The 10 porutham for marriage are dinam, ganam, mahendram, stree deergham, yoni, rasi, rasi adhipathi, vasyam, rajju and vedhai. Together they are called thirumana porutham. Each one compares the boy's and girl's birth stars or moon signs and is read as a match or no match. Rajju and dinam are usually given the most weight.
South Indian families, especially in Tamil Nadu and Kerala, use porutham where North Indian families use the 36-point gun milan. This page explains all ten in plain words, so the jothidar's note makes sense when you get it.
What Thirumana Porutham Is
Thirumana porutham is the South Indian method of matching two horoscopes for marriage, based mainly on the natchathiram (birth star) and rasi (moon sign) of the boy and the girl. Prokerala's porutham page notes that the old texts once listed 20 poruthams, and only 10 are in use now.
Most of the counting starts from the girl's star and goes forward to the boy's star. So if the girl is Bharani and the boy is Rohini, the count is 3: Bharani is 1, Krittika 2, Rohini 3. Keep that in mind when you read the table below.
The 10 Poruthams at a Glance
| No. | Porutham | What it compares | How it is read |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dinam | Count from girl's star to boy's star | Good on certain counts |
| 2 | Ganam | Deva, Manushya or Rakshasa nature of each star | Same or friendly gana is good |
| 3 | Mahendram | Count from girl's star to boy's star | Good on 4, 7, 10 and so on |
| 4 | Stree deergham | Distance of boy's star from girl's | Good when more than 13 |
| 5 | Yoni | Animal linked to each star | Enemy animals fail |
| 6 | Rasi | Distance between the two rasis | 6th, 8th and 12th fail |
| 7 | Rasi adhipathi | Lords of the two rasis | Friendly lords are good |
| 8 | Vasyam | Whether one rasi attracts the other | Fixed rasi pairs |
| 9 | Rajju | Group of each star (head to foot) | Same group fails |
| 10 | Vedhai | Pairs of stars that afflict each other | A vedha pair fails |
How Each Porutham Is Checked
Dinam
Count from the girl's star to the boy's. Prokerala's dina porutham page gives these counts as uthamam (good): 2, 4, 8, 9, 11, 13, 15, 18, 20, 24 and 26. A few other counts are partly allowed, depending on the pada. Dinam is linked in tradition to health and day-to-day harmony.
Ganam
Every star has a gana. Deva stars include Ashwini, Pushya and Revati. Manushya stars include Bharani, Rohini and Purva Bhadrapada. Rakshasa stars include Krittika, Magha and Mula.
Two Deva stars, or two Manushya stars, are the best. Deva with Manushya is middling. A Rakshasa girl with a Deva or Manushya boy is usually not recommended, as per Prokerala's gana porutham notes.
Mahendram
Count from the girl's star again. Mahendram matches when the boy's star is 4th, 7th, 10th, 13th, 16th, 19th, 22nd or 25th. In belief it is linked to children and family growth.
Stree Deergham
Stree deergham means "long life of the woman", and it is read as her well-being in the marriage. Prokerala's rule is simple: the boy's star should be more than 13 stars away from the girl's.
Yoni
Each of the 27 stars has an animal: Ashwini the horse, Rohini the serpent, Magha the rat, Chitra the tiger, and so on. Same or friendly animals match. Sworn enemies, like the cat and the rat or the snake and the mongoose, do not.
Rasi
Count from the girl's rasi to the boy's rasi. If either sits 6th, 8th or 12th from the other, rasi porutham fails. A 7th-house pairing, such as Mesham and Thulam, is read as one of the best.
Rasi Adhipathi
Every rasi has a lord. Mesham and Vrischikam belong to Mars, Rishabam and Thulam to Venus, Simmam to the Sun. When the two lords are friends, or the same planet, this porutham matches.
Vasyam
Vasyam is a fixed list of rasi pairs where one sign is said to draw the other, or to be under its pull. The jothidar reads it off a printed table, and it carries less weight than rajju or dinam.
Rajju
Rajju splits the 27 stars into five groups, named after parts of the body. If the boy and girl fall in the same group, rajju fails. This is the porutham most Tamil jothidars will not compromise on.
| Rajju group | Stars |
|---|---|
| Siro (head) | Mrigashira, Chitra, Dhanishta |
| Kanta (neck) | Rohini, Ardra, Hasta, Swati, Shravana, Shatabhisha |
| Nabhi (middle) | Krittika, Punarvasu, Uttara Phalguni, Vishakha, Uttara Ashadha, Purva Bhadrapada |
| Kati (thigh) | Bharani, Pushya, Purva Phalguni, Anuradha, Purva Ashadha, Uttara Bhadrapada |
| Pada (foot) | Ashwini, Ashlesha, Magha, Jyeshtha, Mula, Revati |
The groups are from Prokerala's rajju porutham page. Tradition links a same-rajju match to harm to one partner, which is why families take it so seriously. That is a belief, and you will not find any study behind it.
