Jathagam Porutham, How Tamil Families Match Horoscopes

Tamil families match jathagams in four steps. First the 10 natchathira poruthams, from the boy's and girl's stars. Then chevvai dosham, then papa samyam (the balance of malefic planets in both charts), and last dasa sandhi (whether both dasas change at the same time). Star porutham needs only the natchathiram and rasi. The other three need the full jathagam with the birth time.

This page explains each step the way a jothidar in Madurai or Coimbatore would do it, so the note he writes on your jathagam copy makes sense.

How Tamil Families Match a Jathagam

Most families do it in two rounds.

Round one happens when a biodata arrives. Someone at home, or the family jothidar, checks the star porutham from the natchathiram and rasi printed on it. Many proposals stop here.

Round two happens only for the proposals the family likes. The two full jathagams go to the jothidar, who checks chevvai dosham, papa samyam and dasa sandhi.

Prokerala's Tamil jathagam porutham page calls jathagam porutham a detailed and stricter version of thirumana porutham. Its report shows the rasi kattam, chevvai dosham, papasamyam and dasa santhippu for both.

Step 1, Natchathira Porutham

The ten poruthams are dinam, ganam, mahendram, stree deergham, yoni, rasi, rasi adhipathi, vasyam, rajju and vedhai. Each is a yes or no.

Rajju comes first for most Tamil jothidars. If the boy's and girl's stars fall in the same rajju group, the match usually stops, whatever the other nine say. Dinam, ganam, rasi and yoni come next.

A jothidar's note may read "7 porutham, rajju undu". That means 7 of 10 matched and rajju passed. Our page on 10 porutham for marriage explains each one, with the rajju groups.

Step 2, Chevvai Dosham

Chevvai (sevvai) dosham is the Tamil name for manglik dosha, Mars in certain houses of the chart. The Drik Panchang mangal dosha page notes that South Indian astrologers usually do not count the 1st house. So in Tamil practice the houses are mostly the 2nd, 4th, 7th, 8th and 12th from the lagnam, also checked from the moon and Venus.

The usual rule is that a chevvai dosham jathagam should be matched with another chevvai dosham jathagam. Many jothidars also apply exceptions, for example when Mars is in its own sign or with Guru (Jupiter). Ask which one applies.

Families with chevvai dosham often visit Vaitheeswaran Koil near Mayiladuthurai, the Navagraha temple for Sevvai.

Step 3, Papa Samyam

Papa samyam means "balance of malefics". The papa grahas, usually Sevvai (Mars), Sani (Saturn), Suriyan (Sun) and Rahu, are counted when they sit in certain houses, generally the 1st, 2nd, 4th, 7th, 8th and 12th. The count is done from the lagnam, the moon and Venus, and each placement gets points.

The two totals are then compared. The usual rule is that the boy's papam should be equal to or a little more than the girl's. If the girl's papam is much higher, the jothidar may advise against the match.

The exact points for each planet and house differ between jothidars and between software. So two papa samyam reports can show different numbers for the same pair. What matters is the comparison, and the jothidar's reading of it.

Step 4, Dasa Sandhi

Every person runs through a series of planetary periods called dasas, starting from the dasa of the birth star's lord. Dasa sandhi means the joint where one dasa ends and the next begins.

In matching, the jothidar checks whether both the boy and girl reach a dasa sandhi at around the same time, especially in the first years after marriage. When two dasa changes fall close together, it is traditionally seen as a difficult period for the couple. Many jothidars then advise against the match, or suggest a remedy.

Dasa sandhi needs the exact birth time, because the dasa balance at birth depends on the moon's exact position in the star.

Is Star Porutham Enough?

For a first filter, yes. Star porutham tells you within minutes whether the proposal is worth taking further.

For a final decision, most Tamil families want the full jathagam matched. Chevvai dosham, papa samyam and dasa sandhi can each turn down a match that passed 8 poruthams. If the birth time of one side is not known, only star porutham and a partial chevvai check are possible. Our page on kundli milan without birth time explains what is lost.

Free Tools and the Family Jothidar

Free websites now do all four checks. Prokerala's Tamil jathagam porutham report needs the name, date, time and place of birth for both, and shows each check. Its 10 porutham page explains the star poruthams, naming rajju and dinam as the two given the greatest importance.

Software is useful to get the numbers. The jothidar is still the one most families trust for the decision, for three reasons. He knows which exceptions your community accepts. He reads the whole chart, not just the four checks. And the other family will usually ask, "Jothidar enna sonnaar?"

Take the software report to him. It saves him time and you money.

Tamil Terms Glossary

The Jathagam on Your Biodata

A Tamil biodata usually carries the rasi, natchathiram with padham, lagnam, dosham, dasa irupu and the rasi and navamsa charts. With these, the other family's jothidar can do round one straight away.

The jathagam biodata format fills rasi, natchathiram, padham 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.

For sevvai dosham, the Chevvai / Manglik field has No, Yes, Partial and Don't Know. The maker does not show where Mars falls and never picks one for you. There is no separate Dosham field, so for rahu-kethu or another dosham use Add Your Own Field in the Horoscope section. Add "Preferred stars" and "Stars not matching" the same way if your jothidar has given a list.

Telugu families follow a related but different method. See horoscope matching in Telugu. For a quick check of two stars, the nakshatra matching guide has all 27 stars in one table.