Astrologers in Bengaluru: what a reading costs and what to ask

Why one costs five times the other. The ₹1,001 is one sitting, in person or by phone. The ₹5,100 is one reading on a call, with quick questions on it afterwards at no extra charge. Neither page says how long its sitting runs. Ask every astrologer how long the sitting is and what happens when you have a question next week.

Three of five print nothing. Three other Bengaluru practices we read give no fee on their sites. One says to call or WhatsApp for current charges, and one offers a free form to get started. Ask for the fee, and what it covers, before you give anyone your birth details.

The score is free, the reading isn't. Kundli software gives the chart and a matching score in a minute. What you pay an astrologer for is his reading of it. Ask which one you're paying for.

Ask for one price for the whole sitting. Some phone and app consults bill by the minute, which adds up on a long call.

From abroad, ask what hours he takes calls in India time, and how you pay him. Four of the six practices we read take phone or WhatsApp.

If you want it in writing, ask at the start. Some give a PDF or a recording. Others say nothing about it.

Look for the time on paper first. A discharge summary from the hospital, the birth certificate or an old family horoscope may have it. A guess from memory may put the person in a different star.

It's common not to have it. One person who asked us for a pooja in August had no horoscope at all and only the date on his school record.

Don't give a time that "works". It moves the question, it doesn't answer it. Tell the astrologer what you know and how sure you are, and ask how he'll read it. One Bengaluru practice lists Prashna among its services.

The 36 is the North Indian count. It adds up eight parts, called kootas. DekhoPanchang calls 18 and over the minimum for marriage. Drik Panchang gives no single minimum. Its bands shift when the Bhakuta part is unfavourable: then 0 to 20 is inauspicious and 21 to 25 middling.

Tamil and Kerala families count differently. They check about ten poruthams, each a pass or a fail, rajju among them, and some families treat rajju as one that can't be failed. So the same couple can pass one system and fail the other.

Manglik isn't in the 36. Drik Panchang says the score leaves out Mangal dosha, which astrologers check on its own.

If one side insists on matching, it helps to agree on one astrologer both sides trust before anyone reads the charts. Whether to go ahead is the family's call. We don't say whether matching works.

Tell him nothing else first. Leave out the job, the caste and what the first astrologer said. Anything he hears before he reads your chart can change what he says.

Walk away from fear and hurry. If he says it must be fixed this week, or that only his own puja will do, get a third view before you pay.

A good full reading can take days. Ask how long he needs and whether he casts the chart himself.

The sitting is the small part. Every remedy we found on an astrologer's page is listed by name only: homam, yantra, dosha parihara and more. Our advice: a puja bought through an astrologer usually has the priest, the samagri and his time in one number, so ask for each line.

You don't have to buy it from him. Our advice: ask your own family priest whether he can do the same puja at his own rate. Or book the seva at the temple. One person who asked us in August wanted a Shatru Samhara pooja for under ₹5,000.

At Kukke Subramanya, Sarpa Samskara, Naga Prathishte and Ashlesha Bali are the temple's own sevas, on its page on the state endowment department's site. We couldn't read a fee there, so check it with the temple before you go, and book directly with the temple, without going through a middleman.

Some sellers print their own certificate, so check it came from a lab. Ask which lab tested the stone, then look the number up on that lab's site. The lab we read prices a report on a sapphire, ruby or emerald under 2 carats at ₹7,110, from 1 October 2026.

Ask in writing whether it's treated. Sellers treat stones, by heating or glass filling, and a lab report names it. Whether a treated stone suits you is your astrologer's call.

Ask how he chose the weight. Stones are priced by the carat or the ratti, so a heavier stone costs a lot more.

Ask about returns before you pay. Some astrologers ask you to wear a blue sapphire on trial first. Ask the seller whether he takes it back if you're told to stop, and what he keeps.

Rudraksha too. Our advice: ask the seller for a lab test report, and which lab did it. The gem lab fee above is for coloured stones, and we found no published fee for testing a bead.

The panchanga is the same for everyone. A math's almanac lists the year's good days. Your priest picks one for your charts and your family's custom.

Book the hall the week you fix the date. In the wedding season, halls, caterers and priests fill up on the same good days.

If the hall is free only in the evening, ask the priest for a good time on that day.

For a planned C-section, the doctor's safe window comes first. Ask the priest for a time inside it.

A baby's name letters come from the birth star. If elders worry about a Moola or Ashlesha birth, ask your priest what your family's custom asks for. Whether to do one is up to you.