Hindu calendar

Hindu calendar is a collective name for most of the lunisidereal calendars and sidereal calendars used in India
since ancient times. It has undergone many changes in
the process of regionalization, and today there are several
regional Hindu calendars. It has also been standardized
as the Indian national calendar. Some of the more prominent regional Hindu calendars include the Nepali calendar, Assamese calendar, Bengali calendar, Malayalam
calendar, Tamil calendar, Telugu calendar and Kannada
calendar.[1][2] The common feature of all regional Hindu
calendars is that the names of the twelve months are the
same (because the names are based in Sanskrit) though
the spelling and pronunciation have come to vary slightly
from region to region over thousands of years. The month
which starts the year also varies from region to region.
The Buddhist calendar and the traditional lunisolar calendars of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and
Thailand are also based on an older version of the Hindu
calendar.
Most of the Hindu calendars are inherited from a system
rst enunciated in Vedga Jyotia of Lagadha, a late
BC adjunct to the Vedas, standardized in the Srya Siddhnta (3rd century) and subsequently reformed by astronomers such as ryabhaa (AD 499), Varhamihira
(6th century) and Bhskara II (12th century). Dierences
and regional variations abound in these computations, but
the following is a general overview of the Hindu lunisolar
calendar.

1 Day
In the Hindu calendar, the day starts with the sunrise. It
is allotted ve "properties" or "limbs", called agas. They
are:
1. the Tithi (one of 30 divisions of a synodic month)
active at sunrise
2. the Vsara (ancient nomeclature), vra (modern
nomeclature), like in ravi-vra, som-vra, etc. or
weekday
3. the Nakatra (one of 27 divisions of the celestial
ecliptic) in which the moon resides at sunrise
4. the Yoga (one of 27 divisions based on the ecliptic
longitude of the sun and moon) active at sunrise time
A page from the Hindu calendar 1871-72.

5. the Karaa (divisions based on tithis) active at sunrise.

1

1 DAY

Together 5 limbs or properties are labelled under as the of that object. The longitude of the sun and the longitude
pacgas (Sanskrit: paca = ve). An explanation of of the moon are added, and normalized to a value rangthe terms follows.
ing between 0 to 360 (if greater than 360, one subtracts
360). This sum is divided into 27 parts. Each part will
now equal 800' (where ' is the symbol of the arcminute
1.1 Vsara
which means 1/60 of a degree). These parts are called
the yogas. They are labeled:
Vsara refers to the weekdays and the names of the week
in many western cultures bear striking similarities with Again, minor variations may exist. The yoga that is active
during sunrise of a day is the prevailing yoga for the day.
the Vsara:
The term -vsara is often realized as vra or vaar in
Sanskrit-derived and inuenced languages. There are 1.4 Karaa
many variations of the names in the regional languages,
mostly using alternate names of the celestial bodies in- A karaa is half of a tithi. To be precise, a karaa is the
volved.
time required for the angular distance between the sun
and the moon to increase in steps of 6 starting from 0.
(Compare with the denition of a tithi.)

1.2

Nakatra

Since the tithis are 30 in number, and since 1 tithi = 2

karaas, therefore one would logically expect there to be
60 karaas. But there are only 11 such karaas which ll
up those slots to accommodate for those 30 tithis. There
are actually 4 xed (sthira) karaas and 7 repeating
(cara) karaas.

The ecliptic is divided into 27 Nakatras, which are variously called lunar houses or asterisms. These reect
the moons cycle against the xed stars, 27 days and 7
hours, the fractional part being compensated by an intercalary 28th nakatra titled Abhijit. Nakatras computation appears to have been well known at the time of the The 4 xed karaas are:
igveda (2nd1st millennium BC).

