Also called: Hanwant Rekha · Kapi Rekha · Hanuman line

Where on the hand: Triangles occurring on the upper Life line, the Fate line, the Head line or the Sun line.

What it looks like: Small three-sided closed figures formed on or against the upper Life line, the Fate line, the Head line or the Sun line — the triangle-form, but named as a distinct configuration when it appears on these specific lines.

A deeply religious person with clarity about their chosen deity (iṣṭa-devatā); Hanumān's protection.

Also called: Diksha Rekha · initiation line · ring of Jupiter

Where on the hand: At the base of the Jupiter (index) finger, running along or just below the finger's root.

What it looks like: A clear line at the base of the index finger, curving along or just beneath the finger's root like a shallow collar.

Intelligence, judgement, wealth, and knowledge of the occult sciences; formal spiritual initiation (dīkṣā).

Also called: lentils · masoor · lentil grain

Where on the hand: Palm surface; read as favourable in the domain of the mount it occupies.

What it looks like: Two or three very small, flattened, near-circular closed figures clustered together — rounder and flatter than the pointed barley-oval, and smaller than the seed.

Named in Serena Powers's compilation of the traditional Indian auspicious marks and in the Hindi symbol catalogues; recorded for completeness, read as favourable in the domain of its mount.

Also called: sunrays · rays

Where on the hand: Palm surface; naturally read with the Sun mount.

What it looks like: A fan of short straight strokes radiating from a common origin but with NO circle enclosing them — the rays of the sun-mark without the disc.

Named separately from the sun in Serena Powers's Indian list; read as a favourable radiance-mark in the domain of its mount, in the same family as the sun and the star.

Also called: teeth-marks · tooth marks

Where on the hand: Palm surface.

What it looks like: A row of short, evenly spaced parallel strokes standing perpendicular on one side of a base-line, of near-equal length — a comb or a row of teeth in outline, more regular and blunter than a tassel and without the ladder's second rail.

Named in the Garuḍa Purāṇa LXV among the marks of royalty.

Also called: anklet · nupur

Where on the hand: Palm surface; read as favourable in the domain of the mount it occupies.

What it looks like: A closed ring or near-closed circle with small beads or short strokes hanging round its lower half — a bangle with bells.

Named in Serena Powers's compilation of traditional Indian auspicious marks and in the Hindi symbol catalogues, read as favourable in the domain of the mount it occupies.

Also called: archway · ceremonial gateway · festoon · door · द्वार Dwar

Where on the hand: Palm and feet; the Bṛhat Saṃhitā gives it in the women's list.

What it looks like: Two short parallel verticals (posts) joined at the top by an arc or a horizontal lintel-line, often with two or three short strokes hanging from the lintel — the festoon of leaves.

Queenship; the auspicious threshold; welcome, festivity, and the crossing into high status.

Read with care: Almost exclusively a classical-text mark rather than a working palmist's category.

Also called: kamandal · renunciate's gourd water-pot

Where on the hand: Palm surface.

What it looks like: An oval or gourd-shaped body with a narrow spout projecting from one upper side and a small handle-arc over the top.

Religious preaching, storytelling (kathā-vācana), travelling the world as a teacher.

Also called: Kuthara · axe · battle-axe

Where on the hand: Palm surface.

What it looks like: A straight shaft with a crescent-shaped or wedge-shaped blade set at right angles to one end, cutting-edge outward.

Bṛhat Saṃhitā places the axe with discus, sword, club, spear and bow as marking a commander of armies. In practice it is usually read alongside the sword and given the sword's cautions.

Also called: bower · pavilion · mandap · kunja

Where on the hand: Palm surface.

What it looks like: Four short verticals (posts) carrying a shallow domed or flat canopy-line across the top, with the space beneath left open — wider and lower than the toran, which has only two posts.

'Makes a man noble; happy married life' — the 32-sign list's reading.

Makes a man noble; happy married life.the 32 lucky signs list

Also called: Bail · ox · bull

Where on the hand: Palm surface.

What it looks like: A heavy rectangular body-mass with two short curved horns rising from the head-end and a pronounced hump-curve over the shoulders — the Indian humped bull.

Owns livestock; a prosperous farmer or landlord; agrarian and landed wealth.

Also called: butterfly

Where on the hand: Palm surface, any mount.

