To facilitate the study of astronomy, Zodiac has been divided into 12 equal parts. each part is called a sign or Rashi. There are twelve signs. A sign is called a Rashi in Sanskrit. The word Rashi literally means a heap, a cluster. As a sign in the zodiac was identified by the characteristic heap or cluster of the stars constituting it, it came to be known as a Rashi. This is a general term for a sign, but in Hindu astrology the sign in which the Moon is placed at the time of birth is commonly referred to as Rashi. When a brief question is put to a person, "what is your Rashi?" it means in which sign the Moon was at the time of your birth?