Vedic Planetary Positions May 2026: Complete Sidereal Ephemeris (Lahiri)

This page provides daily sidereal planetary positions for May 2026 using the Lahiri (Chitra Paksha) ayanamsa. Values are calculated for 00:00 IST (18:30 UTC previous day) and represent the position of each planet at the start of each calendar day. Use this reference for chart casting verification, transit analysis, muhurat selection, and sub-lord boundary checks during the month.

Mars enters Aries (own sign): May 11, 2026 (sidereal)
Venus enters Gemini: May 14, 2026 (sidereal)
Mercury enters Taurus: May 15, 2026 (sidereal)
Sun enters Taurus: May 15, 2026 (sidereal, Vrishabha Sankranti)
Mercury enters Gemini: May 29, 2026 (sidereal)
Jupiter in late Gemini: Throughout May 2026 (Cancer ingress June 2)
All visible planets direct: Throughout May 2026
Rahu in Aquarius, Ketu in Leo: Throughout May 2026 (continuing axis)

This is the first in an ongoing series of monthly Vedic ephemeris references on JagannathHora.com. The format provides daily positions in sidereal degrees, nakshatra placement, and KP sub-lord notation. Use it as a quick reference when you need to check planetary positions without casting a full chart, or for verifying transit timing for a specific event during the month.

How to Read This Ephemeris

Each row in the daily tables shows the sidereal position of a planet at 00:00 IST on that date. The position is given in degrees and minutes within the sign, followed by the sign abbreviation. Nakshatra placement is shown alongside, and the KP sub-lord notation is provided for practitioners working with the stellar sub-lord framework.

Sign abbreviations follow standard Vedic convention: Ar (Aries), Ta (Taurus), Ge (Gemini), Cn (Cancer), Le (Leo), Vi (Virgo), Li (Libra), Sc (Scorpio), Sg (Sagittarius), Cp (Capricorn), Aq (Aquarius), Pi (Pisces). Retrograde planets are marked with (R) following the position. Combust planets (within 6° of the Sun, except Moon) are marked with (C). For exact arc-second precision on any moment within a day, recalculate in Jagannatha Hora, since the values shown represent only the start-of-day position.

May 2026 Planetary Overview

May 2026 is a month of clean, well-spaced sign changes. Mars opens the story: after finishing its run through Pisces it enters its own sign Aries on May 11 at about 12:39 IST, a genuine change of gear that restores Mars to full strength for initiatives, competition and surgery-adjacent timing questions. Venus enters Gemini on May 14, and then May 15 brings a double ingress within six hours: Mercury slips into Taurus just after midnight at 00:32 IST and the Sun follows at 06:22 IST with the Vrishabha Sankranti, the traditional marker of the deep agricultural season.

Mercury does not linger: it crosses into Gemini, its own sign, on May 29, where it will meet June’s events at full dignity. Jupiter spends the entire month completing the final degrees of Gemini, from 24° 39′ on May 1 to 29° 37′ by May 31, in Punarvasu nakshatra, the quiet approach run to its exaltation ingress into Cancer on June 2. Saturn moves steadily direct through the middle degrees of Pisces in Revati, and Rahu and Ketu continue their mean-node drift through Aquarius and Leo, from 11° 36′ toward 10° 01′.

Every visible planet runs direct for the whole of May 2026, which makes it one of the year’s most straightforward months for muhurat selection and for launching matters that prefer uncomplicated planetary motion.

Sun Daily Positions: May 2026

The Sun crosses the last two weeks of Aries and makes its Vrishabha Sankranti on May 15 at 06:22 IST. The May 15 row, taken at 00:00 IST, still shows 29° 45′ Aries; from May 16 the Sun advances through Taurus, reaching 15° 08′ by the May 31 row at its steady 57 to 58 arc-minutes per day.

Moon Daily Positions: May 2026

The Moon completes a little over one full circuit of the zodiac during May, and the daily rows below track it sign by sign at 00:00 IST. Lunar motion averages around 13 degrees per day, so for muhurat or tithi work always recompute the exact moment in Jagannatha Hora; these rows are the day’s opening reference.

Mars Daily Positions: May 2026

Mars completes its passage through Pisces and enters its own sign Aries on May 11 at about 12:39 IST, a genuine restoration of dignity. The May 11 row, taken at 00:00 IST, shows the final Pisces degree; from May 12 the rows run through Ashwini and Bharani, closing the month at 14° 37′ Aries.

