Adhika-masa
Adhika-māsa (
Etymology
Adhika refers to the Sanskrit word for additional or extra,[6] while masa means month.[7]
Overview
When the
Above description is for the amanta system. For the same example, in purnimanta system it would be first half of Chaitra, then Adhika Chaitra, then second half of Chaitra.
An extra month, or adhika-masa falls every 32.5 months on an average. The solar year is made up of 365 days and about 6 hours, and the lunar year is made up of 354 days. This causes a gap of 11 days, 1 hour, 31 minutes and 12 seconds between the lunar and the solar years. As this gap accumulates each year, it approximates in 2.7 years to one month. No adhika-masa falls during the months of
Scientific calculation
The Moon takes about 27.3 days to make one complete orbit around the Earth. The Earth orbits around the Sun once every 365.2422 days (= Earth's orbital speed of 29.79 km per second). The Earth and the Moon in 27.3 days have moved as a system about 1/12 of the way around the Sun. This means that from one full moon to the next full moon, the Moon must travel 2.2 extra days before it appears again as a full moon, due to the curve of the Earth's orbit around the Sun. This creates a variance of 10.87 days a year between a lunar year and a solar year. To compensate for this difference, the additional month is added after every 32.5 months on average.
Religious practices
A month-long
Specific festivals such as
During adhika-masa, people perform various types of religious rituals such as keeping fast, recitation of religious scriptures, mantras, prayers, performing various types of
This month is often regarded to be inauspicious (mala), where the performance of rites such as weddings do not take place. It also serves as a compensatory period for adherents who had previously neglected their religious duties.[8]
In the Beed district of Maharashtra, there is a small village called Purushottampuri, where there is a temple of Purushottam, a regional form of Krishna. Every adhika-masa, there is a big fair and thousands of people come from various places to invoke the blessings of the deity.
See also
- Hindu calendar
- Tithi
- Ekadashi
- Blue moon
References
- ISBN 978-81-206-1880-0.
- ISBN 978-81-7022-374-0.
- ISBN 978-1-4020-4559-2.
- ISBN 978-0-7914-7082-4.
- ISBN 978-1-118-52818-1.
- ISBN 978-0-9906337-9-2.
- ISBN 978-3-11-232094-5.
- ISBN 978-1-135-79752-2.