Grahas & Rashis

Graha (from Sanskrit ???? gráha—seizing, laying hold of, holding[1]) is a ‘cosmic influencer’ on the living beings of mother Bhumidevi (earth). In Hindu Astrology, the Navagraha (Sanskrit: ??????,, nine seizers or nine influencers) are some of these major influencers.
The term Graha has sometimes been mistranslated as “planet”, as five of the Navagraha (the “nine grahas”) happen to be planets: Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, and Saturn.[2] The sun, moon, Rahu (north or ascending lunar node) and Ketu (south or descending lunar node) are not “planets”, however, and each of these nine entities are conceived only as chief celestial entities, constituting the Navagraha.[2] A fact common to all the navagraha is that they have relative movement with respect to the background of fixed stars in the zodiac.
“Graha” is sometimes also translated as “celestial body”, but Rahu and Ketu are not celestial bodies, but only positions in the lunar path.[2] A third translation is celestial god or demi-god, but again, Rahu and Ketu are demonic Asuras, not benign deities like Devas.[2] Accordingly to some, Grahas are the “markers of influence” that point out the karmic influence on the behavior of living beings. They themselves are not causative elements[3] but can be compared to traffic signs.

(Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

Each of the graha has associations with various characters, such as colors, metals, etc. The following table gives the most important associations:

Graha Surya Dev (sun) Chandra (Moon) Mangala (Mars) Budha (Mercury)
Consort Suvarna & Chaaya Rohini Shaktidevi Ila
Color Copper White Red Green
Gender Associated Male Male Male Neutral
Element Fire Water Fire Earth
God Agni Varuna Subramanya Vishnu
Pratyadi Devataa rudra gowri Murugan Vishnu
Metal Gold/Brass Silver Brass Brass
Gemstone Ruby Pearl/Moonstone Red Coral Emerald
Body Part Bone Blood Marrow Skin
Taste Pungent Salt Acid Mixed
Food Wheat Rice Pigeon pea Mung bean
Season Summer Winter Summer Autumn
Direction East North West South North
Day Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday
Graha Guru (Jupiter) Shukra (Venus) Shani (Saturn) Rahu (north node) Ketu (south node) Consort Tara Sukirthi & Urjaswathi Neeladevi Simhi Chitralekha Color Gold White/Yellow Black/Blue Smoky Smoky Gender Associated Male Female Neutral - - Element Ether Water Air Air Earth God Indra Indrani Brahma Nirriti Ganesha Pratyadi Devataa brahma indra yama mrutyu chitragupta Metal Gold Silver Iron Lead Lead Gemstone Yellow Sapphire Diamond Blue Sapphire Hessonite Cat’s Eye Body Part Brain Semen Muscles - - Taste Sweet Sour Astringent - - Food Chickpea kidney beans Sesame Urad (bean) Horse gram Season Winter Spring All Seasons - - Direction North East South East West South West - Day Thursday Friday Saturday - -