Saturn in Chitra Nakshatra (Shani 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 Saturn in Chitra stands in Mars’s star.

Saturn counts Mars an enemy, while Mars counts Saturn neutral. The table is not symmetric, so Saturn in Chitra has to be described from both sides, as it is here. The other two nakshatras Mars rules, Mrigashira and Dhanishta, put Saturn under the same star lord.

Saturn in Chitra, Pada by Pada

By rashi, Saturn in Chitra is in a friend's sign in padas 1 and 2 (Virgo) and exalted 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. Saturn’s strongest navamsa in Chitra is pada 3 (Libra, exalted), and its weakest are padas 1 (Leo, in an enemy's sign) and 4 (Scorpio, in an enemy's sign).

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

Neither Saturn’s deepest exaltation (Libra) nor its deepest debilitation (Aries) degree falls inside Chitra, and Saturn’s moolatrikona lies outside it as well, so in Chitra the rashi and navamsa verdicts above are the whole of Saturn’s dignity.

When Saturn Is in Chitra, 2026–2028

Saturn does not enter Chitra at any point between 1 January 2026 and 1 January 2029. It stands in Purva Bhadrapada when the table opens and in Ashwini when it closes, having visited 5 of the 27 nakshatras, and from Ashwini Chitra is 13 nakshatras further on. So Saturn in Chitra is, for these years, a birth-chart placement and not a transit anyone can wait for.

Chitra as the Setting for Saturn

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 Saturn 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 Saturn 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 Saturn in Virgo and Saturn in Libra; Saturn in all 27 nakshatras is on the Saturn nakshatra table. For the nakshatras themselves, see the 27 nakshatras guide and our Chitra article.

The Other Grahas in Chitra