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Our Prithvi is round. And a round shaped figure has 360 degree. Our whole system is divided into 12 Raashi (Signs), when they are written on a paper they are called Houses. Thus each Raashi is assigned a House, and this Raashi or House is 30 degrees wide. There are several systems to draw the diagram of this - North Indian, South Indian, Western etc.

North Indian Style Chart
The chart diagram according to North Indian system is shown here. The Houses are counted anti-clockwise. The 1st House is always the Lagna (Ascendant) House and then 2nd, 3rd etc numbers are assigned to consecutive Houses anti-clockwise till the end - 12th House. This 1st House is that Sign House in which the native is born. It does not matter whether there is any planet there or not at that time in that Sign, but that that Sign occupies the 1st House. The number of the Sign, such as 2 for Vrishabh, or 3 for Gemini is written in the 1st House, and other Signs follow it. If there is any planet in that Sign, that planet occupies that House, otherwise we proceed to another Sign and check if there is any planet in that Sign or not at that time. If one is there, we write it there, otherwise we proceed for the 3rd House.

The same process is repeated for all the Houses and thus the whole chart is filled with the Sign numbers all the planets' names therein are written in their respective Signs according to their placement in the Sign. Sometimes some Signs are empty and some Signs occupy, not only 1, but even 2, or 3 or even 4 planets in a Sign or the House. It should be noted that the House No 1 is the same always - the uppermost diamond House, and then the 2nd House is towards your left - a Tri-Kon House, anti-clock wise. The whole astrology is filled in these 12 Houses. That is why it is very necessary to know about these Houses.

The uppermost diamond is House No 1. Then if you go towards left (anticlockwise), the second space - Tri-kon (triangle) in House No 2, and thus the numbers go on till they reach 12.

Houses No 1, 4, 7, 10   are called  Kendra Houses
Houses No 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9. 11, 12   are called  Trikon (Tri-angle) Houses
When the houses are 6 Houses apart, means the 7th House, is called Opposite House or Opposition.
Mool Trikon is not a House but a specific space in a House where a Planet gives his maximum effect in a native's life

Aapoklim - 3, 6, 9, 12
Kendra Houses = 1, 4, 7, 10
Trikon (Triangle) Houses = 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, 12
Panaphar Houses = 2, 5, 8, 11
Upachaya = 10,
Dusthaan = 12

South Indian System of Drawing Chart
standard chart style for any books articles to make it easy for one and all. the popular ones being the circular one - anticlockwise in the North and West the diamond chart style as in North, some start with Lagna anywhere in the chart rest follow a order but no sign is fixed as such some have used to show the top diamond as Mesh etc.

The South Indian chart is in the rectangular form and follows a clockwise direction. It was initiated by B Suryanarayana Rao and has been consistent in the South since then. South Indian chart format is adapted from Jaimini Sootra. Jaimini was a disciple of Sage Paraashar who founded an opposite system to Paraashar. It was convenient to show Raashi to Raashi aspect in the square format. As there is no reference available to the chart format as such, it is mere placement in stars, signs that were available to us through the classical works. In many ways the South Indian chart is very easy and convenient to read, as it has a fixed order of Mesh to Meen and is clockwise. The Kendra, knows, aspects etc with respect to Lagna is very easy once the Lagna is placed in the sign it is allotted rather than start the chart with a Lagna mark in a chart and rest is assumed to follow the order as it is in the North Indian chart (Persian). Some did use the South Indian kind of fixed order in North Indian formats too, but it is rare.

The following is the South Indian type of chart. In this type of chart the House numbers are fixed, the Signs and Planets are changed according to their positions at the time of the birth of the native. The Houses are counted clockwise --

There are different ways to draw a chart, shown in Raajasthaan, Western UP, Eastern India, with a different format. They are also anticlockwise and have 2 perpendicular columns and cut diagonally into 4 other parts in 45 deg spaces to show the 12 Houses but the order is fixed as top mid portion is Mesh Raashi so once you place the Lagna in any one of the assigned location rest appear in natural order.

Why is the Difference Between North Indian and South Indian Charts
In fact when we stand North from the ecliptic (Raashi Chakra), the order of signs appears to go counterclockwise - Aquarius, Capricorn, Sagittarius etc in that order from left to right. Just as they are depicted in the North Indian style of chart - view the diamond chart. But when we stand south of the ecliptic, the order of the Raashi distribution appears clockwise, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, from left to right, just as arranged in the Southern view square chart.

Western Style of Drawing Chart
This chart is drawn in a circle on the style of the Zodiac circle.

After Drawing the Chart
After drawing the chart,
first we write the number of Houses - as they are fixed
then we write the Ascendant - the rising Sign at the time of the birth of the Native,
then we write other Signs appearing in order
and in the last we fill the planets in each Sign as they are at the time of birth.

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