The twelve houses are grouped by their place in the chart. The kendras, or angles, are the 1st, 4th, 7th and 10th. The trikonas, or trines, are the 1st, 5th and 9th in the Nava app. The dusthanas, the difficult houses, are the 6th, 8th and 12th. Three more groups are panaphara, apoklima and upachaya. A house can belong to more than one group.
☕ Pillars, the rooms beside them, and the rooms after
Picture the twelve houses on a clock face. The 1st, 4th, 7th and 10th sit at the four quarters. These are the kendras. They are the pillars of the chart. The house just after each pillar is a panaphara: the 2nd, 5th, 8th and 11th. The house after that is an apoklima: the 3rd, 6th, 9th and 12th.
Parashara gives these three groups, and four more names, in one passage (Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra (Santhanam–Kapoor ed.), ch. 7, vv. 33–36, p. 102). Jataka Parijata gives the same three groups (Jataka Parijata (tr. Subramanya Sastri), ch. I, vv. 53–54, p. 33), and so does Brihat Jataka, ch. I, vv. 17–18.
The trikonas, or trines, are the 5th and 9th. They stand at the points of a triangle with the 1st. Parashara and Jataka Parijata name only the 5th and 9th as trikonas in the passages above. Many teachers add the 1st, which is then both a kendra and a trikona. The Nava app adds the 1st too.
The dusthanas, or difficult houses, are the 6th, 8th and 12th (Jataka Parijata (tr. Subramanya Sastri), ch. XI, v. 4, pp. 710–711). The upachayas, or houses of growth, are the 3rd, 6th, 10th and 11th (Brihat Jataka, ch. I, v. 15). Brihat Jataka notes that some teachers do not accept the upachaya idea in every case.
At a glance
- Kendra (angle, pillar): the 1st, 4th, 7th and 10th houses
- Panaphara (the house after a kendra): the 2nd, 5th, 8th and 11th houses
- Apoklima (the house after a panaphara): the 3rd, 6th, 9th and 12th houses
- Trikona (trine; the Nava app counts the 1st as well): the 1st, 5th and 9th houses
- Dusthana (difficult house): the 6th, 8th and 12th houses
- Upachaya (house of growth): the 3rd, 6th, 10th and 11th houses
- A house can be in two groups. The 6th is a dusthana, an apoklima and an upachaya.
- The 1st is a kendra. Whether it is also a trikona depends on the book.
- The groups are counted from the lagna, the 1st house, not from Mesha (Aries).
- The 3rd house: some books call it difficult, others do not. See the FAQ below.
Frequently asked questions
Is the 3rd house a dusthana?
The books differ. Most lists of dusthanas give only the 6th, 8th and 12th. Parashara has a separate list of houses whose lords turn harmful: the 3rd, 6th, 8th, 11th, 2nd and 12th (Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra (Santhanam–Kapoor ed.), ch. 32, vv. 35–37, pp. 325–326). Sanjay Rath, who writes in a different lineage that leans on Jaimini, counts the 3rd as a dusthana in many places (Sanjay Rath, Crux of Vedic Astrology, p. 19), but lists only the 6th, 8th and 12th in others (Sanjay Rath, Crux of Vedic Astrology, p. 111). What Nava follows: the 6th, 8th and 12th only. The app does not count the 3rd as a dusthana.
Why does the Nava app count the 1st as a trikona?
The 1st, 5th and 9th are each four signs apart, so they form a triangle. Many teachers count all three as trikonas. Parashara's list of groups names only the 5th and 9th. What Nava follows: the 1st, 5th and 9th. This is a choice, and the page says so.
What is an upachaya house?
A house of growth: the 3rd, 6th, 10th and 11th. Jataka Parijata says strong malefic planets do well in the 3rd, 6th and 11th, while strong benefics do well in kendras and trikonas (Jataka Parijata (tr. Subramanya Sastri), ch. VIII, v. 117, p. 582). That is why the 6th can be both a dusthana and an upachaya.
Deep dive: seeing the pattern
Why the groups repeat every three houses. What to read next.
🔺 Every third house
Kendra, panaphara and apoklima repeat in a cycle of three:
- Kendra: house numbers that leave 1 when divided by 3 (1, 4, 7, 10).
- Panaphara: those that leave 2 (2, 5, 8, 11).
- Apoklima: those divisible by 3 (3, 6, 9, 12).
Brihat Jataka also calls the kendras kantaka and chatushtaya. The trikonas step by four instead: 1, 5, 9.
📚 Before and after this page
This page builds on the twelve houses and what each covers. Next, see why the kendras and trikonas are called the Vishnu and Lakshmi places.