Ketu in Chitra Nakshatra (Ketu in चित्रा)

Chitra, the 14th of the 27 nakshatras, covers 173°20′ – 186°40′ of the sidereal zodiac, across the boundary between Virgo and Libra. Chitra is ruled by Mars, so Ketu in Chitra stands in Mars’s star.

Ketu’s row in the friendship lists counts Mars a friend; Mars’s row names no node, so the star lord of Chitra has no entry for Ketu, and this page does not supply one. The other two nakshatras Mars rules, Mrigashira and Dhanishta, put Ketu under the same star lord.

Ketu in Chitra, Pada by Pada

By rashi, Ketu in Chitra is in a neutral sign in padas 1 and 2 (Virgo) and in a friend's sign in padas 3 and 4 (Libra), because Chitra crosses from Virgo into Libra. By navamsa the four padas fall in Leo, Virgo, Libra and Scorpio. Ketu’s strongest navamsa in Chitra is pada 4 (Scorpio, exalted on the commoner reckoning), and its weakest is pada 1 (Leo, in an enemy's sign).

Chitra pada 2 is vargottama — Virgo in rashi and in navamsa — so Ketu there is in a neutral sign on both counts. Chitra pada 3 is vargottama — Libra in rashi and in navamsa — so Ketu there is in a friend's sign on both counts. Of the 108 padas only twelve are vargottama, one for each sign.

The classical table of deepest exaltation and debilitation degrees covers the seven grahas and gives Ketu none, so for Ketu in Chitra no degree of special dignity can be located; the sign-level verdicts above carry the hedge the planet pages use for Ketu.

When Ketu Is in Chitra, 2026–2028

Ketu does not enter Chitra at any point between 1 January 2026 and 1 January 2029. It stands in Purva Phalguni when the table opens and in Ardra when it closes, having visited 6 of the 27 nakshatras, and from Ardra Chitra is 19 nakshatras further, counted backwards, the way the nodes move. So Ketu in Chitra is, for these years, a birth-chart placement and not a transit anyone can wait for.

Chitra as the Setting for Ketu

In the nakshatra tables Chitra’s deity is listed as Vishvakarma and its symbol as bright jewel; its gana is Rakshasa, and the muhurta texts put it in the Mridu class (tender). Those belong to Chitra whichever graha is in it, and they are read on the Chitra page. What changes with Ketu is everything above: the dignities in Virgo and Libra, the relation to Mars, and the dates. None of it is a prediction for anyone born with Ketu in Chitra; the house it occupies and the dasha running decide what the placement does in a chart.

Related Placements

The sign-level reading is on Ketu in Virgo and Ketu in Libra; Ketu in all 27 nakshatras is on the Ketu nakshatra table. For the nakshatras themselves, see the 27 nakshatras guide and our Chitra article.

The Other Grahas in Chitra