A new chart every year
Every year the Sun comes back to the exact place in the zodiac where it stood when you were born. That moment is called the Varsha Pravesh, the entry into your new year. It falls on or within a day of your birthday, and its exact time depends on where the Sun was at your birth.
Varshphal casts a fresh chart for that moment, at your place of birth. This annual chart is read alongside your birth chart: the birth chart shows the promise of your whole life, the annual chart shows which parts of that promise come forward this year.
Not the forecast for your sign
The yearly predictions in newspapers and apps are written for everyone born under the same sign, so one person in twelve reads the same words. A Varshphal starts from your own birth date, time and place, so no two are the same.
It is also different from reading transits (gochar) on their own. Transits show where the planets are for everyone; Varshphal asks what this year’s positions mean for your chart in particular.
What a Varshphal looks at
- The lord of the year (Varshesha): one planet chosen from five candidates by fixed rules. Its strength sets the overall tone of the year.
- The Muntha: a point that moves one sign every year from your birth ascendant. The house it falls in shows where the year’s focus lies: work, home, relationships, money and so on.
- The office bearers (Panchadhikari): the five planets that hold office for the year, among which the lord of the year is chosen.
- The year divided into periods (Mudda dasha): the year is split into planetary periods, which show when different matters are likely to come forward within it.
- Each area of life and each month: work, money, relationships, health, home and travel, and how each month of the year is likely to feel.
Which year should you look at?
Your Varshphal year runs from one birthday to the next, not from January to December. If your birthday is in March and it is now October, your current Varshphal year began this March and ends next March. Reading two years together (the current one and the next) covers you from today with no gap.
Why the birth time matters
The annual chart’s ascendant, and with it the Muntha and the houses, depend on your birth time. The planets themselves are the same for anyone born that day. Give the most accurate time you have; if you only know it roughly, use the closest you know.
What it can and cannot tell you
A Varshphal describes tendencies: which areas of life are likely to be supported, which may need more patience, and when. It is a way of reflecting on the year ahead, not a promise of events, and it is no substitute for medical, legal or financial advice.