What it looks like: Two symmetrical pairs of curved lobes on either side of a short vertical body-line — a bow-tie of curves — with two short antenna-strokes at the top. To draw it: a short vertical stroke as the body, with an upper and a lower rounded lobe flanking it on each side, and two fine strokes flaring upward from the body's top end.

Considered favourable: transformation, adaptability, growth; talent for building effective teams.

Read with care: A modern addition; not in the classical lists.

Also called: cow

Where on the hand: Palm surface.

What it looks like: As the bull, but slighter, hornless or with small horns, and with a distinct udder-curve below the body.

Nourishment, dharma, permanent sufficiency; sacred wealth.

Also called: dagoba · stupa · reliquary mound

Where on the hand: Palm surface.

What it looks like: A hemispherical dome resting on a low circular or square plinth, topped by a short square harmikā block and a thin vertical finial — the same family as the samādhi/tomb figure but with a stepped top element.

Named in Serena Powers's Indian list among the auspicious marks; read with the samādhi as sanctity and enshrined merit.

Also called: fan · vyajana · hand fan

Where on the hand: Palm surface and feet; named in the Bṛhat Saṃhitā's women's list.

What it looks like: A wedge or quarter-circle of three to five short straight ribs spreading from a small handle-point at the narrow end, with an arc closing the wide end.

One of the twenty-three queen-making marks of Bṛhat Saṃhitā 70. Like the chāmara, it is an attendant's implement and so belongs to the royal-service family of marks.

Also called: hexagon · six-pointed star · shatkona

Where on the hand: Palm surface.

What it looks like: A six-sided closed figure, or two interlocking triangles making a six-pointed star — one triangle apex-up, the other apex-down, overlapping so the outline reads as a six-pointed star with a hexagon at its centre.

Wealth and landowner status.

Also called: kite

Where on the hand: Any mount.

What it looks like: A diamond or rhombus with a short line trailing from its lower vertex, sometimes with two or three small cross-strokes on the tail.

High ambition, creative aspiration, fame; rising on favourable currents.

Also called: Sher · lion

Where on the hand: Palm surface.

What it looks like: A compact body-mass with a radiating fringe of short lines round the head-end — the mane is the identifier — plus a tail-stroke ending in a small tuft.

Utmost valour and hyperactivity; courage, administrative authority, royal splendour, invincibility; fearless leadership.

Utmost valour and hyperactivity.the 32 lucky signs list

Also called: palace · mansion · prasad

Where on the hand: Palm surface; named on Rādhā's right lotus hand.

What it looks like: A tall rectangle divided by one or two horizontal lines into storeys, with a smaller rectangle set on top as an upper pavilion and a short finial-stroke above — larger and more storeyed than the temple, and with no triangular śikhara.

Named among the marks on Rādhā's right lotus hand. A mark of grand residence, rank and dwelling in splendour.

Also called: Mor · peacock

Where on the hand: Palm surface.

What it looks like: A small body with a great fan of short radiating lines behind it, each ray sometimes ending in a tiny circle (the eyes of the tail); a short crest-stroke on the head.

Beauty, artistry, royal favour. In the Hindi lists it is read concretely as government service, a bungalow and a car.

Also called: peacock feather · mor pankh

Where on the hand: Palm surface.

What it looks like: A single long curving line ending in a small closed oval or circle — a stem with an eye at its tip.

A very specific and consistently reported reading: inheritance or benefit from the MATERNAL side — मातृ पक्ष से लाभ.

मातृ पक्ष से लाभ — benefit from the maternal side.Hindi 32-sign list

Also called: plank · tablet · board · phalak

Where on the hand: Palm surface.

What it looks like: A long, narrow rectangle with clean parallel long sides — a board in outline; noticeably longer than it is wide, with square-cut short ends and no internal marks.

'Makes the native the beacon or head of the family' — the one on whom the household rests.

Makes the native the beacon/head of the family.the 32 lucky signs list

Also called: ship · jahaj · sailing vessel

Where on the hand: Palm surface; most often on the Moon mount.

What it looks like: The boat form with sail added: a shallow upward-opening crescent hull, a vertical mast rising from its centre, a small triangle or quadrilateral attached to the mast as the sail, and sometimes a short flag-stroke at the masthead.

Maritime trade and wealth from overseas; international travel and foreign commerce; the larger and more prosperous form of the boat.

Also called: bell · temple bell

Where on the hand: Palm surface.

What it looks like: A dome or trapezoid with a flared open lower rim, a short handle-loop on top, and a small circle or short stroke hanging below the rim — the clapper.

