First historical proofs of nakṣatra are given in the Vedic culture which is archaeologically attested in the Indus Valley before 1000 BCE [#1],[#2],[#5],[#6]. It is known from traditional religious texts and rituals that astronomy was used for timekeeping in that time. When the Indus culture started to spread to the Ganges Plateau which has a different climate, flora and fauna, Vedic cultural astronomy was reworked and a new religious text of that time, the Arthavaveda (900 to 600 BCE), preserves a complete set of constellations called ‘nakṣatra’ (नक्षत्र). The first complete non-religious description, the Vedāṅgajyotiṣa, dates to roughly 300 BCE, and the standardized origin (Ashvini as first) was set in the first century BCE or CE. Hinduism took over the nakshatras. In the first centuries CE, astrological ideas from the Graeco-Babylonian world, including the zodiac as a division of the ecliptic into twelve equal sections, was added to the older Vedic nakshatra-division. Since the middle of the first millennium CE, the system is used in its present form.

The number of stars per nakshatra-constellations may vary in different sources. In this sky culture, we present only one single historical source: the depictions in Tirupperunthurai (Athmanathaswamy temple) near Aranthangi, India, 10th century CE. There, they are drawn at two occasions in exactly the same way: engraved in a doorway of stone, and imprinted in a tiruvasi, a silver arch from the temple's main chamber.

Ses figures

Chaque nom est donné dans son écriture d’origine, avec sa transcription latine pour qui ne lit pas cette écriture, et son nom français quand la source le fournit.

• भरणी Bharani Bharani
• कृत्तिका Kṛttika Krittika
• अश्विनी Aśvini Ashvini
• रोहिणी Rohiṇī Rohini
• मृगशिर Mṛgaśira Mrigashira
• आर्द्रा Ardra Ardra
• पुनर्वसु Punarvasu Punarvasu
• पुनर्वसु Āshleshā Ashlesha
• पुष्य Puṣya Pushya
• मघा Maghā Magha
• पूर्व फाल्गुनी Pūrva Phalgunī Purva Phalguni
• उत्तर फाल्गुनी Uttara Phalgunī Uttara Phalguni
• हस्त Hasta Hasta
• स्वाति Svati Svati
• चित्रा Citrā Chitra
• विशाखा Viśākhā Vishakha
• अनुराधा Anuradha Anuradha
• ज्येष्ठा Jyeṣṭha Jyeshtha
• मूल Mūlā Mula
• पूर्व आषाढा Purvaṣādha Purva Ashadha
• उत्तर आषाढा Uttara Āṣāḍhā Uttara Ashadha
• श्रवण Śravana Shravana
• श्रविष्ठा Dhaniṣṭhā Dhanishta
• उत्तर भाद्रपदा Uttara Bhādrapada Uttara Bhadrapada
• पूर्व भाद्रपदा Purvābhādra Purva Bhadrapada
• रेवती Revati Revati
• शतभिष Śatabhiṣa Shatabhisha
• अभिजित Abhijit Abhijit

Sources

• Figures et noms : data-brut/noyau/skycultures-cc-by/indian_nakshatras/description.md, sous CC BY 4.0.
• Positions des étoiles citées : d3-celestial et le catalogue Hipparcos de l’Agence spatiale européenne. Voir les données et leurs licences.

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