Mandi (Gulik)". Others separate them by taking a different moment for each. Mạghā shows both, from the start and the middle of Saturn's part; for Nila they sit 10°17′ apart.

Is Gulika the same as Gulika Kālam?

No. Gulika Kālam is a stretch of time, the whole of Saturn's part of the day, which almanacs avoid for new beginnings and which is the same for everyone in one place. In Mạghā, Gulika is the single degree rising as that part begins, read in one person's chart. On the day Nila was born, Gulika Kālam in Bengaluru ran from 07:41 to 09:09.

Is Gulika good or bad in a birth chart?

Parāśara and Mantreśvara both read it as harmful in most houses. Parāśara's kinder placements are the 3rd, 6th, 10th and 11th houses; Mantreśvara's are the 6th and 11th. A full reading weighs far more than one placement.

How do I find Gulika in my birth chart?

By hand, find the sunrise and sunset for the date and place of birth, cut the day or night into eight equal parts, locate Saturn's part from the weekday and cast the ascendant for its first moment. In Mạghā, open your chart, press ⋯ in the Planetary ledger and tick "Gulika" under "Choose individually" › "Upagrahas".

Find Gulika and Māndi in your own chart

Nila Raman's chart ledger with Gulika at Libra 17°51′ in Swati pada 4 and Mandi at Libra 28°08′ in Vishakha pada 3, both in house 1.
Frozen Nila Raman’s chart at 12 September 2026. The Planetary ledger shows Gulika at Libra 17°51′ and Mandi at Libra 28°08′, with their nakṣatras and pādas. The demo cannot calculate arbitrary birth details.

Add both points to your chart's Planetary ledger, free for life like every astrology feature in Mạghā. The preview adds them to the ledger of Nila Raman.

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