Mercury Daily Positions: May 2026

Mercury spends early May in Aries, moving combust through the middle of the month, and enters Taurus on May 15 at 00:32 IST, half an hour after the day’s 00:00 rows are taken, so the May 15 line still shows 29° 57′ Aries. It clears combustion after mid-month and crosses into its own sign Gemini on May 29 at about 11:12 IST, closing May at 2° 47′ Gemini.

Jupiter Daily Positions: May 2026

Jupiter spends the entire month in the final degrees of Gemini, in Punarvasu: 24° 39′ on May 1, 26° 47′ at mid-month, 29° 37′ by May 31. This is the approach run to its exaltation ingress into Cancer on June 2, and every May chart still carries a Gemini Jupiter.

Jupiter ingresses Cancer (its exaltation sign) in early June 2026, beginning a year-long transit that significantly affects all 12 ascendants. See the Jupiter Transit 2026 guide for the dates and method, and the detailed predictions for all 12 Rashis and all 12 ascendants.

Venus Daily Positions: May 2026

Venus finishes Taurus in the first fortnight and enters Gemini on May 14 at about 10:54 IST; the May 14 row, taken at 00:00 IST, shows the last Taurus degree, and from May 15 the rows run through Gemini to 19° 43′ by month end. Daily Venusian motion holds near 1° 10′ throughout.

Saturn Daily Positions: May 2026

Saturn moves steadily direct through the middle degrees of Pisces all month, from 14° 54′ on May 1 to 17° 55′ by May 31, crossing from Uttara Bhadrapada into Revati in the final week. No station falls in May; Saturn’s retrograde begins later in the year, on July 27, 2026.

For practitioners tracking Sade Sati, Saturn’s continued presence in Pisces means the Sade Sati cycle remains active for those with Moon in Aquarius (third phase), Pisces (peak phase), and Aries (first phase). See the Sade Sati complete guide for cycle interpretation.

Rahu and Ketu Daily Positions: May 2026

The mean nodes drift retrograde from 11° 36′ toward 10° 01′ of Aquarius for Rahu, with Ketu mirroring through Leo in Magha. Node positions here are mean-node values, the convention used throughout this series.

For practitioners tracking the upcoming nodal transit, see the Rahu-Ketu Transit 2026-2028 guide covering the axis change later in 2026.

Important Sign Ingresses in May 2026

The following table summarizes all sidereal sign changes during May 2026. Times are approximate IST. For exact ingress times, verify in Jagannatha Hora.

The Vrishabha Sankranti on May 14 marks the start of the Vedic month of Vrishabha (Vaisakha-Jyeshtha bridge in the lunar calendar). This transition is observed traditionally with charitable acts and certain regional festivals.

Lahiri Ayanamsa for May 2026

The Lahiri (Chitra Paksha) ayanamsa values throughout May 2026 are shown below. Use these values for any manual tropical-to-sidereal conversion during the month. The intra-month change is approximately 5 arc-seconds, small enough to be negligible for most chart work but relevant for arc-second precision in birth time rectification.

For complete monthly ayanamsa precision throughout 2026 and historical reference values from 1900 to 2050, see the Lahiri ayanamsa reference and the historical ayanamsa tables.

Methodology and Verification

All positions in this ephemeris are calculated using the Lahiri (Chitra Paksha) ayanamsa with the Swiss Ephemeris implementation, which is the same engine used by Jagannatha Hora. Values represent positions at 00:00 IST (18:30 UTC the previous day). Three considerations apply when using this ephemeris.

First, intra-day positions are not provided. Moon moves approximately 30 arc-minutes per hour, Mercury and Venus move 2 to 5 arc-minutes per hour, and slower planets move correspondingly less. For exact positions at any specific time within a day, recalculate in Jagannatha Hora using the precise time and location.

Second, sub-lord notation follows the standard KP New ayanamsa convention. Practitioners using KP Old or alternative ayanamsa systems will see slight differences in sub-lord assignments near boundary positions. The 5 to 6 arc-minute KP Old offset can shift sub-lords for planets within 6 arc-minutes of a sub-boundary. The values shown here use the Lahiri-aligned KP New convention.

Third, retrograde and combust notation is included where applicable. A planet marked (R) is retrograde at the time shown. A planet marked (C) is combust (within 6° of the Sun, except Moon, with planet-specific combustion distances varying slightly). For the precise combustion distance for each planet, see the planetary combustion reference.

