Shiva Nadi Jyothisham

Nadi Jyothisham

Nadi astrology has a name in every language of the people who seek it. In Tamil it is Nadi Jothidam, in Malayalam Nadi Jyothisham, in Hindi Nadi Jyotish. All of them mean a reading from palm-leaf manuscripts that tradition says the siddhars wrote long ago, describing the lives of people who would one day come looking for their leaf. Vaitheeswaran Koil, in Tamil Nadu, is where most of these leaves are kept and read.

What Shiva Nadi is

Most Nadi leaves are attributed to a siddhar: Agathiyar, Kousiha, Vasishta, Bhogar. The Shiva Nadi leaves are attributed to Lord Shiva himself. Tradition holds that they are written as Shiva speaking to Parvati, telling her the lives of those who would come to the leaves. At Vaitheeswaran Koil, where Shiva is worshipped as Vaitheeswaran, the healer, this collection has a particular place.

Guruji Thiruvalluvan Subburayan is the Chief Siva Sukshma Nadi Astrologer of Sri Kousiha Agasthiya Mahasiva Sukshma Nadi. Sukshma means fine: a Sukshma leaf carries more detail than a Thulliya leaf. His family has read these bundles for four generations.

Shiva Nadi and Agasthiya Nadi

The difference is who the leaves are attributed to, not how they are read. Both are found by the thumb impression and confirmed with yes-or-no questions, and both are read in the same kandams. Guruji reads the Kousiha Agasthiya Nadi and the Siva Sukshma Nadi; you do not need to know in advance which one your leaf is in.