Manglik dosh — also called Mangal dosh, or Kuja dosha in the south — is the placement of Mars in the first, second, fourth, seventh, eighth or twelfth house. It is checked almost universally before marriage in Indian practice, and it causes more unnecessary worry than any other single factor in the tradition.
Enter your birth details to see whether Mars falls in one of those houses from your ascendant, your Moon and your Venus, and which of the classical cancellations apply.
Mars occupies six of the twelve houses under the strict reading. On placement alone that puts a very large share of all charts in the category before a single cancellation is considered — which is the first thing worth knowing if someone has told you the condition is rare or ominous. The extensive cancellation rules in the classical texts exist precisely because the raw placement is so ordinary.
There is no single agreed definition, and the disagreements are substantive rather than pedantic:
This calculator shows the result from all three reference points separately, so you can see which reading produced the answer instead of receiving a bare yes or no.
The classical exemptions are numerous. Mars in its own sign or exalted is generally held to cancel the dosha, as is Mars aspected by or conjunct Jupiter. Both partners being Manglik is the best known cancellation of all. Mars in a friendly sign, or under benefic aspect, weakens it further. Any competent assessment checks these before reporting anything.
Stripped of the fear attached to it, the placement describes a strong, direct and impatient energy brought into domestic life. It can show up as friction over control, a short fuse in close quarters, or restlessness with routine — and equally as courage, drive, and a willingness to defend the people you love. The traditional caution about marriage is really a caution about two such temperaments colliding without either learning to give ground.
Mars sitting in the first, second, fourth, seventh, eighth or twelfth house. Traditions differ on the second house, and stricter readings check the same houses from the Moon and from Venus as well as from the ascendant, which is why one astrologer may call you Manglik and another may not.
Frequently. Classical texts list many exemptions: Mars in its own sign or exalted, Mars aspected by or conjunct Jupiter, both partners being Manglik, and for some traditions the dosha weakening after roughly the age of twenty-eight. Cancellation rules are extensive precisely because the raw placement is common.
Mars occupies six of twelve houses in the strict reading, so on placement alone something close to half of all charts qualify before any cancellation is applied. It is not a rare affliction, and treating it as one causes a great deal of avoidable distress.
Yes. The traditional preference is for both partners to share the condition, but cancellations, the strength of Mars in each chart and the wider seventh-house picture all matter more than the label. A reading that stops at yes-or-no has not actually read the chart.
They are the same thing. Manglik, Mangal dosha and Kuja dosha are regional names for the same placement of Mars, with Kuja being the southern term.