Mangal dosh is considered to be one of the worst placements in the horoscope. There are so many marriage arrangements/proposals that have broken down when either the groom or the bride was Manglik and their match was not. Many times the mangal dosh wasn’t even that bad, yet the marriage ceremony was called off! This is one of the topics of astrology that really needs as much discussion as possible!

Mangal Dosh: Results and Remedies in the Olden Days
In the earlier days, the only result that Mars could cause was the death of the partner. This was in consonance with the results that could happen according to the Desh Kaal Patra (culture/nation, time, individual) dominant at that time. Wars and epidemics were much more common. Mortality was very high. Hence, Mars could indeed cause the death of the partner. A potent remedy was marrying together two Mangliks. This was done on the logic that if one partner’s horoscope predicts any problems due to Mars, that cannot be untimely death, because then both horoscopes indicate the death of the partner. The horoscope of a person ceases to exist after their death. Hence, both horoscopes cease to exist, and not even one lives to see the result of mangal dosh, and this simply cannot happen. So, the result that two Manglik marrying each other got was the manifesting of some other result of Mars in their horoscope, and not the death of their partner. This was indeed a very practical way to remedy the mangal dosh deduced by our founding fathers of astrology.

Mangal Dosh: The Bare Basics and Technicalities
Mangal dosh is formed when Mars/Mangal is present in the 1st, 2nd, 4th, 7th, 8th, 12th house of the horoscope. Now, this is counted from the Ascendant/Lagna, Moon, and Venus. If Mangal dosh is present from only one of these, it is a weak mangal dosh. If it is present in all three charts, it is a strong mangal dosh. Also, if Mars is combust or debilitated in the birth chart, we will consider it a very weak mangal dosh. This is because Mars itself is very weak, and it does not have much power to do any significant damage in the chart.

Similarly, if it is an ascendant where Mars is friendly to the Lagna/ascendant lord, then also Mars’s potential to do damage is greatly reduced as Mars is playing a positive role in the horoscope. This is especially true if the person has crossed 28 years of age. Mars matures at 28 years and if Mars is promising any positive results in the horoscope, they will be delivered after the person crosses 28 years and the negative results of Mars greatly reduce.

Mangal Dosh: Modified Remedies for the Modern World
A mangal dosh Shanti puja is still recommended in the majority of the cases until the results such as break-in relationships/marriage have already manifested. Another remedy is to ask the couple to live separately for a while, and then reunite. We manifest the result of mangal dosh here by “artificially” creating the result. Yet another remedy is marriage, divorce, and re-marriage to create the result of a cut in the marriage, and manifest the result of the influence of Mars on the marriage. Thus, there is a way to take care of the mangal dosh in most cases.

Mangal Dosh: What still remains in Horoscope Matching
There are several other factors to be taken into account while recommending marriage for two people. Kundali/Horoscope of two people needs to be matched and this needs to be done in a way where the compatibility is checked by matching every single house of one horoscope with the other horoscope. Kundali matching goes far beyond mangal dosh and gun Milan/compatibility score.