What's included
✦Current, previous & next nodal axis — toggle between the three transits
✦Exact entry & exit dates — when the Rahu–Ketu axis changes sign
✦The karmic see-saw — the house Rahu intensifies and the house Ketu releases, from your Moon & Ascendant
✦The eclipse axis — which pair of your houses this cycle's eclipses fall along
✦Nodal return check — whether the axis is returning to its birth position, resetting your karmic axis
Understanding the Rahu–Ketu Transit (Peyarchi)
Rahu (north node) and Ketu (south node) are the two points where the Moon's path crosses the Sun's — always exactly opposite, forming a single axis. They move steadily backward through the zodiac, about 18 months per sign, so their sign change — Rahu Ketu Gochar, called Rahu Ketu Peyarchi in Tamil — is a watched event roughly every year and a half. It is read from both your Moon and your Ascendant — which pair of houses the axis is crossing.
Rahu intensifies, Ketu releases
The nodes work as an axis of pull and release. Wherever Rahu sits, that area of life intensifies — desire, ambition, hunger and restlessness rise, sometimes to excess. The opposite house, where Ketu sits, tends to empty out — detachment, dissatisfaction or a quiet letting-go. One pair of life areas sits on this karmic see-saw for about 18 months.
The eclipse axis
Eclipses happen only near the nodes, so during any cycle the eclipses fall along the current Rahu–Ketu signs — spotlighting exactly that pair of your houses. The tool names them for you.
Nodal return — every ~18.6 years
About every 18.6 years, transiting Rahu returns to the sign it held at your birth — a nodal return that resets your karmic axis, often near ages 18–19, 37 and 55–56. The tool flags it when it applies.
Positions computed with a full astronomical model of the lunar nodes (mean node) and the Lahiri ayanamsha. This is the traditional gochar trend — themes and emphasis, not a forecast of fixed events.
Want the fuller picture? See our Saturn transit and Jupiter transit tools too — the slow planets together shape the year.
How the Transit Is Calculated
1
The nodal axis over time. We compute the mean node's sidereal longitude across a wide window and detect each moment it crosses a sign boundary. The nodes move backward steadily, so every crossing is a clean sign change — no retrograde wobble.
2
Your Moon and Ascendant. From your birth date, time and place we find your Moon sign and your Ascendant. The axis's houses are counted from both — Moon primary, Ascendant secondary — which is more personal than a Moon-only view.
3
The see-saw. The house Rahu occupies selects the area that intensifies; the opposite house, where Ketu sits, is the one that releases. We add the eclipse axis for the cycle and flag a nodal return when it applies.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Rahu–Ketu transit (Rahu Ketu Peyarchi)?
Rahu and Ketu are the two lunar nodes — always exactly opposite, forming one axis. They move backward about 18 months per sign, so their sign change (Rahu Ketu Peyarchi in Tamil) is a watched event roughly every year and a half. It's read from your Moon and Ascendant: which pair of houses the axis crosses.
What do Rahu and Ketu each do?
They're an axis of pull and release. Wherever Rahu sits intensifies — desire, ambition, restlessness. The opposite house, where Ketu sits, tends to empty out — detachment or letting-go. One pair of life areas is on this see-saw for about 18 months.
Why does it mention eclipses?
Eclipses happen only near the nodes, so during any cycle they fall along the current Rahu–Ketu signs — spotlighting that pair of your houses. It's an astronomically grounded pointer to which areas the cycle's eclipses touch.
What is a nodal return?
Every ~18.6 years, transiting Rahu comes back to the sign it held at your birth — resetting your karmic axis, often near ages 18–19, 37 and 55–56. A half-return near ages 9, 27–28 and 46 flips the axis the other way.
Why read from both the Moon and the Ascendant?
Classical gochar is read Moon-primary and Ascendant-secondary. The Moon alone generalises — everyone with the same Moon sign gets the same houses. Your Ascendant (which needs an accurate birth time) makes it specific to you. Without a time, it falls back to a Moon-only view.
Does it predict events, and which node does it use?
It gives the traditional gochar trend — themes, not fixed events. It uses the mean node, the standard convention across the site. Transit dates are the same for everyone; your birth details set the houses.