North and South Indian chart styles
Kundli charts are drawn in two common styles in India: the North Indian diamond style, where the houses are fixed and the signs move, and the South Indian square style, where the signs are fixed and the houses move.
What it is
In the North Indian style the Lagna is always the top diamond, and the houses are numbered counter-clockwise from it. In the South Indian style the signs stay in the same boxes, and the Lagna is marked by a line or a diagonal.
How it is worked out or read
The information in both is the same. Only the layout differs, so a chart drawn in one style can be read in the other once the house and sign are matched.
Where it appears on this site
The tool shows a table, not a drawn chart, so the layout does not affect the result. The how to read a chart article covers the reading.
Why there are two styles
Indian kundlis are drawn in two common layouts. The North Indian diamond style keeps the houses fixed in position and moves the signs, so that the Lagna is always in the top diamond. The South Indian square style keeps the signs fixed in their boxes and moves the houses, so that the Lagna is marked by a line or a diagonal. Both layouts developed for practical reasons, such as ease of drawing and the habits of the region where they arose.
Neither style is more correct than the other. They present the same information in different arrangements, and a reader who learns one can move to the other without difficulty once the house and sign are matched.
Reading the North Indian layout
In the North Indian layout the houses run counter-clockwise from the top diamond, which is house one. The signs are written inside each diamond, so the reader must find the sign for each house to know where the grahas fall. Because the signs move, the sign written in a house changes from chart to chart, and that is why the reader should read the sign first and the house second.
Many printed kundlis also write the graha abbreviations inside the diamonds, and some add the degrees. A reader can check each abbreviation against the grahas table to avoid confusion between similar names.
Reading the South Indian layout
In the South Indian layout the signs stay in fixed boxes, usually arranged around a square, and the Lagna is shown by a marker. Because the signs do not move, the reader can learn the layout once and read it quickly. The houses are then counted from the marked Lagna sign, in the same order as in the other style.
The two layouts are interchangeable for the purposes of reading, so long as the reader counts houses from the Lagna sign in each. A reader who draws a chart by hand should check the count against the table of signs before reading it.
What the drawing does not change
The choice of layout is cosmetic. It does not alter the positions of the grahas, the houses or the signs, and it does not change the reading. This site presents the birth chart as a table rather than a drawing, so the reader sees each graha's sign, degree and house directly, and can then draw the chart in whichever style is preferred.
Converting between the two layouts
To move a chart from one layout to the other, first write the Lagna sign in the Lagna position of the target layout, then place each sign in its fixed or moving position according to the order of the signs. Once the signs are placed correctly, the house of each graha follows automatically.