1. akuni ()
The ecliptic is divided into the nakatras eastwards starting from a reference point which is traditionally a point on
2. Catupda ()
the ecliptic directly opposite the star Spica called Citr in
Sanskrit. (Other slightly dierent denitions exist.) It is
3. Nga ()
called Medi - start of Aries"; this is when the equinox
4. Kistughna()
where the ecliptic meets the equator was in Aries
(today it is in Pisces, 28 degrees before Aries starts).
The dierence between Medi and the present equinox The 7 repeating karaas are:
is known as Ayana - denoting by how much of a
fraction of degrees & minutes the ecliptic has progressed
1. Vava or Bava ()
from its xed (sidereal) position. Given the 25,800 year
cycle for the precession of the equinoxes, the equinox was
2. Valava or Blava ()
directly opposite Spica in AD 285, around the date of the
3. Kaulava ()
Srya Siddhnta.[3][4]
The nakatras with their corresponding regions of sky
are given below, following Basham.[5] As always, there
are many versions with minor dierences. The names on
the right-hand column give roughly the correspondence of
the nakatras to modern names of stars. Note that nakatras are (in this context) not just single stars but are segments on the ecliptic characterised by one or more stars.
Hence more than one star is mentioned for each nakatra.

4. Taitila or Taitula ()

1.3

Next, the 7-repeating karaas repeat eight times to

cover the next 56 half-tithis. Thus these are the repeating (cara) karaas.

Yoga

The Sanskrit word Yoga means union, but in astronomical calculations it is used in the sense of alignment.
First one computes the angular distance along the ecliptic
of each object, taking the ecliptic to start at Mea or Aries
(Medi, as dened above): this is called the longitude

5. Gara or Garaja ()
6. Vaija ()
7. Vii (Bhadra) ()
Now the rst half of the 1st tithi (of ukla Paka) is
always Kitughna karaa. Hence this karaa' is
xed.

The 3 remaining half-tithis take the remaining

xed karaas in order. Thus these are also xed
(sthira).

2.2

Seasons

Thus one gets 60 karaas from those 11 preset

karaas.
The Vedic day begins at sunrise. The karaa at sunrise
of a particular day shall be the prevailing karaa for the
whole day.

3
8. Krtika [(Tul-Vcika),(Libra-Scorpio)]
9. Agrahyaa
or,
Mrgara
Dhanur),(Scorpio-Sagitarius)]

[(Vcika-

10. Paua [(Dhanur-Makara),(Sagitarius-Capricorn)]

11. Mgha [(Makara-Kumbha),(Capricorn-Aquarius)]

Months of the lunisolar calendar

12. Phlguna [(Kumbha-Mna),(Aquarius-Pisces)]

Determining, which name a lunar month takes is somewhat indirect. It is based on the rshi (Zodiac sign) into
which the sun transits within a lunar month, i.e. before
the new moon ending the month.
There are 12 ri names, there are twelve lunar month
names. When the sun transits into the Mea ri in a lunar
month, then the name of the lunar month is Chaitra which
has both Mna ri and Mea ri . When the sun transits
into Vabha ri, then the lunar month is Vaikha which
has both Mea ri and Vabha ri. So on.

The astronomical basis of the Hindu lunar day. Also illustrates

Kshaya Tithi (Vaishaka-Krishna-Chaturdashi (i.e. 14th)) and
Adhika Tithi (Jyeshta- Shukla-Dashami(i.e. 10th))

When a new moon occurs before sunrise on a day, that

day is said to be the rst day of the lunar month. So it is
evident that the end of the lunar month will coincide with
a new moon. A lunar month has 29 or 30 days (according
to the movement of the moon).

2.2 Seasons
If the transits of the Sun through various constellations
of the zodiac (Ri) are used, then we get Solar months,
which do not shift with reference to the Gregorian calendar. The Solar months along with the corresponding
Hindu seasons and Gregorian months are:

The Sanskrit grammatical derivation of the lunar month

names Chaitra etc., is: the (lunar) month which has its
central full moon occurring at or near the Citr nakatra is called Chaitra. Another example is lets say when
Prim occurs in or near Vikha nakatra, this in turn
to the initiation of the lunar month titled Vaikha
Sometimes two successive days have the same tithi. In results [6]
Msa.
such a case, the latter is called an adhika tithi where adhika means extra. Sometimes, one tithi may never touch Similarly, for the nakatras Vikha, Jyeh, (Prva)
a sunrise, and hence no day will be labeled by that tithi. h, ravaa, Bhdrapad, Avin (old name
It is then said to be a Tithi Kaya where Kaya means Avayuj), Kttik, Mgairas, Puya, Megh and
"loss".
(Prva/Uttara) Phalgu the names Vaikha etc. at
prim, the other Lunar names are derived subsequently.
The tithi at sunrise of a day is the only label of the day.
There is no running day number from the rst day to the
last day of the month. This has some unique results, as
explained below:

2.1

Month names

There are 12 months in Hindu lunar Calendar:

1. Chaitra [(Mna-Mea),(Pisces-Aries)]
2. Vaikha [(Mea-Vabha),(Aries-Taurus)]
3. Jyeha [(Vabha-Mithuna),(Taurus-Gemini)]
4. ha [(Mithuna-Kadaga),(Gemini-Cancer)]
5. rvaa [(Kadaga-Siha),(Cancer-Leo)]
6. Bhdrapada or Bhdra also Prohapada [(SihaKany),(Leo-Virgo)]
7. vina [(Kany-Tul),(Virgo-Libra)]

The lunar months are split into two Pakas of 15 days.

The waxing paksha is called ukla Paka, light half, and
the waning paksha the Ka Paka, dark half. There are
two dierent systems for making the lunar calendar:
Amvsyanta or mukhya mana system a month begins with a new moon and ends at new moon, mostly
followed in the southern states
Primnta or gauna mana system a month begins
with a full moon and ends at full moon, followed
more in the North.
p.s. Primnta is also known as uklnta Msa. And
this system is recommended by Varhamihira.

4
2.2.1

3
Extra months (Adhika Msa)

YEAR OF THE LUNISOLAR CALENDAR

occurrence of Kaya-Msas are 19 and 141 years. The

last was in 1983. January 15 through February 12 were
Paua-Mgha kaya-msa. February 13 onwards was
(Adhika) Phlguna.
Special Case:
If there is no solar transit in one lunar month but there are
two transits in the next lunar month,
the rst month will be labelled by the rst transit of
the second month and take the epithet Adhika and

The astronomical basis of the Hindu lunar months. Also illustrates Adhika Masa (Year 2-Bhadrapada) repeats twice; the rst
time the Sun moves entirely within Simha Rashi thus rendering it
an Ashika Masa

the next month will be labelled by both its transits as

is usual for a Kaya-Msa

This is a very very rare occurrence. The last was in 1315.

October 8 to November 5 were Krtika Adhika-Msa.
When the sun does not at all transit into any ri but sim- November 6 to December 5 were Krtika-Mrgara
ply keeps moving within a ri in a lunar month (i.e. be- Kaya-Msa. December 6 onwards was Paua.
fore a new moon), then that lunar month will be named
according to the rst upcoming transit. It will also take
2.3 Religious observances in case of extra
the epithet of adhika or extra. For example, if a lunar
and lost months
month elapsed without a solar transit and the next transit is into Mea, then this month without transit is labeled
Adhika Chaitra Msa. The next month will be labeled Among normal months, adhika months, and kshaya
according to its transit as usual and will get the epithet months, the earlier are considered better for relinija (original) or uddha (unmixed). In the animation gious purposes. That means, if a festival should fall
above, Year 2 illustrates this concept with Bhadrapada re- on the 10th tithi of the shvayuja month (this is called
peating twice; the rst time the Sun stays entirely within Vijayadasham) and there are two vayuja (vina)'
months caused by the existence of an adhika vayuja,
Simha rashi thus resulting in an Adhika Bhakradapada.
the rst adhika month will not see the festival, and the
Extra Month, or adhika msa (msa = lunar month in this festival will be observed only in the second nija month.
context) falls every 32.5 months. It is also known as pu- However, if the second month is shvayuja kshaya then
ruottama msa, so as to give it a devotional name. Thus the festival will be observed in the rst adhika month
12 Hindu mas (msa) is equal to approximate 356 days, itself.
while solar year have 365 or 366 (in leap year) which create dierence of 9 to 10 days, which is oset every 3rd When two months are rolled into one in the case of a
kshaya msa, the festivals of both months will also be
year. No adhika msa falls during Krtika to Mgh.
rolled into this Kaya Msa'. For example, the fesA month long fair is celebrated in Machhegaun during ad- tival of Mahshivartri which is to be observed on
hika msa. It is general belief that one can wash away all the fourteenth tithi of the Mgha Ka-Paka was,
ones sins by taking a bath in the Machhenarayan's pond. in 1983, observed on the corresponding tithi of PauaMgha Kaya Ka-Paka, since in that year, Paua
and Mgha were rolled into one, as mentioned above.
2.2.2 Lost months (Kaya Msa)
When two months are rolled into one in the case of a
Kaya Msa, the festivals of both months will also be
If the sun transits into two rshis within a lunar month,
rolled into this kaya msa.
then the month will have to be labeled by both transits and
will take the epithet kaya or loss. There is considered
to be a loss because in this case, there is only one month 2.4 Vaiava calendar
labeled by both transits. If the sun had transited into only
one raashi in a lunar month as is usual, there would have Main article: Gaurabda
been two separate months labeled by the two transits in
question.
For example, if the sun transits into Mea and Vabha
in a lunar month, then it will be called Chaitra-Vaikha 3 Year of the lunisolar calendar
kaya-msa. There will be no separate months labeled
Chaitra and Vaikha.
The new year day is the rst day of the shukla paksha of
A Kaya-Msa occurs very rarely. Known gaps between Chaitra. In the case of adhika or kshaya months relat-

