Nadi Shastra is a distinctive type of astrology in which a person can read his destiny inscribed on Palm leaves thousands of years ago. It is an ancient Astrology method for learning about a person"s past, present and also the future. Nadi Shastra is based purely on astrological foundations. It is one of the most amazing confirmation of the intuitive powers and developed knowledge of the ancient sages, who possessed the capability of seeing the future of the entire universe.

Nadi Shastra is considered as the most amazing accomplishment of ancient India. It is believed that Indian sages around thousands of years ago had the power to look into the matters of past as well as future of the universe. They recorded the life of a person and at some point of time those results were documented on palm leaves. Those documented findings are being referred by the Nadi astrologers over the years. An expert Nadi reader reads one"s past, present and future with incredulous details. The most astonishing fact about Nadi Shastra remains that a person reads his or her Nadi leaf only at a preordained time of his or her life; which have been predestined thousands of years ago.

Origin of Nadi Shastra
In Nadi Shastra, the thousands of life patterns are written based on the possible astrological combinations. It is presumed that the Rishis like Agastya, Vashishta, Kausika, etc. had outlined the lives of each person on palm leaves through their yogic and intuitive powers. Precise date of origin of Nadi Shastra is not known. But, it is said that sages and yogis of about 2000 years ago are the authentic writers of the Nadi leaves. They wrote the destiny of each and every human being to be born on this earth. They even did the prediction of the time when the individual will read his leaf. It is believed that the records were originally written on animal skin and later were transferred to palm leaves. However, this knowledge is kept sacred and is handed down from generations to generations excluding any public disclosure. They have been preserved by applying oil extracted from Peacocks` blood on auspicious "muhurtas".

Although Nadi readers and leaves are scattered all over India, most of them are centred in Tamil Nadu. These calculations are written in Sanskrit language, but they were later translated in Tamil language under the Chola ruler ship. Because of this reason Nadi Shastra is often referred as the most prominent branch in Tamil Astrology. Maratha and Chola rulers were the great patrons of this art who endeavoured to preserve these sacred records. Their major record collection was kept in Saraswati Mahal library in Thanjavur. After the British invasion, the palm leaves were sold to various enthusiastic buyers. The Valluvar community of South India, who were the keen followers of astrology, bought maximum leaves. This is where the main hub of Nadi Shastra resides till date.

Books on Nadi Shastra
There are various Samhitas or Nadi literature named after various ancient sages. There are more than 24 Granthas in Nadi Shastra. Most of them are named after the sages who developed them. Many of the Granthas are stored in libraries or temple vaults. Many Nadi leaves are also stacked away for the use of future generations. Some important Nadi Granthas are mentioned below:

•Guru Nadi,
•Sutra Nadi,
•Markandeya Nadi,
•Nandi Nadi,
•Suka Nadi,
•Sudha Nadi,
•Saraswati Nadi,
•Dhruva Nadi,
•Satya Nadi and
•Chandra Nadi.

Amongst these, Sukra and Dhruva Nadis are significant ones; they give quite accurate life history. There are two types of original Granthas on Dhruva Nadis, namely Satyacharya and Jai muni, based on Sayan system unlike other Nadis that are based on Nirayan system. Satya Nadi deals with the prominent people in every field, along with details about their life and accomplishments. In various Nadis like Bhrigu Samhita, horoscope is related with the Nadi Shastra, the outcome of which is derived by different permutations and combinations. This is unlike many Nadis who use Nadi Amsha (part of any sign) and go on detailing about person`s event and happening in life.

Reading in Nadi Shastra
A Nadi seeker"s thumbprint is firstly taken for selecting the suitable possibilities of leaves stack. After a rudimentary classification, search of the right leaf begins. The search is usually time taking, and may range from few minutes to few hours, few days and perhaps even years. In step two, certain questions are asked connected to the present situations in life. After these steps, a leaf is reached, where all the answers are correctly predicted. This is defined as general reading in Nadi Shastra, where a person"s past and future is read broadly. Nadi readings are classified as "khandams" or chapters. A reader then can go in further details based on the twelve houses of the horoscope.

Thus, in Nadi Shastra a person learns about his life patterns by going through palm leaves that provide actual facts of his life on the exact time it was meant to be told.