Mercury in Uttara Phalguni Nakshatra (Budh in उत्तर फाल्गुनी)

Uttara Phalguni, the 12th of the 27 nakshatras, covers 146°40′ – 160°00′ of the sidereal zodiac, across the boundary between Leo and Virgo. Uttara Phalguni is ruled by the Sun, so Mercury in Uttara Phalguni stands in the Sun’s star.

Mercury counts the Sun a friend, while the Sun counts Mercury neutral. The table is not symmetric, so Mercury in Uttara Phalguni has to be described from both sides, as it is here. The other two nakshatras the Sun rules, Krittika and Uttara Ashadha, put Mercury under the same star lord.

Mercury in Uttara Phalguni, Pada by Pada

By rashi, Mercury in Uttara Phalguni is in a friend's sign in pada 1 (Leo) and exalted in padas 2, 3 and 4 (Virgo), because Uttara Phalguni crosses from Leo into Virgo. By navamsa the four padas fall in Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces. Mercury’s strongest navamsas in Uttara Phalguni are padas 1 (Sagittarius, in a neutral sign), 2 (Capricorn, in a neutral sign) and 3 (Aquarius, in a neutral sign), and its weakest is pada 4 (Pisces, debilitated).

Neither Mercury’s deepest exaltation (Virgo) nor its deepest debilitation (Pisces) degree falls inside Uttara Phalguni, and Mercury’s moolatrikona lies outside it as well, so in Uttara Phalguni the rashi and navamsa verdicts above are the whole of Mercury’s dignity.

When Mercury Is in Uttara Phalguni, 2026–2028

• 5 September 2026: Mercury enters Uttara Phalguni, and leaves on 13 September 2026 — 8 days.
• 29 August 2027: Mercury enters Uttara Phalguni, and leaves on 6 September 2027 — 8 days.
• 21 August 2028: Mercury enters Uttara Phalguni, and leaves on 31 August 2028 — 10 days.
• 8 October 2028: Mercury enters Uttara Phalguni while retrograde, backing in from the next nakshatra, and leaves on 14 October 2028 — 6 days.

Those are the four spells Mercury spends in Uttara Phalguni between 1 January 2026 and 1 January 2029, 32 days in all. Over the same span Mercury stands in every one of the 27 nakshatras. The dates are days only; for Mercury in Uttara Phalguni a minute would be more precise than the ayanamsa behind it.

Inside Uttara Phalguni: what the tables locate there for Mercury

Of the 100 complete spells Mercury has in the table, in any nakshatra, the shortest is 4 days and the longest 58; the Uttara Phalguni spells, at 8, 8, 10 and 6 days, sit inside that range.

• 28 August 2028: Mercury meets Jupiter at 6° Virgo, in Uttara Phalguni pada 3.

The retrograde table runs from 2024 to 2031, wider than the ingress table, and it places two of Mercury's stations in Uttara Phalguni. On 11 October 2028 Mercury stations direct inside Uttara Phalguni, in pada 4. On 2 September 2029 Mercury stations retrograde inside Uttara Phalguni, in pada 4. At a station Mercury’s motion is at its slowest, so these are the days it is most nearly still in Uttara Phalguni.

Uttara Phalguni as the Setting for Mercury

In the nakshatra tables Uttara Phalguni’s deity is listed as Aryaman and its symbol as back of bed; its gana is Manushya, and the muhurta texts put it in the Dhruva class (fixed). Those belong to Uttara Phalguni whichever graha is in it, and they are read on the Uttara Phalguni page. What changes with Mercury is everything above: the dignities in Leo and Virgo, the relation to the Sun, and the dates. None of it is a prediction for anyone born with Mercury in Uttara Phalguni; the house it occupies and the dasha running decide what the placement does in a chart.

Related Placements

The sign-level reading is on Mercury in Leo and Mercury in Virgo; Mercury in all 27 nakshatras is on the Mercury nakshatra table. For the nakshatras themselves, see the 27 nakshatras guide and our Uttara Phalguni article.

The Other Grahas in Uttara Phalguni