Rajju porutham sorts the 27 birth stars into five groups named after parts of the body: Pada (feet), Ooru (thigh), Nabhi (navel), Kanta (neck) and Siro (head). Kalaprakasika (1917, p. 75) says the bride's and the groom's stars should not be in the same group. If they are in different groups, Rajju agrees. The book counts Rajju among the two most important of the ten checks (p. 76).
☕ How Rajju is checked
Rajju uses one fact about each person: the birth star (janma nakshatra), the star the Moon was in at birth. Find the bride's star in one of the five groups, then the groom's. That is the whole check. Nothing is counted, so it makes no difference whose star you look up first.
The rule is short. In the book's words, "the asterisms of the couple should not be in the same division". If the two stars are in different groups, Rajju agrees. If they are in the same group, it does not agree. A shared birth star always falls in one group. The book does not say whether Rajju applies to a shared star; it treats a shared star in a passage of its own.
Rajju carries weight. Kalaprakasika names five chief checks (Dinam, Ganam, Yoni, Rasi and Rajju) and says Dinam and Rajju are first in importance. It also gives one exception, about the two Moon signs and their lords, that sets Rajju aside together with Vedhai, Ganam and Rasi.
Nava Panchangam now matches two charts by these ten poruthams: sign in and open Marriage matching at navapanchangam.com/matching for a Nava verdict. This page explains the rule as the book gives it.
The five groups, and the rule
- Pada (feet): Ashwini, Ashlesha, Magha, Jyeshta, Moola, Revati
- Ooru (thigh): Bharani, Pushya, Purva Phalguni, Anuradha, Purva Ashadha, Uttara Bhadrapada
- Nabhi (navel): Krittika, Punarvasu, Uttara Phalguni, Vishakha, Uttara Ashadha, Purva Bhadrapada
- Kanta (neck): Rohini, Ardra, Hasta, Swati, Shravana, Shatabhisha
- Siro (head): Mrigashira, Chitra, Dhanishta
- Different groups: Rajju agrees
- The same group: Rajju does not agree
- No counting and no direction: the answer is the same whichever star you start from
- The same birth star is always the same group
- One exception about the two Moon signs sets Rajju aside (p. 76)
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Rajju porutham?
One of the ten poruthams of Tamil marriage matching. Kalaprakasika puts the 27 stars into five groups named after the feet, thigh, navel, neck and head, and says the two birth stars should not be in the same group.
Does it matter whose star is counted first?
No. Rajju only asks whether the two stars are in the same group, so the answer is the same either way. This is different from Dinam or Mahendram, which count from the bride's star to the groom's.
How important is Rajju?
Kalaprakasika names it among the five chief checks, and with Dinam as first in importance (p. 76). It also asks for agreement in at least five of the ten checks overall.
Can Rajju ever be set aside?
The book gives one exception, about the two Moon signs and their lords, that sets Rajju aside together with Vedhai, Ganam and Rasi (p. 76). It has its own page in this series.
What does each Rajju group mean?
The book attaches a meaning to each group. These pages leave those meanings out and explain only how the groups are formed and how the check is read.
From the source
The pattern behind the table, what the page leaves out, and where to read next.
🔁 Feet to head and back: our reading of the table
The book prints the five groups as lists (p. 75). Read the stars in order from Ashwini and a pattern appears. This is our reading, not a line of the book, and you can check it against the lists above. The first nine stars climb from the feet to the head and come back down:
- Ashwini: Pada (feet)
- Bharani: Ooru (thigh)
- Krittika: Nabhi (navel)
- Rohini: Kanta (neck)
- Mrigashira: Siro (head)
- Ardra: Kanta (neck)
- Punarvasu: Nabhi (navel)
- Pushya: Ooru (thigh)
- Ashlesha: Pada (feet)
The next nine stars, from Magha, and the last nine, from Moola, repeat the same climb. That is why four groups have six stars each and the head group has three.
✂️ What this page leaves out
Kalaprakasika attaches a meaning to each of the five groups, for a couple whose stars share it. These pages leave those meanings out and give only the groups and the rule. The book's own spellings are older (Padha Raju, Ooroo Raju); the names here use today's usual spellings.