5
ing to Chaitra, the aforementioned religious rules apply
giving rise to the following results:
If an adhika Chaitra is followed by a nija Chaitra,
the new year starts with the nija Chaitra.
If an adhika Chaitra is followed by a ChaitraVaishkha kshaya, the new year starts with the adhika Chaitra.
If a Chaitra-Vaikha Kaya occurs with no adhika Chaitra before it, then it starts the new year.

will start with the rst sunrise after the new moon,
and end with the new moon.
The adhika month will therefore get sandwiched
between the 2 pakas of the nija months. For example, a rvaa Adhika Msa will be inserted as
follows:
1. nija rvaa Ka-Paka
2. adhika rvaa ukla-Paka
3. adhika rvaa Ka-Paka and

If a Chaitra-Phlguna Kaya' occurs, it starts the

new year.

4. nija Shrvana ukla-Paka

after which Bhdrapada Ka-Paka will
follow subsequently as usual.

Another kind of lunisolar calendar

If there is an adhika Chaitra, then it will follow the

(nija) Chaitra Kra-Paka at the end of the year.
Only with the nija Chaitra ukla-Paka will the new
year start. The only exception is when it is followed
by a kaya, and that will be mentioned later.

There is another kind of lunisolar calendar which differs from the former in the way the months are named.
When a full moon (instead of new moon) occurs before sunrise on a day, that day is said to be the rst day
of the lunar month. In this case, the end of the lunar
month will coincide with a full moon. This is called the
primnta mna - full-moon-ending reckoning, as
against the amnta mna - new-moon-ending reckoning used before.
This denition leads to a lot of complications:
The rst paka of the month will fall on KaPaka whilst the second will be ukla-Paka in
Primnta system.
The new year is still on the rst day of the Chaitra
ukla-Paka. The subsequent Pakas will, for example, be:
Note:

The kaya month is more complicated. If in the

amnta system there is a Paua-Mgha Kaya
Msa, then in the prnimnta system there will be
the following pakas:
1. Paua Ka-Paka
2. Paua-Maagha kshaya ukla-Paka
3. Mgha-Phlguna Kaya Ka-Paka and a
4. Phlguna ukla-Paka.
The special Kaya case where an adhika msa precedes a kshaya msa gets even more convoluted.
First, we should remember that the vina uklaPaka is the same in both the systems. After this
come the following Pakas:
1. nija Krtika Ka-Paka
2. adhika Krtika ukla-Paka
3. adhika Krtika Ka-Paka
4. Krtika-Mgara Kaya ukla-Paka

