Porondam

In Sri Lanka, many families still ask one question before a marriage is agreed: do the two horoscopes match? Porondam (පොරොන්දම්) is the Sinhala name for this comparison of a bride's and a groom's birth charts; Tamil families call it porutham (பொருத்தம்). Both grow from the wider Indian tradition of Jyotisha, but each has its own list of points, its own way of counting and its own sense of what matters most. Use the porondam calculator on this page to check two birth charts, or browse the porondam for each pair of rashis below it.

What is porondam?

Each porondam is one point of agreement between the two charts. Most of them compare the two birth stars — the nakshatra the Moon occupied at each person's birth — and a few compare the two Moon signs (chandra rashi) and their ruling planets. Counting always starts from the bride's star and runs to the groom's star, so the result for a given pair of stars depends on who holds which.

Because the Moon moves through a whole birth star in about a day, porondam needs an accurate date, time and place of birth for both people. The signs used are those of the sidereal zodiac followed in Sri Lanka, not the sun signs printed in newspaper columns.

What are the 20 porondam?

Sri Lankan astrologers traditionally check twenty points, known together as the visi porondam (විසි පොරොන්දම්):

• Nakath, Gana, Mahendra, Stree Deergha, Yoni — counted between the two birth stars, and covering temperament and harmony between the couple.
• Rashi, Rashyadhipathi, Vashya — comparing the two Moon signs and their ruling planets.
• Rajju and Vedha — two star-based checks that tradition treats with particular care.
• Vruksha, Ayu, Pakshi, Bhuta, Gothra, Varna, Linga, Nadi — further star-based groupings, each with its own table.
• Dina — in the Sinhala system, a comparison of the two birth weekdays, counted from sunrise.
• Graha — the balance of the planets across the two complete charts, which is left to the astrologer's judgement.

The first ten are often called the dasa porondam and are the core of most readings.

How is the Tamil porutham different?

Tamil tradition, followed by many Sri Lankan Tamil families, checks ten points — the pathu porutham: Dina, Gana, Mahendra, Stree Deergha, Yoni, Rasi, Rasi Adhipathi, Vasya, Rajju and Vedha. In Tamil practice, Dina is counted between the two birth stars rather than the weekdays. Some details also differ — for example, Tamil tradition allows a rajju match when one star is "ascending" and the other "descending" in the same group, which Sinhala sources do not.

How are the results read?

For the Sinhala porondam, published guidance treats a match where more than half of the points are obtained as acceptable. For the Tamil porutham, families usually look for at least eight of the ten. In both traditions rajju and yoni are treated as essential: a match that misses either is taken very seriously, whatever the total. Our calculator follows these published rules, and shows each point as obtained, partly obtained or not obtained.

A total is only a starting point. Astrologers weigh which points are missing, look at the two complete charts, and may find that a weaker item is offset by strengths elsewhere.

What is kuja dosha?

Kuja dosha (කුජ දෝෂය) concerns the position of Mars. In Sri Lankan practice it is noted when Mars stands in the 1st, 2nd, 4th, 7th, 8th or 12th house counted from the lagna, the Moon or Venus; Tamil practice uses the 2nd, 4th, 7th, 8th and 12th. Many placements cancel it — for instance Mars in its own or exalted sign. Tradition considers the two charts balanced when both or neither carry the dosha, and asks an astrologer to look more closely when only one does.

What happens when two charts do not match well?

A modest result rarely ends a proposal on its own. Astrologers may suggest traditional observances (parihara) such as temple offerings or a carefully chosen auspicious time for the ceremony, or advise the family to weigh the result alongside everything else they know about the couple. How much weight a family gives porondam varies widely — for some it is decisive, for others a respected custom observed out of regard for elders.

Using the porondam calculator

Enter both dates, times and places of birth above. The calculator works out each birth star, Moon sign and lagna from the actual positions of the Moon and planets, then shows the Sinhala porondam, the Tamil porutham and kuja dosha side by side. Nothing you enter is stored. To see how two signs generally compare before you have full birth details, open the page for that rashi pair, and read more about horoscopes in Sri Lanka and how families match two horoscopes.