As we know that there are twelve signs of
the zodiac. One of sign rising happens to be the sign rising at the
eastern horizon at the time of birth. This rising sign is called as
lagna or Ascendant. The lagna happens to be the first house of
horoscope. This means that signs and houses donot coincide. The first
house has the label of sign rising at the time of birth, the second
bears the label of sign that will rise next, and so on.The nine
grahas(from the sun to ketu) are the occupants of these houses. Each
house represents certain characteristics. The sign falling in these
houses also represents certain characteristics.There are twelve
celestial houses in Astrology and a house is constituted with 30
degrees. They are derived from an equal division of the circle of
observation in to 12 parts. One-twelfth part of the circle of
observation constitutes an astrological house. In astronomy it is the
vertical of the latitude belonging to the place of the birth. The stars
on the earth show the place of birth.
