When you learn astrology you have to learn how to read a horoscope chart eventually. Last article we learnt how to read a North Indian horoscope. This article we would look at how to go about reading a South Indian horoscope. If you are interested in vedic astrology then you ought to go over literature of B. V. Raman. He has done extensive research, studied countless horoscope charts and written quite a few great books on vedic astrology. And his example charts are South Indian style. Its not just about B. V. Raman, other thing is South Indian charts have their own benefits. They are quite easy to draw. 

     The good thing about South Indian chart system is the horoscope signs stay the same and they don't change their assigned blocks. Meaning the first block is always Aries and last block is always Pisces. Only the Ascendant and the placement of planets change. Also South Indian horoscope chart is in clockwise direction. The only things to remember when judging a South Indian Chart are

1. Twelve Signs
2. Ascendant(Signified by two cross lines at top or ASC written in horoscope block)
3. Placing the Nine Planets in the assocites signs or houses.

     That's it. No need to bother with other stuff. You can count the houses clockwise from Ascendant with Ascendant being the First House. And the next block as Second House. So on and so forth. The Twelve Signs never change their placement. You only need to place the right planet in the right sign. Below is an example South Indian chart. First we learn which block is assigned which one of the Twelve Signs. Remember the signs and assigned blocks remain the same in all example South Indian horoscopes. They never change.

     The comes finding out the Ascendant part. The Ascendant House in South Indian Horoscope generally has two cross lines at the top or ASC written in it. Below is an example South Indian Chart with houses assigned after determining Ascendant.

     From the above two charts we can deduce the horoscope signs and houses. Native's ascendant is in Capricorn Sign. So native has a Capricorn Ascendant. Second House would be Aquarius Sign. Third House would be Pisces Sign. So on and so forth. The Twelfth and final house would be Sagittarius. For putting the planets in the right house all that needs to be known are which planet is at what degree at time of birth. For example if Rahu is at 24 degree then it is assigned in Aries Sign. If Jupiter is at 295 degree then it is assigned in Capricorn Sign. There are software nowadays that say which planet is in which sign in the horoscope. So all that needs to be done is assign the planet to the associated astrological sign in the chart. Below is the final chart after assigning the planets to their related signs as calculated at time of birth.

     In South Indian Charts all you need to know are the astrological signs and blocks they are assigned. Then know the ascendant. Assign houses clock-wise with ascendant being the First House. Finally place the planets in their associated signs as derived from ephemeris at time of birth. There are softwares which make it easy. Many of the prominent astrologers are based in South India and they follow the South Indian chart system. So learning how to read a South Indian chart is not a bad idea at all.