Lagna (ascendant) in an Indian astrological chart
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Lagna change for each chart. For Jathagam (birth charts), the Lagna is the sign which is rising at some degree on the eastern horizon at birth. For Prasna, the Lagna is determined by casting shells, counting leaves on a vine picked by a client and given to the astrologer, using the y/m/d/h/, or by using a special technique to select a number. There are many other ways to determine Lagna for Prasna as well. Lagna is always considered the first house, and the starting point on any chart. Clockwise from Lagna are houses 2-12. Indian astrology reads a chart based on houses, cusps (beginning of each house), Nakshatras (27 lunar mansions which divide 12 signs), Navamsa (1/9th portions of each sign), and many other areas. Lagna represents one thing in all charts; The person the chart is for. It represents the self in a birth chart. In a Prasna Kundli for divination, it represents the person for whom the Prasna is being performed. Although there are alternative ways to switch Lagna when reading to see different things in a chart, the Lagna, which is usually marked by two small lines always represents the person concerned. When the Lagna is void of planets, we look at the position of the Lagna Raj (planet that owns the sign where the Lagna is on the chart), and all the connections it has to the rest of a chart.
Lagna is the starting point of any Jathagam/Jatakam/Kundli/Prasna Kundali (astrological chart). For Indian astrology, the signs on a chart are fixed against, or aligned to Nakshatra, or constellations which are 27 in total, although not shown on a normal chart. Their positions, along with the zodiac do not move, because Indian astrology examines the movement of planets through those areas the same way they move in the sky above us. This method is unique to Indian astrology, although it is now widely known and used in other modern systems of astrology.