Related References

• Current Lahiri Ayanamsa Value 2026: Monthly precision and verification methodology
• Historical Lahiri Ayanamsa Values 1900-2050: Complete reference for chart casting verification
• Vedic Planetary Transit Calendar 2025-2035: All major sign changes and transit dates
• Jupiter Transit 2026 Predictions: Effects of Jupiter’s Cancer ingress on all ascendants
• Saturn Transit Pisces Complete Reference: Sade Sati dates and effects through 2028
• Checking Transits in JHora: How to verify positions for any specific date and time

Frequently Asked Questions

What planetary positions matter most for chart work in May 2026?

Four movements shape the month. Mars enters its own sign Aries on May 11, restoring full dignity after its passage through Pisces. May 15 carries a double ingress, Mercury into Taurus at 00:32 IST and the Sun’s Vrishabha Sankranti at 06:22 IST. Mercury moves on into its own sign Gemini on May 29. And Jupiter spends all of May in the final degrees of Gemini, closing at 29° 37′ on May 31, one step short of its June 2 exaltation ingress into Cancer.

When does Sun enter Taurus in May 2026?

The Vrishabha Sankranti falls on May 15, 2026 at approximately 06:22 IST on the Lahiri ayanamsa. The May 15 table row, taken at 00:00 IST, still shows the Sun at 29° 45′ Aries; by the May 16 row it stands at 0° 43′ Taurus. Sankranti-linked observances should be timed from the ingress moment for your own location, verified in Jagannatha Hora.

How do I use this ephemeris for KP chart casting?

Read the position and nakshatra from the Lahiri columns, and use the Sub-Lord column, which is computed on the KP New ayanamsa, for stellar work. For cusps and exact sub-lord boundaries you still need a full chart cast for the precise time and place; these tables are for verifying planetary placements and spotting boundary-day cases where a planet sits near a sub change.

What is Mars doing in May 2026?

Mars enters its own sign Aries on May 11 at about 12:39 IST, after completing its run through Pisces, and spends the rest of the month advancing through Bharani toward late Aries. A dignified, direct Mars in its own sign is the classical green light for initiative-flavoured elections, and the contrast with the fabricated debilitation stories that circulate about this period is a good reminder to verify positions from a real ephemeris.

Are these positions accurate enough for muhurat selection?

They are computed directly from the Swiss Ephemeris at 00:00 IST for each date, accurate to well under an arc-minute for that moment. The Moon moves about 30 arc-minutes per hour, so use the daily rows to shortlist dates and confirm the exact chosen moment in Jagannatha Hora for your location before fixing any muhurat.

What is the Lahiri ayanamsa value during May 2026?

It runs from 24° 13′ 35″ on May 1 to 24° 13′ 40″ on May 31, an intra-month change of roughly 5 arc-seconds. Use the table above for manual tropical-to-sidereal conversion; the long-term series lives on the Lahiri ayanamsa reference pages linked below.

Where is Jupiter located in May 2026?

Jupiter spends the entire month in the last degrees of Gemini, in Punarvasu nakshatra: 24° 39′ on May 1, 26° 47′ at mid-month, and 29° 37′ on May 31. It crosses into Cancer, its exaltation, on June 2, so May is the approach run, and any reading cast in May still works with a Gemini Jupiter.

Are any planets retrograde in May 2026?

Only Rahu and Ketu, in their perpetual retrograde motion. The Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus and Saturn all move direct for the entire month, with no stations falling in May. The year’s next station is Mercury’s, on June 29, 2026.

How do I find planetary positions for dates not shown in this table?

Interpolate for the slow planets, whose daily motion is small and steady, and recalculate for the Moon and the inner planets, whose motion is too fast for safe interpolation across the twelve signs. Jagannatha Hora will give the exact position for any date, time and place in seconds; these tables exist for quick reference and cross-checking, and every value on them comes from the same Swiss Ephemeris engine.

Will there be a similar ephemeris for June 2026?

Yes: the June 2026 edition is live with the same daily format, including Jupiter’s exaltation ingress on June 2 and the month-end Mercury station. See the Vedic planetary positions for June 2026.

Conclusion

This May 2026 Vedic ephemeris provides daily sidereal planetary positions for practitioner reference using the Lahiri (Chitra Paksha) ayanamsa. The month’s key events are Mars entering its own sign Aries on May 11, Venus entering Gemini on May 14, the twin ingresses of May 15 with Mercury into Taurus and the Sun’s Vrishabha Sankranti, Mercury’s move into Gemini on May 29, and Jupiter’s month-long approach to the edge of Cancer. Use this reference to verify chart casting, identify daily transits, plan muhurat selections, and track sub-lord boundary conditions throughout the month. For arc-second precision on any specific date and time, calculate directly in Jagannatha Hora rather than relying on this monthly ephemeris reference. Future monthly ephemeris pages continue this format throughout 2026.