Also called: Mangal Kshetra · The floor of the palm · The central basin
Where on the hand: The central hollow of the palm, bounded by Lower Mars and Venus radially, by Upper Mars and Luna ulnarly, by the head line above and the wrist region below. The fate line crosses it vertically. Centre roughly x 0.50, y 0.50 — the great basin ringed by all the other mounts.
What it looks like: Not a raised pad but a plain: read by its level (bulging, flat or deeply cupped relative to the surrounding mounts), by its consistency (hard or soft) and by the number of lines crossing it.
The Plain of Mars measures TEMPER — the sudden flare-up of anger, the inflammability of the temperament — as distinct from Upper Mars's resistance and Lower Mars's aggression. As a region it is the floor of the palm, the landing ground for all planetary lines, and the baseline on which every other reading is imposed.
Level and shape
- **Bulging and well-shaped** — fecundity; love of money for the sake of spending it generously.
- **Flat (level with the mounts)** — a saving disposition.
- **Hollow (deeply cupped)** — miserliness; also submissiveness, low physical drive, poor resilience against adversity, a life of struggle.
- **Clear and balanced** — cool, stable temperament.
Consistency
- **Hard** — plenty of animal spirits; combativeness.
- **Soft** — laziness; physical weakness.
Lines crossing it
- **Heavily crossed by lines** — increases the inflammability and temper: irritability and sudden rages.
- **Few crossing lines** — the temper stays cool.
- **Horizontal cross-bar lines on the Plain** — temper specifically.
Its role as a region
- **The floor of the palm** — the landing ground for all planetary lines in the Indian phrase.
- **Every major line traverses it** — the fate line, the sun line, the head line and the crossing lines of Mars.
- **The baseline temperament** — its consistency, its level and the quantity of lines crossing it are read as the ground on which every other reading is imposed.
- **Benham's three-way distinction** — Lower Mars = aggression; Upper Mars = resistance; Plain of Mars = temper.
Body parts governed
- **Internal heat.**
- **The brain.**
- **The nervous system.**
- **Blood circulation.**
Marks on this region
- **Horizontal / cross-bar lines** — temper.
- **Many crossing lines** — irritability and sudden rages.
- **A ditch or pit in the centre** (in the Rahu reading of the same territory) — dependency; loss through illegal means.
Western reading: Cheiro and the Professional Palmistry tradition treat the Plain as the register of temper and of the saving-versus-spending disposition.
Palmistry is a traditional interpretive art, not a science. Offered for reflection and self-understanding — not medical, legal or financial advice.