Hindu Calendar Guide

The Hindu calendar is a lunisolar system that tracks time using both the moon's phases and the sun's movement — measuring not just dates, but the spiritual quality of time.

The Panchang is the Hindu almanac that records the five limbs of each day — Tithi, Vara, Nakshatra, Yoga and Karana — to reveal the auspicious and inauspicious qualities of time.

A tithi is a lunar day — the time it takes the moon to move 12° ahead of the sun. There are 30 tithis in a lunar month, 15 in each fortnight.

A paksha is a lunar fortnight of about 15 days. Each lunar month has two: the waxing Shukla Paksha and the waning Krishna Paksha.

Shukla Paksha is the bright, waxing fortnight — the 15 days from the new moon to the full moon, when the moon grows in light.

Krishna Paksha is the dark, waning fortnight — the 15 days from the full moon to the new moon, when the moon diminishes in light.

A nakshatra is one of the 27 lunar mansions — the constellations the moon travels through, each shaping the character of the day.

Yoga, the fourth limb of the Panchang, is one of 27 combinations derived from the joint positions of the sun and moon — indicating the day's favourability.

A karana is half of a tithi — the fifth limb of the Panchang. There are 11 karanas, used to fine-tune the timing of activities.

A muhurat is an auspicious window of time chosen for important actions — and also a unit of time of about 48 minutes.

A Sankranti is the sun's transit from one zodiac sign into the next — there are twelve a year, marking the solar months.

Uttarayan is the sun's northward journey — the bright, auspicious half of the year, beginning at Makar Sankranti.

Dakshinayan is the sun's southward journey — the introspective half of the year that holds most of the major festivals.

Chaturmas is the four-month sacred period of austerity and devotion, beginning when Lord Vishnu is said to enter cosmic sleep.