KP Astrology: Planet and House Significators

Krishnamurti Paddhati was developed in the twentieth century by K. S. Krishnamurti in Chennai. He kept the sidereal zodiac and the nakshatras of traditional Vedic astrology, but looked for a more exact way to time events. His answer was to split each nakshatra into nine unequal subs using the Vimshottari proportions, and to read each house through the sub lord of its cusp. KP has since built a large following, especially among astrologers who work with specific questions and event timing, and it has its own books, tables and ayanamsa.

KP divides each of the twenty-seven nakshatras into nine sub-parts in proportion to the Vimshottari years of their lords. Every point in the zodiac therefore has a sign lord, a star (nakshatra) lord and a sub lord. KP astrologers give the star lord and sub lord a central role in judging what a planet will deliver.

From these lords the method builds lists of significators: for each planet, the houses it signifies, and for each house, the planets that signify it. These lists are the basis of KP analysis.

The result has two parts: the significators of each planet and the significators of each of the twelve houses. A planet that appears for a group of related houses is usually read as connecting those matters.

Most KP work also involves horary questions and ruling planets at the moment of judgement. Those are not part of this tool, which focuses on the birth chart.

Standard KP uses Placidus house cusps and the KP ayanamsa. This tool currently uses whole-sign cusps and the Lahiri ayanamsa, the same settings as the rest of the site. House cusps and therefore cusp sub lords can differ from KP software. Please read this result as an introduction to the KP method rather than a full KP chart.

The star and sub lords of planets are less affected, because they depend only on planet longitudes. The difference between Lahiri and the KP ayanamsa is small, a few minutes of arc, but it can move a planet that sits close to a sub boundary. The calculations come from an open-source astrology library and have not yet been checked against published reference charts.