Sun in Chitra Nakshatra (Surya 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 the Sun in Chitra stands in Mars’s star.

The Sun and Mars count each other a friend, so in Chitra the graha and the lord of its star agree about each other. The other two nakshatras Mars rules, Mrigashira and Dhanishta, put the Sun under the same star lord.

The Sun in Chitra, Pada by Pada

By rashi, the Sun in Chitra is in a neutral sign in padas 1 and 2 (Virgo) and debilitated 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. The Sun’s strongest navamsa in Chitra is pada 1 (Leo, in its own sign), and its weakest is pada 3 (Libra, debilitated).

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

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

When the Sun Is in Chitra, 2026–2028

• 11 October 2026: the Sun enters Chitra, and leaves on 24 October 2026 — 13 days.
• 11 October 2027: the Sun enters Chitra, and leaves on 24 October 2027 — 13 days.
• 10 October 2028: the Sun enters Chitra, and leaves on 24 October 2028 — 14 days.

Those are the three spells the Sun spends in Chitra between 1 January 2026 and 1 January 2029, 40 days in all. Over the same span the Sun stands in every one of the 27 nakshatras. The dates are days only; for the Sun in Chitra a minute would be more precise than the ayanamsa behind it.

Inside Chitra: what the tables locate there for the Sun

Of the 80 complete spells the Sun has in the table, in any nakshatra, the shortest is 13 days and the longest 14, and a spell in Chitra is level with the longest.

• 24 October 2026: the Sun meets Venus at 6° Libra, within a quarter of a degree of Chitra’s edge, so another ayanamsa may put the meeting in the neighbouring nakshatra.
• 19 October 2027: the Sun meets Mercury at 1° Libra, in Chitra pada 3.

The lunation table puts the new moon of 18 October 2028 in Chitra: the Moon joins the Sun there, inside one of the spells listed above.

Chitra as the Setting for the Sun

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

The Other Grahas in Chitra