1. Phlguna Msa is the last Lunar month, with the

last paka of the year in this primnta system
being Phlguna ukla-Paka.
The ukla Paka of a given month, say Chaitra,
comprises the same actual days in both systems, as
can be deduces from a careful analysis of the rules.
However, the Chaitra Ka-Pakas dened by the 2
systems will be on dierent days, since the Chaitra
Ka-Paka precedes the Chaitra ukla-Paka in
the prnimnta system but follows it in the amnta
system.
Though the regular months are dened by the full
moon, the adhika and kaya lunar months are still
dened by the new moon. That is, even if the prnimnta system is followed, adhika or kaya months

5. Mgarsa-Paua Kaya Ka-Paka

6. Paua ukla-Paka
followed by the Mgha Ka-Paka etc., as
usual.
The considerations for the new year are:
1. If there is a Chaitra-Vaikha Kaya uklaPaka:
(a) if an adhika Chaitra' precedes it, then
the adhika Chaitra ukla-Paka starts the
new year
(b) if not, the Kaya ukla-Paka starts the
new year
2. If there is a Phlguna-Chaitra Kaya uklaPaka then it starts the new year

However, none of these above complications cause a

change in the day of religious observances. Since only the
name of the Ka-Pakas of the months will change in
the two systems, festivals which fall on the Ka-Paka
will be dened by the appropriate changed name. That
is, the Mahivartri, dened in the amnta mna to be
observed on the fourteenth of the Mgha krishna paksha will now (in the prnimnta mna) be dened by the
Phlguna krishna paksha.

HISTORY

solar calendar year, so the exact year will not begin on the
same day every year.

7 Year names
Apart from the numbering system outlined above, there
is also a cycle of 60 calendar year names, called
Samvatsaras, which started at the rst year (at elapsed
years zero) and runs continuously:

This system contains the concept of leap year also.Every

4th year will have 366 days and the others only 365.The
starting point is Meshadi or Mesha Sankranti, ( 1st of the
month Mea or the Hindu solar new year).It is also calculated a day by day mode.beginning from 1 presently it
A lunisolar calendar is always a calendar based on the
runs 1864000+.... days.This means these much days have
moons celestial motion, which in a way keeps itself close
passed in the present Kaliyuga (1/10 of Catur-Yuga's toto a solar calendar based on the suns (apparent) celestial
tal)
motion. That is, the lunisolar calendars new year is to
kept always close (within certain limits) to a solar calendars new year.

Correspondence of the lunisolar

calendar to the solar calendar

8 Eras

Since the Hindu lunar month names are based on solar

transits, and the month of Chaitra will, as dened above,
always be close to the solar month of Mea (Aries), the Hinduism follows Hindu units of time containing four
Hindu lunisolar calendar will always keep in track with eras (or yuga, meaning age). The four yugas are:
the Hindu solar calendar.
1. Kta Yuga or Satya Yuga
The Hindu solar calendar by contrast starts on April 14
2. Treta Yuga
15 each year. This signies the suns entry into Mesha rashi and is celebrated as the New Year in Assam,
3. Dwapar Yuga
Bengal, Odisha, Manipur, Kerala, Punjab, Tamil Nadu
and Tripura. The rst month of the year is called Chit4. Kali Yuga
terai ()" in Tamil, Medam in Malayalam and
Bohag in Assamese, Baisakh in Bengali/Punjabi and They are often translated into English as the Golden, SilNepali. This solar new year is celebrated on the same ver, Bronze and Iron Ages, respectively. The ages follow
day in Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, Nepal and Thailand. a gradual decline of dharma, wisdom, knowledge, intellectual capability, life span and emotional and physical
strength. The Kali Yuga began approximately ve thousand years ago, and it has a duration of 432,000 years
6 Year numbering
years long. The Dvpara, Tret, and Kta Yugas are two,
three, and four times the length of the Kali Yuga, respecThe epoch (starting point or rst day of the zeroth year)
tively. Thus, the ages together constitute a 1,200,000 year
of the current era of Hindu calendar (both solar and luperiodhalf the time required for the Sun to orbit the
nisolar) is February 18, 3102 BC in the proleptic Julian
Galactic Sun which resides at the centre of the universe.
calendar or January 23, 3102 BC in the proleptic Gregorian calendar. According to the Puras this was the mo- A thousand and a thousand (i.e. two thousand) Caturment when r Ka returned to his eternal abode.[7][8] Yugas are said to be one day and night of the creator
Both the solar and lunisolar calendars started on this date. Brahm. Brahm lives for 100 years of 360 days and at
After that, each year is labeled by the number of years the end, he is said to dissolve, along with his entire Creation, into the Eternal Soul or Paramtman.
elapsed since the epoch.
This is an unusual feature of the Hindu calendar. Most
systems use the current ordinal number of the year as the
year label. But just as a persons true age is measured by
the number of years that have elapsed starting from the
date of the persons birth, the Hindu calendar measures
the number of years elapsed. As of August 31, 2014,
5116 years have elapsed in the Hindu calendar. However,
the lunisolar calendar year usually starts earlier than the

