The nine planets play important roles in Hindu religion and mythology. These planets are considered as deities and therefore called Navagraha and are believed to hold a great influence in the lives of people. Due to this impact on human affairs, these planets are treated as deities and are worshiped so that they will bestow peace and harmony and ward off evils from the lives of the devotees.
The meaning of Nava is `nine’, while Graha is `a planet’. Graha can also mean `to hold or grab’ due to their ability to initiate an eclipse by holding the Sun and all the stars.
| PLANETS | RULING DEITY | OVERLORD | STONES |
| Surya – Sun | Agni, the fire God | Shiva | Red ruby |
| Soma – Moon | Apas, Water Goddess | Parvati | Moonstone and Natural Pearls |
| Mangal – Mars | Bhumi, Goddess of the Earth | Skanda | Red Coral |
| Budha – Mercury | Vishnu, the Preserver | Vishnu | Emerald |
| Brihaspati – Jupiter | Indra, the King of Gods | Brahma | Yellow Sapphire and Yellow Topaz |
| Sukra – Venus | Indrani, Queen of Gods | Indra | Diamond |
| Shani – Saturn | Yama, end of life God or God of Death | Prajapati | Black Stones and Blue Sapphire |
| Rahu – Dragon’s Head | Durga, Goddess of Power | Sarpa | Honey Colored Hessonite |
| Ketu – Dragon’s Tail | Chitragupta, God of Karma | Brahma | Cat’s Eye |
All the planets listed above hold the power to grant specific and special favors to their human worshippers. In Hindu, the scientific study of these planetary bodies is what is called Vedic Astrology. The seven visible stars are used in classical astrology and these are the Sun, Moon, Mercury, Jupiter, Mars, Venus, and Saturn together with the north and south lunar nodes, Rahu and Ketu. When someone is born, an elaborate calculation is made to ascertain the positions of these nodes at the time of birth.
As an illustration, the zodiac has twelve zones or houses, each having 30 degrees. It takes the Sun one month to travel to each of these houses. In the same way, all the other planets have their specific time to move around their assigned zodiac. The movement of these planets alters their position with one another and these changes have a lot to foretell about the wellbeing of mankind. A person’s horoscope can be known based on the relationship between the positions of the planets and the time the person was born.
History of nations and what happens to the entire human race is believed to be influenced by the planetary bodies. All the planets have their own direction of movement, so they move either clockwise or anticlockwise and face different angles while doing so. During rituals, Hindu priests use beetle nuts to represent the planets. He then prays that their presence will bless the religious ritual or puja.
Navagrahas or the planetary bodies which are worshipped as deities have the days of the week, Sunday to Saturday, named after them. The ascending node and descending nodes, Rahu and Ketu are given some attributes of planets, too. Rahu is a planet with a head but without a body, while Ketu has a body with no head. Planetary such as Saturn, Rahu and Ketu are often seen as deities carried in cars and are revered due to their power to cause harm to human race. Other planets like Jupiter, Venus, Mercury, Mars, the Sun and the Moon have positive and favorable effects on humanity. Anyone who wants to have a successful marriage or any significant event must seek the blessings of these planets before he can go ahead with his plans. Additionally, apart from appeasing the nine planets, there are about twenty-seven constellations or nakshatras and twelve zodiac signs of the Sun which the Moon passes by during his movements. These bodies are consulted during important occasions such as marriages, births or any events that indicate joy, sorrow or distress in the family. A peace propitiation ceremony or Shanti is organized to ward off any unpleasant constellations.