Jyeshtha

Depiction of the 18th nakshatra, Jyeshtha, in temples.

The 17th, 18th, 19th nakshatra mapped to the Stellarium base chart, animated GIF, WGSN 2025: Jyeshtha is the middle one.

... is an Indian name, used by the Indian Vedic tradition. Most of these names are roughly 3000 years old. They pre-date Hinduism but were taken over by it.

Etymology and History

The asterism is depicted as a group of three stars and typically identified with the bright star Antares (α Sco). As the term "nakshatra" literally means "not bright", it is more likely that the stars surrounding Antares, τ and σ Scorpii plus i Sco (or d Sco?), were interpreted as an asterism framing the bright star in the center.

The Goddess with same name: Jyestha devi, Kailas temple, kanchipuram

Jyeshtha is also the name of a goddess.

Mythology

mnemonic tales and cultural significance

References

• References (general)