9 History
The Hindu Calendar descends from the Vedic times.
There are many references to calendrics in the Vedas.
The (6) Vedgas (auto Veda) called Jyotia (literally, celestial body study) prescribed all the aspects

10.2

Samvat calendars

of the Hindu calendars. After the Vedic period, there

were many scholars such as ryabhaa (5th century),
Varhamihira (6th century) and Bhskara (12th century)
who were experts scholars in Jyotia and contributed to
the development of the Hindu Calendar.

(ukla Paka) and the 'dark half' (Ka Paka); these

correspond respectively to the periods of the 'waxing' and
the 'waning' of the moon. Thus, the period beginning
from the rst day after the new moon and ending on the
full moon day constitutes the ukla Paka, 'bright part'
The most widely used authoritative text for the Hindu of the month; the period beginning from the day after
Calendars is the "Srya Siddhnta", a text of uncertain Prim (the full moon) until and including the next new
moon day constitutes the Ka Paka, the'dark part' of
age, though some place it at 10th century.
the month.
The traditional Vedic calendar used to start with the
month of agrahayan (agra=rst + ayan = travel of the sun, The names of the 12 months, as also their sequence, are
equinox) or Mrgaa. This is the month where the Sun the same in both calendars; however, the new year is celcrosses the equator, i.e. the vernal equinox. This month ebrated at separate points during the year and the year
was called mrgashirsha after the fth nakshatra (around zero for the two calendars is dierent. In the Vikrama
lambda orionis). Due to the precession of the Earths calendar, the zero year corresponds to 56 BC, while in
axis, the vernal equinox is now in Pisces, and corresponds the Shalivahana calendar, it corresponds to AD 78. The
to the month of chaitra. This shift over the years is what Vikrama calendar begins with the month of Baikha or
has led to various calendar reforms in dierent regions Vaikha (April), or Kartak (October/November) in Guto assert dierent months as the start month for the year. jarat. The Shalivahana calendar begins with the month
Thus, some calendars (e.g. Vikram) start with Chaitra, of Chaitra (March) and the Ugadi/Gudi Padwa festivals
which is the present-day month of the vernal equinox, as mark the new year.
the rst month. Others may start with Vaikha (e.g. Another little-known dierence between the two calenBangabda). The shift in the vernal equinox by nearly four dars exists: while each month in the Shalivahana calenmonths from Agrahyaa to Chaitra in sidereal terms dar begins with the 'bright half' and is followed by the
seems to indicate that the original naming conventions 'dark half', the opposite obtains in the Vikrama calendar.
may date to the fourth or fth millennium BC, since the Thus, each month of the Shalivahana calendar ends with
period of precession in the Earths axis is about 25,800 the no-moon day and the new month begins on the day
after that, while the full-moon day brings each month of
years.
the Vikrama calendar to a close (This is an exception in
Gujarati Calendar, its month (and hence new year) starts
on a sunrise of the day after new moon, and ends on the
10 Regional variants
new moon, though it follows Vikram Samvat).
The Indian Calendar Reform Committee, appointed in
1952, identied more than thirty well-developed calendars, all variants of the Surya Siddhanta calendar outlined here, in systematic use across dierent parts of India. These include the widespread Vikrama and Shalivahana calendars and regional variations thereof. The
Tamil calendar, a solar calendar, is used in Tamil Nadu
and Kollavarsham Calendar is used in Kerala.