Preservation, protection, safety and steady progress; ritual regularity. Frequently listed together with the damaru in the Hindi 40-sign catalogues.

Also called: trumpet · horn · turahi

Where on the hand: Palm surface; named on Rādhā's right lotus hand.

What it looks like: A long narrow tube-line widening steadily to a flared bell at one end, the bell drawn as a short outward-curving arc closing the wide end.

Named among the marks on Rādhā's right lotus hand. Read in the same family as the conch — proclamation, renown, the announcing of victory.

Also called: veena · vina · lute

Where on the hand: Palm surface.

What it looks like: A long straight neck-line with a large rounded gourd-body closed at one end and a smaller gourd-circle at the other, with two or three fine strokes running the length of the neck as strings.

Musical and artistic mastery; Sarasvatī's favour. A popular-tradition mark. Bearers are counselled toward Sarasvatī worship to activate it.

Read with care: A popular-tradition mark, not attested in the classical Sanskrit lists.

Also called: wheat · wheat grain

Where on the hand: Palm surface; named in the Garuḍa Purāṇa's women's royalty list.

What it looks like: A small plump closed oval, blunter at both ends than the pointed barley-corn, sometimes with a single short stroke at one end for the awn.

Named in the Garuḍa Purāṇa LXV among the marks of royalty for women. Belongs to the grain family of marks with the yava (barley), the ankura (seed) and masoor (lentils), all read as sufficiency and increase.

Also called: Oval nails · Egg-shaped nails

Where on the hand: On the nail plate.

What it looks like: A gently pointed oval, tapering smoothly at the tip without corners.

Kindness, balance and diplomacy; calm under pressure; the trusted advisor. Indian sources add: cheerful, handles matters their own way, avoids disputes, rarely shows emotion; self-protective and flexible.

Also called: Curved set · Normal set · Crescent set

Where on the hand: At the line where the fingers join the palm.

What it looks like: The four bases form a gentle arc or crescent, highest at Saturn and dropping away toward Jupiter and Mercury.

This is the normal, most common setting. It reads as balanced and thoughtful — neither the exceptional fortune of the even set nor the handicap of a dropped one.

Also called: Bluish cast nails

Where on the hand: Across the nail plate.

What it looks like: A blue or bluish cast under the nail rather than pink.

Traditionally read as poor circulation and heart or oxygenation trouble.

Read with care: Persistent blue nail beds are a recognised medical sign. This entry records the traditional reading only; the appropriate response is a doctor, not a reading.

Also called: Misshapen nails · Bent nails

Where on the hand: On the nail plate.

What it looks like: Misshapen or bent — the nail grows out of true, without a regular outline.

Indian sources read persistent financial difficulty: *"जिन लोगों के नाखून टेढ़े-मेढ़े होते हैं वे लोग बुरी आर्थिक स्थिति का हमेशा सामना करते हैं"* — such people always face a bad financial situation.

Read with care: A blunt fortune claim attached to nail shape; report as tradition.

Also called: Dull nails · Dark nails

Where on the hand: Across the nail plate.

What it looks like: Dark, dull or blotchy colouring across the nail rather than a single discrete spot.

Indian sources read this as a mark of service: such people serve others selflessly, and many work in service occupations.

Also called: Flared nails · Splayed nails

Where on the hand: On the nail plate.

What it looks like: Splaying markedly wider toward the tip, like an open fan.

Nervous tension and long-endured strain. In the older literature the fan nail is a sign that great nervous stress has been undergone.

Also called: Uncurved nails

Where on the hand: On the nail plate, seen in side profile.

What it looks like: No convexity at all — the nail lies flat across the finger instead of curving over it.

In the traditional reading, anaemia or nutritional deficiency.

Read with care: A folk-health reading; not a diagnosis.

Also called: Print position on the pad

Where on the hand: On the fingertip pad, judged by where the pattern's core sits between the nail and the first joint.

What it looks like: Compare the core's height on the pad: set high toward the nail, or set low toward the joint.

Position modifies every pattern. A pattern set high on the fingertip emphasises intellectual ability; set low toward the joint it emphasises practical, down-to-earth qualities.

Western reading: A refinement applied on top of the six-pattern classification.

Also called: Rosy nails · The ideal nail colour

Where on the hand: Across the nail plate, judged with the hand relaxed and warm.

What it looks like: An even pink or rosy bed beneath a smooth, shiny nail.

