What stays reliable
The Sun, planets and nodes move slowly, so their signs and degrees hold across a whole day with only small shifts. The Moon moves about 13 degrees in a day, so its sign is usually safe too. That gives you the nakshatra, the dasha order and most doshas that depend on signs, such as the Sade Sati check.
Without the time, the Moon's position is placed at midday as a working estimate, so the Moon degree is approximate. If it falls close to a sign boundary, the sign itself could be different.
What you lose
The Lagna, the 12 houses and every chart reading built on them. That includes Mangal dosha by house, yogas that need house positions, the Chalit chart and a reliable career or marriage reading.
The AnkShakti Kundali tells you this plainly and draws a South Indian chart that shows signs only, because a North Indian chart is built on the houses.
How to recover your birth time
Ask family for the hospital or birth certificate, which often lists a time. Look at the baby book or old documents. If the time is only approximate, such as morning or around lunchtime, run the chart with a few times and see whether the Lagna changes.
An astrologer can also work backwards from major life events to fix the time. This is called birth time rectification, and its results depend on the skill of the person doing it.
Making a chart without the time
On the Kundali page, tick that you do not know the birth time. You still get the planet table, the Moon sign, the nakshatra, the dasha and the signs-only chart. Come back with the time later and the full chart appears.
Try it on your own name
Common questions
- Is a Kundali without birth time accurate?
- The planetary signs and the dasha are usually right. The Lagna and houses cannot be known.
- Can I use sunrise time instead?
- A sunrise chart is a common stand-in among practitioners, but it is a convention, not your real chart.
- Does the Moon sign change if the time is unknown?
- Only if you were born close to a sign change. The Moon spends about two and a quarter days in each sign.
- What is the minimum I need?
- Date and place of birth.