Also called: Kai rekai · Kairekhai jothidam · Kainottam · Tamil palmistry terms · Malayalam palmistry terms · South Indian line names
Where on the hand: Not a feature of the hand but the working vocabulary of Tamil and Malayalam palmistry, in which the standard lines and mounts carry their own regional names.
What it looks like: A naming table. The Tamil word for a line is ரேகை (rēkai) and for palmistry கைரேகை சாஸ்திரம் (kai-rēkai śāstiram); the Malayalam equivalents are രേഖ (rēkha) and ഹസ്തരേഖാ ശാസ്ത്രം, with കൈനോട്ടം (kainōṭṭam, 'hand-looking') as the everyday word for a reading.
Tamil and Malayalam palmistry uses the same lines and mounts as North Indian Samudrika, but a reader working from Tamil or Malayalam sources will meet a wholly different set of names — and a few readings, such as the Tamil treatment of the fate line as an education-and-obstacles line, that are phrased differently from the Hindi tradition.
Tamil line names
- **ஆயுள் ரேகை · Āyuḷ rēkai** — the Life line; span of years, constitution, upheavals and relocations.
- **புத்தி ரேகை · Putti rēkai**, also **தலை ரேகை · Talai rēkai** — the Head line; education, intellect, method of working.
- **இதய ரேகை · Itaya rēkai** — the Heart line; the heart's health, feeling, pleasure and pain.
- **விதி ரேகை · Viti rēkai** — the Fate line; literally the 'destiny' line, read for education, professional success and obstacles.
- **சூரிய ரேகை · Sūriya rēkai** — the Sun line; fame and disgrace alike.
- **புதன் ரேகை · Putan rēkai** — the Mercury or Health line; general health and recovery from illness.
- **சுக்கிர ரேகை · Cukkira rēkai** — the Venus line; health, business sense and communication.
- **சுக்கிரனின் வட்டப்பாதை · Cukkiraṉiṉ vaṭṭappātai** — the Girdle of Venus; emotional sensitivity and how it is handled.
- **அப்போலோ ரேகை · Appōlō rēkai** — the Apollo line; general good fortune.
- **வட்ட ரேகை · Vaṭṭa rēkai** — the 'circle line', treated as an inauspicious formation.
- **நட்பு ரேகைகள் · Naṭpu rēkaikaḷ** — the 'friendship lines'; close attachments, sometimes romantic.
- **பயண ரேகைகள் · Payaṇa rēkaikaḷ** — the Travel lines, one for each journey.
- **குரங்கு ரேகை · Kuraṅku rēkai** — literally 'monkey line', the Tamil name for the simian crease.
- **மணிக்கட்டு ரேகை · Maṇikkaṭṭu rēkai** — the wrist bracelet lines.
Malayalam terms
- **കൈനോട്ടം · Kainōṭṭam** — hand-reading, the ordinary Kerala word for a consultation.
- **കൈരേഖകൾ · Kairēkhakaḷ** — the palm lines collectively.
- **ജീവിതരേഖ · Jīvitarēkha** — the Life line.
- **ശിരോരേഖ · Śirōrēkha**, also **തല രേഖ** — the Head line.
- **ഹൃദയരേഖ · Hṛdayarēkha** — the Heart line.
- **പെരുവിരൽ · Peruviral** — the thumb.
- **കൈവെള്ള · Kaiveḷḷa** — the palmar surface.
- **ഉയർച്ചതാഴ്ചകൾ · Uyarccatāḻcakaḷ** — the 'risings and fallings', i.e. the mounts.
- **ശുക്രൻ · Śukran, വ്യാഴം · Vyāḻam** — Venus and Jupiter, as mount names.
Notes for a reader
- **The Tamil fate line is an education line** — Tamil sources routinely read விதி ரேகை for schooling and examinations as much as for career, which is closer to the Chinese 官祿 reading than to the Western one.
- **வட்ட ரேகை has no single Western equivalent** — it is described only as a circular formation and as unlucky.
- **Telugu equivalents** — ఆయుష్షు రేఖ, శిరో రేఖ, హృదయ రేఖ, భాగ్య రేఖ and so on follow the same Sanskrit roots.
Palmistry is a traditional interpretive art, not a science. Offered for reflection and self-understanding — not medical, legal or financial advice.