Gun Milan vs porutham: 36 gunas or 10 poruthams?

North Indian Gun Milan (Ashtakoot) adds up a score out of 36 across eight kootas. South Indian matching checks 10 poruthams one by one, and two of them, Rajju and Vedha, must pass. The two systems share five ideas, but each has checks the other does not, so the same couple can pass one and fail the other. This guide shows exactly where they differ and what to do when they disagree.

What is the difference between Gun Milan and porutham?

Both start from the same two facts: the bride's and groom's birth star (nakshatra) and Moon sign (rashi). What changes is how the comparison is made and how the answer is given.

• Gun Milan, or Ashtakoot (eight kootas), is the usual method in North and West India. Each koota gives points, from 1 for Varna up to 8 for Nadi, and the total out of 36 is read in bands. 18 is the usual minimum. A zero in Nadi or Bhakoot is also read on its own, as a dosha.
• The 10 poruthams, sometimes called Dasa Koota, are the usual method in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. Each porutham is a yes or no. Rajju and Vedha act as gates: if either fails, the match is not recommended however many others pass. If both gates pass, the count of matching poruthams decides between good and average.

So Gun Milan asks "how much?", and the poruthams ask "is anything here a deal-breaker, and then how many pass?"

Which checks do both systems share?

Five ideas appear in both, and a sixth, counting from one star to the other, appears in both with different rules. The names are often the same, but the rules underneath are not identical.

What it looks at	Gun Milan koota (points)	Porutham (yes or no)	How the rule differs
Animal nature of the stars	Yoni (4)	Yoni	Gun Milan grades 0 to 4 across 14 animals; the porutham fails only the seven pairs of sworn enemies.
Temperament	Gana (6)	Gana	Gun Milan scores who is bride and who is groom, so a Deva bride with a Manushya groom gets 5, not 6; the porutham passes the same gana or a Deva-Manushya pair either way.
Distance between the Moon signs	Bhakoot (7)	Rashi	Bhakoot fails 2/12, 5/9 and 6/8; the Rashi porutham fails 2/12 and 6/8 but passes 5/9.
Friendship of the sign lords	Graha Maitri (5)	Rashi Adhipati	Gun Milan grades friendship from 0 to 5; the porutham passes unless either lord is the other's enemy.
Mutual attraction	Vashya (2)	Vashya	Gun Milan uses five groups of signs; the porutham uses a fixed list of vashya signs for each sign.
Star counted from star	Tara (3)	Dina	Tara counts both ways and fails remainders 3, 5 and 7; Dina counts from the bride's star only and passes remainders 2, 4, 6, 8 and 9.

The Bhakoot row matters most in practice. A couple whose Moon signs are 5th and 9th from each other has Bhakoot dosha in Gun Milan and loses 7 points, but passes the Rashi porutham. A family can hear "Bhakoot dosha" from one astrologer and "rasi matches" from another, and both are reading their own system correctly. For the cancellations, see Bhakoot dosha explained.

Which checks belong to only one system?

Only in Gun Milan	Only in the 10 poruthams
Nadi (8 points). The three nadis; the same nadi gives Nadi dosha. See Nadi dosha.	Rajju (must pass). Five body groups of stars; the same group fails. See Rajju and Vedha.
Varna (1 point). The varna of each Moon sign.	Vedha (must pass). Fixed pairs of stars that obstruct each other.
	Mahendra. Read for children and the growth of the family.
	Stree Deergha. Read for the well-being of the bride.

This is the real reason the two systems disagree. Nadi carries the most weight in Gun Milan, 8 of 36 points, and the poruthams do not look at it. Rajju and Vedha can stop a match outright in the South, and Gun Milan does not look at them. Some South Indian astrologers do look at Nadi as an extra, and porutham lists vary a little by region, but Rajju and Vedha as gates are common to all the lists we follow.

How often do the two systems disagree?

We counted every bride and groom combination of birth-star quarters (padas), 108 by 108, which is 11,664 pairs, with the same code that runs our free check. A pair "passes" Gun Milan at 18 or more of 36, and "passes" the poruthams when Rajju and Vedha both match and at least 5 of 10 poruthams match.

• 53.4% of pairs pass both systems.
• 15.4% pass Gun Milan but not the poruthams.
• 20% pass the poruthams but not Gun Milan.
• In total, the two systems give opposite answers for 35.4% of pairs.

The checks that only one system has explain most of this. Rajju fails for 21% of pairs, and Gun Milan never sees it. Nadi dosha appears in 33.3% of pairs, and the poruthams never see it. Bhakoot dosha appears in 50% of pairs, while the Rashi porutham passes 63.5%.

These are shares of possible combinations, each pada counted once. They are not a survey of real couples or of marriages. Every pair is in the data file, so anyone can check the count, and our editorial standards name the source of each table.

Can one couple pass one system and fail the other?

Passes Gun Milan, fails the poruthams. Shravana (Makara) for the bride and Hasta (Kanya) for the groom:

Koota	What it looks at	Points	Out of
Varna	Spiritual outlook	1	1
Vashya	Mutual influence	0.5	2
Tara	Health and well-being (birth-star count)	3	3
Yoni	Physical and emotional closeness	2	4
Graha Maitri	Friendship of the Moon-sign lords	4	5
Gana	Temperament	6	6
Bhakoot	Moon-sign distance: family welfare	0	7
Nadi	Health of the couple and children	8	8
Total		24.5	36

• Vashya: this star crosses the middle of its sign, so the exact degree can change the group.

