KP Astrology: The Krishnamurti Paddhati in Brief

Krishnamurti Paddhati (KP) is a system of Vedic astrology developed by Prof. K. S. Krishnamurti of Chennai in the mid-twentieth century. It uses the same sidereal zodiac, nakshatras and Vimshottari Dasha as traditional Jyotish but changes the way houses and significations are judged, aiming for precise yes-or-no answers and exact timing.

Unequal houses

Parashari astrology usually uses whole-sign houses. KP uses the Placidus system, in which each house begins at a calculated cusp and houses vary in size. A planet’s house is decided by which cusps it lies between, so it can fall in a different house from the whole-sign chart.

Sub-lords

KP’s central idea is to divide each nakshatra into nine unequal parts, the subs, in the proportions of the Vimshottari Dasha years. Ketu’s sub is 7/120 of the nakshatra, Venus’s 20/120, and so on. Every degree of the zodiac therefore has a sign lord, a star (nakshatra) lord and a sub-lord. The 249 resulting divisions are also the numbers used in KP horary.

How a planet gives results

In KP a planet gives the results of the houses signified by its star lord; the sub-lord decides whether those results will actually happen and whether they will be favourable. The sub-lord of each house cusp is the deciding factor for that house’s matters: if the 7th cusp’s sub-lord signifies houses 2, 7 and 11, marriage is promised; if it signifies 1, 6 and 10, the houses opposing marriage, it is denied or delayed.

Significators and ruling planets

• Significators of a house are listed in order of strength: planets in the star of its occupants, its occupants, planets in the star of its lord, and its lord.
• Events happen in the Dasha, Bhukti and Antara of planets that signify the relevant houses.
• Ruling planets — the lords of the Lagna, Moon and weekday at the moment of judgement — are used to confirm significators and fine-tune timing.

KP horary

KP is especially popular for Prashna, horary questions. The querent gives a number between 1 and 249, which fixes the Lagna for the chart of the question, and the answer is read from the sub-lord of the relevant cusp. This makes KP usable without a birth chart.

KP ayanamsa

KP uses its own ayanamsa, which differs from Lahiri by only a few minutes of arc. The difference matters little for signs but can change a sub-lord near a boundary.

Our KP page shows the cusps, the star and sub-lords of every planet and cusp, and the significators of each house for your chart.