As lunar mansions have such an ancient origin, the meanings of most of their names have become obscure.
Even worse, the name of each lunar mansion consists of only one Chinese word, the meaning of which could vary at different times in history.
The youngest book only mentions constellations, a concept known to all cultures, without specifying them as lunar mansions.
Jyestha is also the name of one of the 27 nakshatras or lunar mansions.
Probably, the celestial coordinates of the junction stars of the lunar mansions were determined by the armillary sphere since the seventh century or so.
The concept of the lunar mansions are considered to be Babylonian in origin.
This name was shared by the 16th lunar mansion, the location of the full moon closest to the autumnal equinox.
The lunar mansion represented the area where animals were gathered before sacrifice around that time.
Thus each zodiac day, called nekkhat, represents a lunar mansion, or a segment of the ecliptic along which the moon revolves around the earth.
Three of the Chinese lunar mansions shared their name with constellations.
