Practice
Understanding the Hindu Lunar Calendar
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Hindu festivals follow a lunar-based calendar, which is why their dates move from year to year in the Gregorian calendar. The Panchangam is the traditional almanac that tracks it all.
This guide introduces the calendar's building blocks.
The five limbs
The Panchangam ("five limbs") records the tithi (lunar day), vara (weekday), nakshatra (star), yoga, and karana for each day.
Paksha and masa
The month divides into the waxing (Shukla) and waning (Krishna) fortnights, or pakshas. Twelve lunar months (masa) make the year.
Why dates shift
Because lunar months are shorter than solar ones, an extra month (adhika masa) is periodically added to realign the calendar — which is why festival dates vary.