Tithi Pravesha (Annual Return Chart)

The Birth Sun-Moon Angle

Every person is born at a specific angular relationship between the Sun and Moon. This angle — between 0° and 360° — is computed as:

birthSunMoonAngle = (moonLongitude − sunLongitude + 360) % 360

This single number encodes three things simultaneously:

The Soli-Lunar Month Constraint

The birth Sun-Moon angle recurs approximately every 24.7 hours (one full tithi cycle). Without a further constraint, every day would be someone's TP chart — obviously too frequent. The constraint is that the recurrence must fall within the same soli-lunar month as at birth.

A soli-lunar month is identified by the tropical zodiacal sign that the Sun occupied at the most recent New Moon (Sun-Moon conjunction) before a given date. At birth, record this sign as the birth month sign. Each year, find the recurrence of birthSunMoonAngle that falls within a month whose preceding New Moon also has the Sun in that same tropical sign.

The Four Scales of TP Charts

A birth tithi (Sun-Moon angle) recurs at four natural frequencies, each giving a different time-resolution chart:

The hierarchy works as follows: the annual TP is the master chart for the year. Monthly TP charts describe individual months within that year. Daily TP charts describe individual tithis (~24.7 hr) within a month. To investigate a known event, an astrologer opens the annual chart first, narrows to the relevant monthly chart, then confirms precision with the daily chart.

Three Key Anchors in Every TP Chart

Every TP chart analysis begins with three anchors:

Divisional Charts and Life Areas

TP charts work best with divisional (varga) charts. The rasi chart gives a broad overview, but the divisional chart for a specific life area yields precision. Select the divisional chart relevant to the area being examined:

Dasa Compression

In a natal chart, Vimshottari dasa spans 120 years. In a TP chart, the same dasa logic is compressed to fit the chart's time window. Every period (mahadasa, antardasa, pratyantardasa) shrinks proportionally.

compressedDuration = (fullDasaDuration / fullDasaCycleYears) × chartWindowDays

Example — Vimshottari in an annual TP chart (window ≈ 365.24 days, full cycle = 120 years):

• Sun mahadasa (6 yr): (6/120) × 365.24 ≈ 18.26 days
• Moon mahadasa (10 yr): (10/120) × 365.24 ≈ 30.44 days
• Mars mahadasa (7 yr): (7/120) × 365.24 ≈ 21.30 days
• Venus mahadasa (20 yr): (20/120) × 365.24 ≈ 60.87 days
• Saturn mahadasa (19 yr): (19/120) × 365.24 ≈ 57.83 days

Dasa Selection: Unified Nakshatra Approach

There is no single fixed dasa for TP charts. Per PVR Rao's "Unified Nakshatra Dasa Approach" (2014), the best dasa is selected per chart, per divisional chart, using a structured algorithm.

Step 2 — Identify the Dasa Seed

Normally use the Moon's nakshatra in the chosen divisional chart.

Use Lagna instead when:

• Moon is waning and near the Sun (near-Amavasya)
• All four quadrants from Moon are empty (no planets in 1st/4th/7th/10th from Moon)
• Moon is in his Marana Karaka Sthana (8th house)
• Moon is in deep debilitation or in gandanta
• Moon is severely afflicted by nodes at close orb

Use Sun instead (very rare) when:

• Moon is weak by the above criteria AND Lagna is also in deep gandanta or similarly afflicted
• Sun is significantly stronger than both

Step 3 — The 9 Conditional Nakshatra Dasas

Each conditional dasa has a condition and a controlling planet. These conditions must be evaluated on the divisional chart being analysed, treating it as if it were a rasi chart.

Note: "Shukla/Krishna paksha" in TP divisional charts = Sun in the visible half from Moon (Shukla) or Moon in the visible half from Sun (Krishna). "Daytime/nighttime" = Sun in the visible half from lagna (day) or lagna in the visible half from Sun (night).

Evaluating Controlling Planet Strength

Among conditional dasas whose conditions are satisfied, compare the strength of their controlling planets in the divisional chart being analysed:

Selecting the Winning Dasa

Tithi Ashtottari Dasa (The Classical TP Dasa)

The dasa classically associated with TP charts is Tithi Ashtottari Dasa (TA Dasa). It uses the TP chart's own tithi (the birth Sun-Moon angle) as its seed, making it naturally aligned to the TP moment.

Worked Example — Childbirth Timing

Birth data: 1970 April 4, 5:50 pm IST, Machilipatnam, India. Event: childbirth, 1996 Feb 19.

1. Annual TP chart for 1995–96 is identified.
2. Divisional chart for children: D-7 (Saptamsa) is opened.
3. Key yogas in D-7: Lagna lord Venus is exalted in the 11th house. 5th lord Mercury is exalted in the 5th house. Both are in near-exact samasaptaka (7th-house opposition at 29°Pi46 and 29°Vi55) — a powerful raja yoga on the 5th-house axis.
4. Conditional dasa check: Lagna in second half of Taurus (Deva hora, Shukla paksha). Shodasottari dasa applies. Controlling planet = Jupiter.
5. Evaluate Jupiter: Jupiter is in Moolatrikona (Sagittarius) in this D-7 chart. Moolatrikona = strong → Shodasottari overrides Vimshottari.
6. Compressed Shodasottari from Moon: Venus mahadasa ran 1996 Jan 1 – Feb 25. Mercury antardasa within Venus mahadasa ran Feb 17–25. Childbirth occurred Feb 19 — within Mercury antardasa. ✓

TP Charts vs. Natal Dasa Interpretation

Primary References

• P.V.R. Narasimha Rao — "Re-defining Tithi Pravesha Chart" (2014)
  https://www.vedicastrologer.org/articles/pp_tp.pdf
• P.V.R. Narasimha Rao — "Unified Nakshatra Dasa Approach" (2014)
  https://www.vedicastrologer.org/articles/pp_cond_dasas.pdf
• P.V.R. Narasimha Rao — "Special Tithi Ashtottari Dasa with TP Charts" (2009)
  via JHora discussion archives
• Lessons #48–52 on TP charts in "Lessons on Vedic Astrology Vol. 2" (PVR Rao)
• JHora (Jagannatha Hora) v8.0+ software — use "Set Calculation Options as recommended by author" under Preferences and Pushya-paksha ayanamsa
  https://www.vedicastrologer.org/jh