Number of Petals in Each Chakra: A Simple Guide From Root to Crown

The number of petals in each chakra, in the traditional count, is four at the root, six at the sacral, ten at the solar plexus, twelve at the heart, sixteen at the throat, two at the third eye and one thousand at the crown. Each chakra is pictured as a lotus, and its petals help identify it.

This is one of the questions I am asked most often, by readers in Dubai and by people who study with me online from Singapore, usually just after they have seen a chakra chart and wondered why the numbers jump about so much.

The number of petals in each chakra at a glance

Here are the seven chakras in their traditional order, from the base of the spine to the top of the head.

Chakra	Sanskrit name	Petals
Root	Muladhara	4
Sacral	Svadhisthana	6
Solar plexus	Manipura	10
Heart	Anahata	12
Throat	Vishuddha	16
Third eye	Ajna	2
Crown	Sahasrara	1,000

These are the counts given in the classical yogic descriptions, and they are the ones I use in my own teaching and writing. Notice the shape of the sequence: the numbers climb steadily for five chakras, drop suddenly to two, and then open into a thousand.

Why the chakras are pictured as lotus flowers

In the yogic tradition, the chakras are not drawn as organs or as points on a diagram of the body. They are drawn as lotuses, a flower that in South Asian art stands for something unfolding in its own time. I teach them as a map for attention: seven places to pause and ask how one part of life is going.

The petals make that map precise. A chakra with four petals offers four things to reflect on; one with twelve offers twelve. In the old descriptions, each petal also carries a letter of the Sanskrit alphabet, which is regarded as a sound to be recited. So the petal count is not decoration. It tells you how much detail the tradition placed at each centre.

From root to heart: four, six, ten and twelve

The lower four chakras rise in an orderly way, and most people find them the easiest to remember.

• Root (Muladhara), 4 petals. Placed at the base of the spine and often pictured in red. Its theme is ground: stability, belonging and the basics of daily life. Four is the number of a square, of four corners and four directions, which suits a chakra about standing firmly.
• Sacral (Svadhisthana), 6 petals. Placed just below the navel, usually shown in orange. Its theme is flow: enjoyment, creativity and ease.
• Solar plexus (Manipura), 10 petals. Placed above the navel, shown in yellow. Its theme is direction: will, choice and the ability to say yes and no.
• Heart (Anahata), 12 petals. Placed at the centre of the chest, shown in green. Its theme is connection, towards other people and towards yourself.

The heart sits at the midpoint, with three chakras below it and three above. I think of its twelve petals as the hinge of the whole system.

From throat to crown: sixteen, two and a thousand

• Throat (Vishuddha), 16 petals. Placed at the throat, shown in blue. Its theme is expression: speaking honestly and listening properly. Traditionally its sixteen petals carry the sixteen Sanskrit vowels, a fitting detail for the centre linked with the voice.
• Third eye (Ajna), 2 petals. Placed between the eyebrows, shown in indigo. Its theme is perception: seeing a situation as it is. After sixteen, the count falls to two, and I read that as a narrowing of attention, from many things to a simple pair.
• Crown (Sahasrara), 1,000 petals. Placed at the top of the head, pictured in violet or white. Its theme is stillness and meaning. Its name means "thousand-petalled", and many teachers read the thousand as a way of saying "beyond counting".

What the numbers add up to

This is the part that delights people in my workshops. Add the petals of the first six chakras: four, six, ten, twelve, sixteen and two. The total is fifty.

Fifty is the traditional number of letters in the Sanskrit alphabet. In the classical picture, every letter has its place on one petal, so the six lotuses together hold the whole alphabet, from the first vowel to the last consonant. The crown then repeats those fifty letters twenty times over, which gives one thousand.

You do not need to read Sanskrit to appreciate this. It simply shows that the counts were not chosen at random. They belong to a single, carefully built design in which sound, image and attention are meant to work together.

Do all traditions agree on the petal counts?

On the seven main chakras, the counts above are remarkably consistent across the classical sources. Where you will see variety is in the details around them.

• Colours. The rainbow sequence on most modern charts is a later convention. Older descriptions give different colours for several chakras.
• The third eye. Some later writers describe it with ninety-six petals, a different way of counting its two halves. The classical figure is two.
• The crown. Some sources speak of a thousand, others simply of a lotus with countless petals.
• Extra centres. Certain schools describe additional, smaller chakras with their own petal counts. These sit alongside the seven and do not replace them.

If a chart you own differs from the table here, that does not make it wrong. It usually means it follows a different school. For a beginner, I suggest learning the classical seven first and exploring the variations later.

How to remember the counts and use them

A simple memory aid: the numbers rise in steps of two, four, two and four (4, 6, 10, 12, 16), then fall to 2, then open to 1,000.

Knowing the numbers is pleasant. Using them is better. Here are three ways I suggest to readers:

1. Count as you sit. Choose one chakra, rest your attention on its place in the body and picture its petals opening one at a time. Counting gives a wandering mind a gentle task.
2. Draw the lotus. Sketch a circle and add the right number of petals around it. It does not need to be beautiful. Drawing by hand fixes the image far better than looking at a screen.
3. Take one chakra a week. Keep a notebook, and each evening write a line about where that chakra's theme appeared in your day.

One plain note: this is a practice of reflection and study, rooted in tradition. It is not a substitute for advice from your doctor.

Going beyond the numbers

The count is only the doorway. Behind each number sits a set of individual petals, each with its own sound and its own quality to reflect on, and that is where the map becomes personal. Four petals at the root means four distinct things to notice about how grounded you feel; twelve at the heart means twelve shades of connection.

Dr S Pujah works with clients in person in Dubai and online across Singapore, Abu Dhabi and the GCC.

That petal-by-petal study is what I write about. If the numbers have made you curious, the next step is to explore my books on the seven chakras and their petals and begin with the chakra that interests you most. Read a little, sit a little, and let the petals open at their own pace.