Vedhai
Vedhai (vedha) means affliction. Certain pairs of stars are said to hurt each other. Prokerala lists pairs such as Ashwini and Jyeshtha, Rohini and Swati, Ardra and Shravana, Magha and Revati, and Hasta and Shatabhisha. If the boy and girl are one such pair, the proposal is usually dropped.
The Five Most Jothidars Weigh First
Not all ten carry the same weight. Prokerala's 10 porutham page names five as important: gana, rajju, dina, rasi and yoni. It adds that rajju and dina are given the greatest importance.
Some jothidars add vedhai to this list, because a vedha pair is treated almost like a rajju failure. If your jothidar's list is a little different, that is normal.
How Many Poruthams Should Match
There is no one number that every jothidar follows. Each porutham is graded uthamam (good), madhyamam (middling) or no match, and the jothidar looks at which ones failed, not just how many passed.
In practice, a match with 7 poruthams but rajju failing is often rejected. A match with 5 or 6, where rajju and dinam both pass, is often approved. So when the jothidar says "6 porutham irukku", ask him straight away whether rajju is one of them.
Porutham and North Indian Gun Milan
Gun milan gives a score out of 36 from 8 kootas. Porutham gives a list of 10 yes or no answers. Both start from the same two inputs, the birth star and the rasi.
| Porutham (South) | Gun milan (North) | |
|---|---|---|
| Result | 10 matches, each yes or no | A score out of 36 |
| Deciding check | Rajju, then dinam | Nadi, then bhakoot |
| Checks only porutham has | Rajju, vedhai, mahendram, stree deergham | |
| Checks only gun milan has | Nadi, tara, varna |
The two systems can disagree on the same couple. If one family is from Madurai and the other from Jaipur, decide early which one you will follow. Our 36 gun milan guide explains the North Indian side in detail.
Star-Only Matching and Full Jathagam Matching
Star porutham uses only the natchathiram and rasi. You can do it in two minutes with the stars printed on a biodata, even when the birth time is lost.
Full jathagam matching goes further. The jothidar also checks chevvai dosham, papa samyam (the balance of malefic planets in both charts) and dasa sandhi (a dasa change at the same time for both). That needs the exact birth time. Our page on jathagam porutham in Tamil walks through those extra checks.
Many families do it in two rounds. Star porutham first, when the biodata arrives. The full jathagam only for the proposals that pass.
When Porutham Does Not Match
A weak porutham result is a reason to ask questions. It does not have to end the talk.
- Ask which poruthams failed. A failed vasyam is not the same as a failed rajju.
- Ask whether any exception applies to your two stars. Some jothidars allow exceptions in certain star and pada combinations. Others never do.
- Get the full jathagam matched. Star porutham alone can miss strengths in the two charts.
- Take one second opinion with the same birth details. Not five.
If the families still want to go ahead, that is their decision. Our kundli milan guide covers what pandits and jothidars do when the match is weak.
Putting the Stars on the Biodata
A jothidar needs the natchathiram, the padam and the rasi to start. Print them clearly on the biodata, with the lagnam if you know the birth time.
The jathagam biodata format works out rasi, natchathiram, padam and lagnam from the date, time and place of birth, and prints them as text. It does not draw the rasi kattam or navamsam, so send your jothidar's jathagam as a second file.
If your jothidar has given you a list of stars that match, add it with Add Your Own Field in the Horoscope section, for example "Preferred stars". Other guides are in our kundli matching section.
Common questions
What Are the 10 Poruthams?
Dinam, ganam, mahendram, stree deergham, yoni, rasi, rasi adhipathi, vasyam, rajju and vedhai. Together they are called thirumana porutham.
Which Porutham Is Most Important for Marriage?
Rajju is the one most Tamil jothidars treat as a must. Dinam comes next, then gana, rasi and yoni.
Is Porutham Counted from the Girl's Star or the Boy's Star?
Most counts, like dinam, mahendram and stree deergham, go from the girl's star to the boy's star. Swapping the two can change the result.
Do I Need the Exact Birth Time for Porutham?
Not for star porutham, which needs only the natchathiram and rasi. Full jathagam checks like papa samyam and dasa sandhi need the time.
Is Porutham the Same as Kundli Matching?
Both match two horoscopes from the moon's star and sign. Porutham gives 10 yes or no results, while kundli matching in the North gives a score out of 36.
Sources
Related Guides
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