The ideal — good circulation, good health, warmth of nature. Indian sources: *"ऐसे लोग सौभाग्यशाली होते हैं और हर ओर से सफलता पाते हैं"* — fortunate, successful from every direction; a simple, genuine temperament and a pure heart.

Also called: Thumb-side loop · Reverse loop

Where on the hand: On any fingertip pad, but most often on the index finger.

What it looks like: The same shape as an ulnar loop, but opening toward the **thumb side** — the reverse direction.

Deeply caring, putting others' needs before their own; a contrary, individual thinker who sees things the opposite way from those around them.

Western reading: Read as the contrarian pattern in Western dermatoglyphics.

Also called: Squat nails · Broad short nails

Where on the hand: On the nail plate, judged on the nail bed's proportions.

What it looks like: Squat — broader than it is tall.

Logical, critical, analytical, quick, practical and unartistic, often sceptical and argumentative. Traditionally associated with a greater risk of heart trouble and with irritability; when also wide, the **Kapha** constitution.

Read with care: The traditional heart-trouble association carries no medical standing.

Also called: Small boxy nails

Where on the hand: On the nail plate.

What it looks like: Small and boxy — short, with squared-off corners, so the nail reads as a small box rather than a rectangle.

Traditionally read as weakness of constitution generally, heart problems, and a vengeful streak.

Read with care: The heart-problem and "vengeful" readings are traditional doctrine, not fact.

Also called: Paddle tip · Active tip

Where on the hand: Read from the outline of the finger pad viewed from the palm side.

What it looks like: Widens toward the tip like a spatula or a paddle-blade, broadest at the very end.

Energy, invention, restlessness, love of action, travel, sport, machinery and experiment; scientific, realistic and hands-on. Associated with Mars and the Sun and with the element of fire.

Western reading: D'Arpentigny's spatulate or active type.

Also called: Practical tip · Useful tip

Where on the hand: Read from the outline of the finger pad viewed from the palm side.

What it looks like: The tip is cut straight across with the corners squared off; the nail is broad and squarish.

Method, order, reliability, common sense, punctuality, respect for law and tradition; rational throughout. Associated with Saturn and Mercury and with the element of earth.

Western reading: D'Arpentigny's square or useful type — the backbone of his classification.

Also called: Straight-cut nails

Where on the hand: On the nail plate.

What it looks like: Cut straight across with sharp corners, roughly as tall as it is wide.

Serious, disciplined and organised; a strong leader who excels in work and finances and brings others along.

Also called: Blade nails · Long pointed nails

Where on the hand: On the nail plate.

What it looks like: A blade — long, narrow and pointed.

Ambitious and goal-focused; dislikes delay. The same impatience that drives them also hinders their progress.

Also called: Patchy nail colour

Where on the hand: Across the nail plate, comparing one region of the nail with another.

What it looks like: Colour that varies across the nail — pale in one area, flushed in another — rather than an even wash.

Traditionally read as strained elimination.

Read with care: Traditional constitutional reading, not diagnosis.

Also called: Deep red nails · Hot-blooded nails

Where on the hand: Across the nail plate.

What it looks like: A deep, strong red rather than a soft pink.

Passion, quick temper and hot blood; traditionally also cardiovascular strain.

Read with care: The cardiovascular association is traditional, not clinical.

Also called: Broad rectangular nails

Where on the hand: On the nail plate.

What it looks like: A broad rectangle — noticeably wider than tall, but not squat or boxy.

*"अच्छे स्वास्थ्य का संकेत"* — a sign of good health. Physically strong; enjoys food; outspoken and a good debater; a deep, straightforward thinker who detects others' honesty easily and stands firm on convictions.

Also called: Bilious nails · Sallow nails

Where on the hand: Across the nail plate.

What it looks like: A yellowish or sallow cast to the whole nail.

A sluggish liver and bilious constitution, "weak breath", and jaundice risk in the traditional reading; in temperament, a melancholy or embittered disposition.

Read with care: Folk-health doctrine; nail discolouration has many ordinary causes and is not a liver diagnosis.

Also called: Yatra rekha dating · Luna height scale

Where on the hand: Read by height up the Mount of Luna on the percussion, from just above the wrist at the bottom to the border with Upper Mars at the top.

What it looks like: Horizontal lines entering the palm at different heights on the outer edge; the height itself is the date.

Position up the Luna mount encodes the age at which the journey or relocation falls. Low lines belong to youth, mid-mount to midlife, high lines near Upper Mars to later years.