In Gujarat, Diwali is held on the nal day of the Vikram

Calendar and the next day marks the beginning of the
New Year and is also referred as Annakut or Nutan
Varsh or Bestu Varash. In the Hindu calendar popularly
used in North India the year begins with Chaitra Shukala
Pratipadha (March April).

10.1

Samvat is one of the several Hindu calendars in India:

Vikrama and Shalivahana calendars

The two calendars most widely used in India today are

the Vikrama calendar followed in Western and Northern
India and Nepal, and the Shalivahana or Saka calendar which is followed in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka,
Maharashtra and Goa.
In the year 56 BC, Vikrama Samvat era was founded by
the emperor Vikramaditya of Ujjain following his victory
over the Sakas. Later, in a similar fashion, Satavahana
king Gautamiputra Satakarni initiated the Saka era to celebrate his victory against the Sakas in the year AD 78.
Both the Vikrama and the Shalivahana are lunisolar calendars, and feature annual cycles of twelve lunar months,
each month divided into two phases: the 'bright half'

10.2 Samvat calendars

Vikram Samvat: lunar months, solar sidereal years

Shaka Samvat (traditional): lunar months, solar
sidereal years
Shaka Samvat (modern): solar tropical
Bangla Calendar: solar tropical years
Tamil Nadu/Kerala: solar tropical years such as
Tamil calendar
Nepali calendar with Bikram Sambat: solar tropical
years

15 CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN CALENDARS

Most holidays in India are based on the rst two calendars. A few are based on the solar cycle, Sankranti (solar
sidereal) and Baisakhi (solar tropical).

Shaka: add 78-79

Kalachuri: add 248-249
Gupta/Valabhi: add 319-320

10.3

Months and approximate correspondence

Indian months are listed below, numbered according to

the Shaka calendar. Shaka and Chaitradi Vikram (UP,
Rajasthan, Maharashtra etc.) start with Chaitra; Kartikadi Vikram (Gujarat) start in Kartika.
Nakshatras are divisions of ecliptic, each 13 20', starting
from 0 Aries. The purnima of each month is synchronized with a nakshatra.

11

Time cycles in India

The time cycles in India are:

60-year cycle
Year
6 seasons of a year
about 60 days (2 months) in a season

Bangla: add 593-594

Vira Nirvana Samvat: subtract 527-526
Yudhishthira Samvat: subtract 3101 (Ascension of
Lord Krishna at age 125)
Sri Krishna Samvat: subtract 3226 (Birth of Lord
Sri Krishna)
Balabhi Samvat: add 320

13 Variations
In Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, and many northern region of India months are Purnimanta (means
month ends on Purnima or Full Moon). In Gujarat, Maharashtra, and other parts of many south
Indian region, months are Amanta (months end on
Amavasya).
In inscriptions, the years may be gata (past) or current.

Month (lunar)
2 pakshas in a month, shukla (waxing) and krishna
(waning)

14 National calendars in South and

South East Asia

15 tithis in a paksha (1-14, 15th is purnima or

amavasya)
A variant of the Shalivahana Calendar was reformed and
standardized as the Indian National calendar in 1957.
60 ghatikas (or 30 muhurtas or 8 praharas) in a 24This ocial calendar follows the Shalivahan Shak calenhour period (ahoratra).
dar in beginning from the month of Chaitra and counting
years with AD 78 being year zero. It features a constant
30 Kala (approx) in 1 muhurta
number of days in every month (with leap years).
30 Kastha in 1 kala
The Bengali Calendar, or Bengali calendar (introduced
1584), is widely used in eastern India in the state of West
15 Nimisha in 1 kastha
Bengal, Tripura and Assam. A reformation of this calYears are synchronized with the solar sidereal year by endar was introduced in present-day Bangladesh in 1966,
adding a month every three years. The extra month is with constant days in each month and a leap year system;
termed as Adhik Mass (extra month). This extra month this serves as the national calendar for Bangladesh. Nepal
follows the Bikram Sambat. Parallel months and roughly
is called Mala Masa (impure month) in Eastern India.
the same periods apply to the Buddhist calendars used in
Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

