Tara koota in kundali matching

Tara koota asks whether each partner's birth star is a fortunate one for the other: does it bring wealth, well-being and friendship, or danger and obstacles? It carries 3 of the 36 gunas.

Seen from one partner's birth nakshatra, the other's falls on one of nine taras, and it is read both ways. Six of the nine are auspicious and three are difficult, and each way that lands on an auspicious tara earns 1½. When one way is difficult the other is always auspicious, so Tara gives 3 or 1½ and never 0: there is nothing here to worry about.

Where the idea comes from

Tara simply means a star. The idea comes from a count every panchang has long used to choose days. From your own birth nakshatra, the stars that follow fall into nine kinds, Janma to Parama Mitra, and the cycle runs three times round the 27. Families used this count, called tara bala, to pick a day for a journey or a ceremony: a day whose star is Sampat or Kshema for you is a friendly one.

Matching borrows the same count and turns it on a person. Instead of asking whether a day’s star is kind to you, it asks whether your partner’s star is - and then asks it the other way round, since a marriage is lived from both sides.

The nine taras and what they mean

What the Gun Milan app shows

The result shows both nakshatras and the Tara points, added into the total. Tara never raises a dosha; your pandit ji has the final word on the match as a whole.

Related guides

• How kundali matching worksWhere the gunas and Manglik come from, and how to read the result
• How many gunas should match?The 18-guna mark, what a total means, and the four answers the Gun Milan app gives
• Manglik doshaWhat being Manglik means, and which pairings suit
• Nadi doshaHealth and children: the heaviest koota, and when its dosha is cancelled
• The 27 nakshatrasThe nature and story of the people of each birth star, and the partner they suit
• The 12 rashisWhat the people of each Moon sign are like, at home and in marriage