Nava Grahas and Planets

Image Credit: http://dvtmangalore.org/parivar.htm

Every time we visited a temple and there was a Nava Graha temple, I recited the following sloka, and also taught it religiously to my Daughter. Even now, when we visit a temple which has Nava Grahas, I keep asking her “Sneha, do you remember the Nava Graha Stotra”. And as all daughters do, she rolls her eyes and recites the mantra.

Namah Sooryaya Chandraya Mangalaya Budhaya Cha
Guru Shukra Shanibhyascha Raahave Ketave Namaha
What it means is – My Salutations to Soorya (Sun), Chandra (Moon), Mangala (Mars) and Budha
(Mercury). I also salute Guru (Jupiter), Shukra (Venus), Shani (Saturn) as well as Rahu and Ketu.

However, I never ever thought that there was any difference between the Nava Grahas and the Planets. I thought they were one and the same until I read this article.

As I was browsing through the web, I found a very interesting article which explains the difference between Nava Grahas and the Planets. When you look at the Nava Graha Stotra, Rahu and Ketu don’t belong to any planet. And this article clearly explains that they are actually classified as Chaya Graha(meaning shadow grahas, not the real ones).

• Take a few minutes to read the article. It will clear all the doubts we have about Nava Grahas. Again, all credit goes to the author of the blog, I am just posting a link.
  Grahas are not Planets – Nava Graha is not the same as Nine Planets