Ashtakoota (guna milan): the eight kutas
Ashtakoota (eight kutas) is the traditional matching method for marriage in Jyotish. It compares two birth charts across eight areas and gives each area a share of a total.
What it is
The eight kutas are Varna, Vashya, Tara, Yoni, Graha Maitri, Gana, Bhakoot and Nadi. Commonly cited maximum points are 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8, making 36. The scores are the traditional ones; the site has not yet verified them against a published source.
How it is worked out or read
Each kuta uses the Moon's nakshatra and sign of the two people, and some use the Lagna or the Sun. The method needs accurate birth times and places, because the Moon's nakshatra can change with a small error.
Where it appears on this site
The site's Kundli matching tool computes all eight kutas, shows the points for each, and checks Nadi, Bhakoot and Gana dosha with their common exceptions. It also shows the Manglik status of both people, and every number in the result can be traced back to the rule and the table that produced it.
What the eight areas are meant to cover
The eight kutas were designed to look at several areas of a relationship at once: temperament, attraction, health and progeny, the sharing of resources, the emotional bond and the harmony of daily habits. Each kuta is a traditional lens rather than a full description of a person, and the method asks the reader to look through all of them together. The classical view is that no single area settles a match, and that the eight are meant to be weighed rather than added up without thought.
A reader who meets the method for the first time should note that it compares two birth charts at one point each, using mainly the Moon's nakshatra and sign. It does not compare the whole charts, their dashas or the lives the two people will lead together.
How the method is usually taught
Traditional teaching presents the eight kutas in a fixed order and gives each a range of points. The order is often the same across books, though the point values and the rules for each kuta differ between sources. A reader studying the method should therefore keep a note of which source defines each kuta, since two books can reach different totals from the same two charts for reasons that are entirely in the tables.
Teachers commonly stress that the method is an aid to discussion rather than a verdict. The totals are a way of organising observations, and the decision remains with the people involved and with any practitioner they consult.
What this site does and does not do
The site's Kundli matching tool computes all eight kutas and the total out of 36, shows how each kuta's points were reached, and checks the main doshas with their common exceptions. Each kuta also has its own short article that explains its concept, so a reader can follow the reasoning behind every number.