Also called: Figured marks · Shape-marks of the Samudrika texts

Where on the hand: Found anywhere on the palm, but most auspiciously in the lower palm and on the Ketu and Venus mounts.

What it looks like: Small configurations of lines that resolve into a recognisable object — a conch, an umbrella, a fish, a flag, a pot, a goad, a swastika, an animal or a weapon. Each is read by what it depicts.

The oldest Indian layer of palm reading: a catalogue of shape-marks, each tied to a specific fortune. This entry is the index of readings given in the mounts research; the marks themselves are treated in depth in the auspicious-symbols material.

Read with care: These are traditional correspondences from classical texts; they are recorded as doctrine and are treated in full in the dedicated auspicious-symbols material rather than here.