KarmaWheel KarmaWheel

Getting Started with KarmaWheel

Welcome. This guide walks you through calculating your first Vedic astrology chart in KarmaWheel — start to finish, in about five minutes. No prior software experience needed; just the basic birth details.

What you'll need

Before you start, gather these three things about the person whose chart you want to cast:

  • Date of birth — year, month, day (any calendar from 1800 onward works fine)
  • Time of birth — as accurate as possible. Hospital records and birth certificates are most reliable. If you only know "morning" or "evening," the chart will still be approximately right but the rising sign (Lagna) and house cusps may be off
  • Place of birth — city, state/province, country. KarmaWheel handles the timezone and daylight-saving math for you

If you don't have an exact birth time, you can still calculate the chart using a noon-time approximation, then use the Birth Time Rectification tool to refine it later.

Step 1: Open the app

Go to karmawheel.app/app. The app loads instantly in any modern browser — Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Edge — on Mac, Windows, Linux, iPhone, iPad, or Android. No download required.

If you're on a phone or tablet, you can also tap "Add to Home Screen" from your browser menu to install KarmaWheel as a Progressive Web App. It then opens fullscreen like a native app, with no address bar.

Step 2: Enter the birth data

The chart entry form is on the right (or below, on a phone). Fill in:

  1. Name — anything you like; it's just a label for the chart
  2. Date — type or pick the year, month, day
  3. Time — hour and minute. Use 24-hour format (e.g. 14:30 for 2:30 PM)
  4. Country / State / City — search for the birth city. KarmaWheel includes a built-in database of every city in the world from GeoNames, with proper historical timezone data. Just type a few letters and pick from the dropdown
  5. Optional: Description and email fields if you want to attach notes or send the chart by email later

The fields appear in a clean form with the Calculate Chart button at the bottom.

Step 3: Click Calculate Chart

Hit the gold Calculate Chart ↵ button. KarmaWheel computes:

  • The sidereal positions of the nine grahas (Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn, Rahu, Ketu) using the Swiss Ephemeris — the same engine professional astrologers worldwide rely on, accurate to seconds of arc
  • The Lagna (Ascendant) for your exact moment and place
  • The full Vimshottari Dasha sequence, three levels deep (Maha / Antar / Pratyantar)
  • 25+ divisional charts (vargas) on demand
  • A list of classical readings drawn from Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra and other classical texts that match your specific placements

This usually takes 1–2 seconds.

Step 4: Read your chart

Once calculated, your chart appears with:

  • Lagna banner at the top — your Ascendant degree, sign, nakshatra, and pada
  • Rasi chart — your birth chart in the style you've chosen (North Indian by default; you can switch to South Indian, Western Wheel, or Das Wheel from the dropdown above the chart)
  • Navamsa (D9) automatically loaded just below — the most important divisional chart, showing the inner reality of marriage, dharma, and the fruits of karma
  • Planet positions table — every graha with its longitude, sign, nakshatra, sub-lord, and house
  • Vimshottari Dashas — your active Maha / Antar / Pratyantar period in bold, with all dashas visible
  • Yogas in this chart — automatically detected classical yogas
  • Classical Readings — categorized by topic, with Core Placements highlighted at the top
  • AI Chart Chat ("Ask anything about your chart") — type any question and get a Vedic-grounded answer. The AI receives your full chart on every turn, so its answers are about you, not generic horoscope text

Tap any planet, sign, or nakshatra in the chart for a fullscreen reference panel showing its classical attributes, friendships, dignity, and every reading in your chart that involves that placement.

Step 5: Save the chart

Once you've cast a chart, scroll down to the Save Chart card and click Save. Saved charts appear in the sidebar under "Saved Charts" and are accessible across any device you sign in to. Free users can save up to 10; Pro subscribers can save unlimited.

You can also set any saved chart as your Default Chart so it loads automatically every time you open KarmaWheel.

Want a deeper interpretation?

Once you have a chart calculated, try:

  • The Ask anything chat panel on the chart view — type something specific like "what does my Saturn in the 7th mean for marriage?" and get a detailed answer
  • The Personal AI Reading wizard — generates a multi-page interpretation
  • Tap any planet glyph in the chart to read every classical reading involving that planet
  • The Email Full Chart Report feature — generates a polished PDF you can save or share

Common first-time questions

Why does my chart look different from a Western astrology chart? KarmaWheel uses the sidereal zodiac, the standard for Vedic astrology, with Lahiri ayanamsha by default. Your sun sign in Vedic is typically one sign earlier than your Western sun sign. See Choosing Your Ayanamsha for why this matters.

My chart is private, right? Yes. Birth data and charts are stored on a private server in the United States, never shared, never used for advertising, never sold. See our Privacy Policy.

Can I use this for clients / professional readings? Absolutely. Many KarmaWheel users are practicing astrologers preparing client charts. The Email Full Chart Report and Email AI Reading features generate beautifully formatted PDFs you can send directly.

Related articles