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27 நட்சத்திரங்களின் விஞ்ஞானப் பெயர்கள்

The twenty seven Nakshatras of Hindu System and western equivalents for the benefit of western readers by Santhanam Nagarajan

While the Indian Star System or Hindu Nakshatra system is a scientifically designed one, some doubt whether the 27 nakshatras physically exist in the sky. They do exist. For the benefit of the western readers, the 27 nakshatras and western equivalents are given below:

1) Ashwini –Alpha, Beta –Aries அஸ்வினி
2) Bharani – No 28,29,41 Taurus பரணி
3) Krittika – Pleiades கார்த்திகை
4) Rohini – Aldebaran Hyades, Alpha, Theta, Gama, Delta and Epsilon Taurus ரோஹிணி
5) Mrigashirsha – Lambda, Phi 1, Phi 2, Orion மிருகசீர்ஷம்
6) Aardraa –Betelgeaux – Alpha Orion திரு ஆதிரை
7) Punarvasu – Castor, Pollux with Procyon Alpha, Beta, Gemini-Alpha Canis Minor respectively புனர் பூசம்
8) Pushya – Gama, Delta and Theta of Cancer பூசம்
9) Ashlesha – Delta, Epsilon, Eta, Rho and Zeta Hydra ஆயில்யம்
10) Maagha – Alpha, Ela, Gama, Zeta My and Epsilon Leonis மகம்
11) Poorva Phalkuni – Delta and Theta Leo பூரம்
12) Utra Phalkuni – Beta and 93 Leo உத்தரம்
13) Hasta – Delta, Gama, Eta, Virgo ஹஸ்தம்
14) Chitraa – Spica, Alpha Virgo சித்திரை
15) Swaati – Arcturus – Alpha Bootes ஸ்வாதி
16) Vishaakha – Alpha, Beta etc Libra விசாகம்
17) Anuraadha – Beta, Delta, Pi –Scorpia அனுஷம்
18) Jyestha – Antares Alpha, Sigma Tau Scorpio கேட்டை
19) Mula – Scorpio, tail stars மூலம்
20) Poorvaashadaa – Delta and Epsilon Sagittarius பூராடம்
21) Uttaraashaada – Zeta and Omicron Sagittarius உத்திராடம்
22) Shraavanaa – Altair – Alpha Aquila திரு ஓணம்
23) Dhanishtha – Delphinus அவிட்டம்
24) Shatabhisak – Lambda Aquarius சதயம்
25) Poorva Bhaadrapada – Alpha and Beta Pegasus பூரட்டாதி
26) Uttara Bhaadrapada – Gama Pagasus and Alpha Andromeda உத்திரட்டாதி
27) Revathi – Zeta Piscum ரேவதி

The above stars can be seen with the help of the star maps. The Vedic Rishis (seers) have very clearly indicated the size and shape of the stars. There were a number of books available in the past. The Nakshatra vidya or the Science of the Stars or descriptive astronomy is lost due to the continuous invasions on India. However Vedic Scholars are able to find out the real science now and we may hope the full benefit of this science will be passed on to the future generation. In our next article we will look into the wonders of the stars.

Out of the Zodiac signs we have some stars with common names and they are Abijit – Vega, Agastya- Canopus,Trisanku- Southern Cross, Sapatarishi Mandala-Ursa Major and Dhruva- Pole Star.

(This article is written by my brother S Nagarajan)
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