Moonwise

Hindu Lunar Calendar
Vikram Year 2061, Saka Year 1926
March 2004 - April 2005
Hindu, Jain and Theravada Buddhist Festivals

The calendar is not used for secular purposes, but it determines most of the festivals of Hinduism, Theravada Buddhism and Jainism (Sikhs are in the process of moving over to a solar calendar). Some of the festivals happen according to the position of the Sun, such as the Buddhist New Year, and I note these too. More Buddhist festivals are on the Tibetan, Chinese and Japanese pages.

There are many different versions of the Hindu Lunar Calendar, but they are all related. On this page are the two main variations: the one where months end at Dark Moon (amanta), and the one where months end at Full Moon (purnimanta). The months are split into two halves: bright / sukla, ending at Full Moon, and dark / krishna, ending at Dark Moon. The Full Moon calendar is based on the Dark Moon one; during the dark half, the month name is that of the following month.

The name of the month is determined by the position of the Sun at the moment of Dark Moon before the beginning of the month: there is a correspondence between month names and the signs of the Hindu sidereal zodiac. Every two or three years the Sun is in the same sign for two Dark Moons, and then the month name is repeated. Very occasionally, a sunsign doesn't have a Dark Moon in it, and then the month is omitted.

As is usual with lunar calendars, the months have 29 or 30 days, but days may be missed out or duplicated. The way this happens is that each month, from the moment of one Dark Moon to the next, is divided into 30 equal lunar days (tithis), numbered 1 to 15 in the bright half, and 1 to 14, then 30 in the dark half. The date is then the number of the lunar day current at the moment of sunrise. Sunrise is taken to be sunrise at Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh, adjusted for the longitude difference from the Indian Standard Time meridian. On this page, asterisks highlight duplicated days, and the days following omitted days.

The full moon tithi is purnima, and the dark moon tithi is amavasya. The first day after full or dark moon is pratipada, and the rest are numbered dvitiya, tritiya, etc. The second day of the dark half of Chaitra is then Chaitra krishna dvitiya, or Chaitra K2.

The solar days are each split into 30 muhurtas, with 15 equal muhurtas from sunrise to sunset, and 15 more from sunset to sunrise. Many festivals are associated with a particular muhurta or group of muhurtas, and the festivals are celebrated on the day on which the required tithi falls in this muhurta or group of muhurtas. Sometimes this is possible for two days running, and so it is specified whether the festival comes on the first or second day in these circumstances. Adjusted Ujjain sunrises and sunsets are used.

Other factors that can have bearing on festival dates are days of the week, days and times of rasí (sidereal sunsign) entry, nakshatras (the moon in one of 27 equal sections of the zodiac sometimes called lunar mansions or lunar stations), eclipses, karanas (based on half tithis) and yogas (measurements which add the solar and lunar longitude in the sidereal zodiac, and divide the circle into 27). The births of Gandhi and Ramakrishna are celebrated according to Gregorian dates. In the half month tables which follow, the various attributes of each day are shown for sunrise.

Festivals may be celebrated in particular areas or by particular communities at dates varying slightly from the dates given here. The variation will usually be only a day or so, but sometimes communities will have the double month fall earlier or later than usual, meaning that the same festival may one year be celebrated a month apart in different areas.