Your sage, from your birthday
A naming idea for Surya Namaskar.AI. Your vote is needed.
What Surya Namaskar.AI is
A phone app that watches a round of Surya Namaskar on video and scores each of the twelve poses from 0 to 100, against an expert's practice. It is used by individuals at home and by schools and yoga classes.
The idea
At Benne Dosa in JVPD, Mumbai, every order at the kiosk is given a playful South Indian nickname. It is a small thing, and people love it. We want that same small delight in our app: every new member is given the name of a renowned rishi, rishika or yogi, with the quality they are known for.
A member sees it once on the welcome screen ("Welcome, Vikas. Your sage is Vishvamitra: effort over birth") and then on their result cards. It is a name for fun, not a replacement for their own name.
Why the Sun's chariot
The Vishnu Purana (Book 2, Chapter 10) says that each month a different rishi rides in Surya's chariot, singing his praise. For an app about saluting the Sun, that gives each birth month its own sage. We call each month a house, led by its chariot rishi.
How a name is chosen
- Birth month picks the house: twelve houses, one per month.
- Birth day picks one of four names in that house: days 1–8, 9–16, 17–24 and 25–31.
- Each person chooses once whether they want a rishi or a rishika. Every house has four of each, so the lists are equal.
- We ask only the day and month, never the year. People born on the same day share a name, which is half the fun.
- That makes 96 names in all: 48 rishis and 48 rishikas.
What we left out on purpose
- Major gods such as Shiva, Vishnu and Devi. A god as a nickname could offend.
- Modern gurus and anyone later than the 1600s, out of respect for living lineages and their families.
What we are asking you
- Is any name wrong, unsuitable, or likely to upset someone? Is any story inaccurate?
- Do you know a better name for a slot, especially among the rishikas? Six names are marked ⚠ because their stories are thin.
- One question: does Chaitra start in March or in April?
- Try your own birthday below, just for fun.
- Answer the one question.
- Read the twelve houses. Mark only the names you have a view on: Keep, Unsure or Swap. A name you leave unmarked counts as no objection.
- Type your name, then either tap Send on WhatsApp, or tap Copy my vote and paste it into a reply to the email this came in.
Your choices are kept only in your own browser, so you can close the page and come back. Nothing is sent anywhere until you send it yourself.