Porutham	Result
Dina	Does not match
Gana	Matches
Mahendra	Matches
Stree Deergha	Matches
Yoni	Matches
Rashi	Matches
Rashi Adhipati	Matches
Vashya	Does not match
Rajju (must match)	Does not match
Vedha (must match)	Matches
Total	7 of 10 poruthams match · Not recommended

Gun Milan gives 24.5, an acceptable total, though Bhakoot dosha is present because the two signs are 5th and 9th from each other. The poruthams pass 7 of 10, including Rasi, but stop at Rajju: Shravana and Hasta are both in the Kanta (neck) group. A North Indian family could go ahead on this; most Tamil families would not, on the stars alone.

Passes the poruthams, fails Gun Milan. Ashwini (Mesha) for the bride and Shatabhisha (Kumbha) for the groom:

Koota	What it looks at	Points	Out of
Varna	Spiritual outlook	0	1
Vashya	Mutual influence	1	2
Tara	Health and well-being (birth-star count)	1.5	3
Yoni	Physical and emotional closeness	4	4
Graha Maitri	Friendship of the Moon-sign lords	0.5	5
Gana	Temperament	1	6
Bhakoot	Moon-sign distance: family welfare	7	7
Nadi	Health of the couple and children	0	8
Total		15	36

Porutham	Result
Dina	Matches
Gana	Does not match
Mahendra	Does not match
Stree Deergha	Matches
Yoni	Matches
Rashi	Matches
Rashi Adhipati	Does not match
Vashya	Matches
Rajju (must match)	Matches
Vedha (must match)	Matches
Total	7 of 10 poruthams match · Good

Here it turns the other way. Rajju and Vedha both pass and 7 of 10 poruthams match, a good result. But both stars are in Adi nadi, so Nadi dosha takes away 8 points, Gana scores only 1 for a Deva bride and a Rakshasa groom, and the total is 15 of 36, below the usual 18.

Neither example tells you the couple is wrong for each other. Each shows which tradition raises a concern, and exactly which check raises it.

Why does Navatara show both?

Many families today are mixed: a Tamil groom and a Maharashtrian bride, a Telugu family settled in Delhi, or parents who grew up with poruthams and children who hear about gunas from friends. When two sides follow two systems, an argument about "the score" often hides a simple fact: they are reading different checks.

So the free check on our kundli matching page shows the 36-point Gun Milan and the 10 poruthams together, each with its reasons. We do not blend them into one invented number. In the chat, a proposal check follows the 10 poruthams, Rajju and Vedha first, and then compares both full charts for Mangal dosha and dosha balance (dosha samya). The free check is always there if you also want the Gun Milan total.

What should your family do when they disagree?

1. Read your own tradition first. If your family has always used poruthams, start there; if it uses gunas, start there.
2. Find the exact check behind the disagreement. Usually it is Nadi on one side, or Rajju or Vedha on the other. The free check names it.
3. Look up whether that check has a traditional cancellation. Nadi and Bhakoot have named cancellations; Rajju and Vedha are usually treated as firm. Read how many gunas should match and the 10 poruthams explained.
4. Move from stars to the full kundlis. Star matching cannot see Mangal dosha, the 7th house or the running dasha of either person. See checking a proposal's horoscope and the free Mangal dosha check.
5. Ask before you decide. Send both horoscopes on WhatsApp and get a clear yes or no with the reasons.

What can neither system tell you?

Both systems describe traditional tendencies from two birth stars. They do not measure character, values, health or how two people treat each other, and a high score is not a promise. Read either result as guidance for a family decision, not a guarantee and not a verdict on two people.

What else do families ask about the two systems?

Which is more accurate, Gun Milan or porutham? Neither is more accurate; they are two long-established traditions with different emphases. Follow the one your family trusts, and use the other as a second view.

Is 18 out of 36 gunas the same as 5 out of 10 poruthams? No. They are each system's usual minimum, but they are not the same pairs: 35.4% of all pairs pass one and fail the other.

Does Gun Milan check Rajju? Does porutham check Nadi? Gun Milan does not check Rajju or Vedha. The standard 10 poruthams do not include Nadi, though some South Indian astrologers look at it as an extra.

Can we go ahead if one system passes and the other fails? Many families do, after looking at the failing check and the full kundlis. A Rajju or Vedha failure is the one most South Indian families do not override; Nadi dosha has traditional cancellations that are worth checking.

Do we need the birth time to compare the two? Not for the star-level check: the birth star and Moon sign are enough. If you do not know your star, use the free birth star finder. The time matters when a star sits on the edge of a sign, and for the full chart.

Does matching say when the marriage will happen? No. Matching compares two people; timing comes from one person's chart. See marriage delay and when will I get married.

How can you get both checked for a real proposal?

If a proposal is on the table, there is no need to go anywhere. Forward both horoscopes on WhatsApp: your personal astrologer checks the 10 poruthams, Rajju and Vedha first, both charts' doshas and dosha balance (dosha samya), and gives a clear yes or no with the reasons. A proposal check is ₹199, all taxes included, and every price is on the prices page. Talk free, pay only when sure; we are always here for your help.