vimshottari mahadasha
Ketu Mahadasha (Ketu): The Nine Antardashas
7 years · follows Mercury · precedes Venus
The Ketu mahadasha runs 7 years in the 120-year Vimshottari cycle. It comes after the Mercury mahadasha and gives way to the Venus mahadasha. A birth with the Moon in Ashwini, Magha or Mula begins life inside it, part-way through, because those are the three nakshatras Ketu rules.
Its nine antardashas start with Ketu’s own and follow the cycle from there, so the last of them is Mercury’s. Inside these 7 years the Venus sub-period is the longest, at 1 year 2 months, and the Sun sub-period the shortest, at 4 months 6 days.
| # | Antardasha | Classical | Solar days | Opens after | Closes at |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ketu–Ketu | 4m 27d | 149 | — | 4m 27d |
| 2 | Ketu–Venus | 1y 2m | 426 | 4m 27d | 1y 6m 27d |
| 3 | Ketu–Sun | 4m 6d | 128 | 1y 6m 27d | 1y 11m 3d |
| 4 | Ketu–Moon | 7m | 213 | 1y 11m 3d | 2y 6m 3d |
| 5 | Ketu–Mars | 4m 27d | 149 | 2y 6m 3d | 2y 11m |
| 6 | Ketu–Rahu | 1y 18d | 384 | 2y 11m | 3y 11m 18d |
| 7 | Ketu–Jupiter | 11m 6d | 341 | 3y 11m 18d | 4y 10m 24d |
| 8 | Ketu–Saturn | 1y 1m 9d | 405 | 4y 10m 24d | 6y 3d |
| 9 | Ketu–Mercury | 11m 27d | 362 | 6y 3d | 7y |
The “opens after” and “closes at” columns are measured from the start of a full Ketu mahadasha on the classical year. A Ketu mahadasha that was already running at birth is entered part-way, so for that birth the early rows may be in the past; the dasha calculator places the rows on the calendar from the Moon’s longitude.
Reading the Ketu Mahadasha
This page is arithmetic. For how the Ketu mahadasha is interpreted, see our Ketu mahadasha article; for Ketu’s dignities, friendships and remedies, the Ketu (Ketu) page; and for the system as a whole, Vimshottari dasha explained. This page in Hindi: केतु महादशा.
The Ketu Mahadasha by Ascendant
Which houses Ketu and each of its sub-period lords rule depends on the ascendant. The Ketu mahadasha read through each lagna’s lordships: Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces.