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The devas

The Navagraha

नवग्रहाः

The nine grahas, Surya, Chandra, Mangala, Budha, Brihaspati, Shukra, Shani, Rahu and Ketu, who move the clock of Jyotisha and have a shrine of their own in most Hindu temples.

The nine grahas, the ‘seizers’Surya to KetuGraha-devatas
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Cite

MLA

“The Navagraha.” Hindu History, 2026, https://www.hinduhistory.in/devata/navagraha/. Accessed .

APA

Hindu History. (2026). The Navagraha. Retrieved , from https://www.hinduhistory.in/devata/navagraha/

जपाकुसुमसंकाशं काश्यपेयं महाद्युतिम्।
तमोऽरिं सर्वपापघ्नं प्रणतोऽस्मि दिवाकरम्॥

japākusumasaṅkāśaṃ kāśyapeyaṃ mahādyutim |
tamo'riṃ sarvapāpaghnaṃ praṇato'smi divākaram ||

Red as the hibiscus flower, son of Kashyapa, of great splendour, enemy of darkness, destroyer of all sins: I bow to Divakara, the maker of day. Navagraha Stotra of Vyasa, verse 1
How they are shown

In the Navagraha mandapa, Surya stands at the centre with the other eight around him, placed so that no two face each other; each has his own colour, mount, weapon and number of arms. On north Indian temple doorways they appear as a row of nine small figures over the lintel, Surya first, Rahu as a head alone, Ketu with a serpent’s tail.

01The nine, and the two shadows

Graha means one who seizes. Seven of the nine are the Sun, the Moon and the five planets seen with the eye, and their names give the seven days of the week: Ravivara, Somavara, Mangalavara and the rest. The other two are Rahu and Ketu, the chaya grahas or shadow planets, which mark the points where the Moon’s path crosses the Sun’s. The katha of the churning of the ocean explains them: an asura slipped in among the devas to drink the amrita, Surya and Chandra exposed him, and Vishnu cut off his head with the Sudarshana. The head, already immortal, became Rahu and the body Ketu, and they still swallow the Sun and Moon at eclipses.

02Graha shanti

Before a wedding, a griha pravesh or any big undertaking, a family will often have a graha shanti performed: the nine are invoked with their own mantras, offered their own grains and colours, and given a homa. Devotees walk clockwise around the Navagraha mandapa. The best-loved hymn is the Navagraha Stotra carried in the name of Maharshi Vyasa, which opens japākusumasaṅkāśam for Surya, red as the hibiscus, and gives one verse to each graha. Muthuswami Dikshitar (1776–1835) composed a Carnatic kriti for each of them. Stone panels of the nine are carved from the Gupta age onwards; a relief of 550–575 CE from Uttar Pradesh is in the Worcester Art Museum.

03The nine temples of the Kaveri delta

Around Kumbakonam, within about a hundred kilometres, nine Shiva temples each hold the shrine of one graha, and pilgrims go round all nine: Suryanar Kovil for Surya, the only one where the graha is the main deity; Thingalur for Chandra; Vaitheeswaran Koil for Angaraka (Mangala); Thiruvenkadu for Budha; Alangudi for Guru; Kanjanur for Shukra; Thirunallar for Shani; Thirunageswaram for Rahu; and Keezhaperumpallam for Ketu. On the Thamirabarani, the nine Vishnu temples of Nava Tirupati are each linked to a graha too. In Guwahati the Navagraha temple on Chitrachal hill worships the nine as nine lingas, and at Ujjain the Mangalnath temple worships Shiva as lord of Mangala.

In the texts

  • Navagraha Stotra of Vyasa
  • Yajnavalkya Smriti, Achara Adhyaya (graha shanti)
  • Surya Siddhanta
  • Navagraha kritis of Muthuswami Dikshitar

Utsav: festivals

Graha shanti at weddings and griha praveshShani Jayanti and the graha transits (peyarchi) in Tamil Nadu

Temples on this site 12

Suryanar KovilStanding
Cholas and the Southern Seas

Suryanar Kovil

The one temple of the Kaveri Navagraha circuit where the graha himself is the presiding deity: Surya stands in the sanctum and the other eight grahas face him from their own shrines.

Kailasanathar Temple, Thingalur (Chandra)Standing
The Age of Great Kingdoms

Kailasanathar Temple, Thingalur (Chandra)

The Chandra sthala of the Navagraha circuit, a small Shiva temple in the village of Appudi Adigal, the devotee who served Appar without ever having met him.

Vaidyanatha Temple, Vaitheeswaran KoilStanding
The Age of Great Kingdoms

Vaidyanatha Temple, Vaitheeswaran Koil

The temple of Shiva the physician, where Devi stands with a vessel of healing oil and where the planet Angaraka (Mars) is worshipped as one of the nine Navagraha sthalas of the Kaveri delta.

Swetharanyeswarar Temple, Thiruvenkadu (Budha)Standing
The Age of Great Kingdoms

Swetharanyeswarar Temple, Thiruvenkadu (Budha)

The Budha sthala of the Navagraha circuit, a large Shiva temple of the ‘white forest’ near the old port of Poompuhar, with the rare Aghora form of Shiva and three sacred tanks.

Apatsahayeswarar Temple, Alangudi (Guru)Standing
The Age of Great Kingdoms

Apatsahayeswarar Temple, Alangudi (Guru)

The Guru sthala of the Navagraha circuit. The village is named for the halahala poison that Shiva drank at the churning of the ocean, and Dakshinamurti here is worshipped as Guru.

Agneeswarar Temple, Kanjanur (Shukra)Standing
The Age of Great Kingdoms

Agneeswarar Temple, Kanjanur (Shukra)

The Shukra sthala of the Navagraha circuit, where Agni worshipped Shiva; uniquely, Shukra here has no separate image and Shiva himself is worshipped as the graha.

Dharbaranyeswarar Temple, Thirunallar (Shani)Standing
The Age of Great Kingdoms

Dharbaranyeswarar Temple, Thirunallar (Shani)

The Shani sthala of the Navagraha circuit, the most visited of the nine, where King Nala was freed from Shani’s grip after bathing in the Nala theertham.

Naganathaswamy Temple, Thirunageswaram (Rahu)Standing
The Age of Great Kingdoms

Naganathaswamy Temple, Thirunageswaram (Rahu)

The Rahu sthala of the Navagraha circuit, where the serpent-kings worshipped Shiva and Rahu is shown in human form with his two consorts.

Naganathaswamy Temple, Keezhaperumpallam (Ketu)Standing
Cholas and the Southern Seas

Naganathaswamy Temple, Keezhaperumpallam (Ketu)

The Ketu sthala of the Navagraha circuit, a quiet village temple near the Kaveri’s mouth where, the sthala purana tells, the serpent Vasuki worshipped Shiva.

Nava Tirupati, the nine Vishnu temples of the ThamirabaraniStanding
The Age of Great Kingdoms

Nava Tirupati, the nine Vishnu temples of the Thamirabarani

Nine Divya Desams along the banks of the Thamirabarani between Srivaikuntam and Alwarthirunagari, all sung by Nammalvar, and each worshipped as the seat of one of the nine grahas.

Navagraha Temple, GuwahatiRebuilt
Maratha ascendancy and the Sikh empire

Navagraha Temple, Guwahati

A temple of the nine planets on Chitrachal hill in Guwahati, where nine lingas, each draped in its graha’s colour, sit around a central linga of Surya. Old Guwahati was Pragjyotishpura, the city of eastern light and of astronomy.

Mangalnath Temple, UjjainStanding
Vedic Rishis and the Itihasa

Mangalnath Temple, Ujjain

A Shiva temple on a rise above the Shipra, held to be the birthplace of Mangal, the planet Mars. People with Mangal dosha in their horoscope come here for the bhat puja.