12

Date conversion

Converting a date from an Indian calendar to the common

era can require a complex computation. To obtain the
approximate year AD:

15 Correspondence between calendars

As an indicator of this variation, Whitakers Almanac re Chaitradi Vikram (past) : Chaitra-Pausha: subtract ports that the Gregorian year AD 2000 corresponds, re57; Pausha-Phalguna: subtract 56.
spectively with:

9
1. Year 5102 in the Kaliyuga calendar; (3102 BC)
2. Year 2544 in the Buddha Nirvana calendar; (544
BC)

[5] Basham, A.L. (1954). The Wonder that was India.

Macmillan (Rupa and Co, Calcutta, reprint),., Appendix
II: Astronomy
[6] Hindu Lunar Month Names

3. Year 2543 in the Buddhist Era (BE) of the Thai solar

calendar (543 BC)

[7] Bhgavata Pura 12.2.29-33

4. Year 2057 in the Bikram Samvat calendar; (57 BC)

[8] Yano, Michio, Calendar, astrology and astronomy in

Flood, Gavin (Ed) (2003). Blackwell companion to Hinduism. Blackwell Publishing. ISBN 0-631-21535-2.

5. Year 1922 in the Saka calendar; (AD 78)

6. Year 1921 (shown in terms of 5-yearly cycles) of the
Vedanga Jyotisa calendar; (AD 79)
7. Year 1407 in the Bengali calendar; (AD 593)
8. Year 1362 in the Burmese Calendar; (AD 638)
9. Year 1176 in the Malayalam calendar or Kolla Varsham calendar; (AD 824)
10. Year 514 in the Gaurabda Gaudiya calendar. (AD
1486)

16

See also

18 Further reading
Reingold and Dershowitz, Calendrical Calculations,
Millennium Edition, Cambridge University Press,
latest 2nd edition 3rd printing released November
2004. ISBN 0-521-77752-6
S. Balachandra Rao, Indian Astronomy: An Introduction, Universities Press, Hyderabad, 2000.
Rai Bahadur Pandit Gaurishankar Hirachand Ojha,
The Paleography of India, 2 ed., Ajmer, 1918,
reprinted Manshuram Manoharlal publishers, 1993.
Mughal, Muhammad Aurang Zeb.
(2012).
Temporal rhythm of change in Village Jhokwala,
Pakistan: Ethnographic insights from calendars.
Giovanni Bennardo (ed.), Cultural Models of Nature
and the Environment: Self, Space, and Causality
Workshop. ESE Working Paper No. 1. DeKalb, IL:
Institute for the Study of the Environment, Sustainability, and Energy, Northern Illinois University,
pp. 6165.

Hindu astrology
Hindu chronology
Hindu units of measurement
List of Hindu festivals
Panchangam
Panjika

19 External links

Ancient Vedic units of measurement

Perpetual Calendar of 800 Years

Hindu Chronology, Encyclopdia

Eleventh Edition (1911)

Pambu Panchangam

Britannica

The Astronomical Basis of the Hindu Lunisolar Calendar

17

References

Hindu Calendars in various Indian Languages

[1] Mughal, Muhammad Aurang Zeb. (2014). Time, Space

and Social Change in Rural Pakistan: An Ethnographic
Study of Jhokwala Village, Lodhran District. PhD thesis.
Durham University.

Nepali-Hindu Calendar Ocial Hindu Calendar of

Nepal

[2] Time Measurement and Calendar Construction.

Archive. Retrieved 2011-09-18.

Gujarati Hindu Calendar

Brill

[3] Chatterjee, S.K. (1998). Indian Calendric System. Publications Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India.
[4] Chia Daphne and Helmer Aslaksen (April 2001). Indian
Calendars: Comparing the Surya Siddhanta and the Astronomical Ephemeris (PDF). Retrieved 2004-04-04.

Hindu Calendar of Nepal

Nepali Hindu Calendar

Kyoto University Panchanga Converter Program

10

20

20
20.1

TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

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