Hindu Calendar - Another Kind of Lunisolar Calendar

Another Kind of Lunisolar Calendar

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 first day of the lunar month. In this case, the end of the lunar month will coincide with a full moon. This is called the pūrṇimānta māna - full-moon-ending reckoning, as against the amānta māna - new-moon-ending reckoning used before.

This definition leads to a lot of complications:

• The first pakṣa of the month will fall on Kṛṣṇa-Pakṣa whilst the second will be Śukla-Pakṣa in Pūrṇimānta system.
• The new year is still on the first day of the Caitra Śukla-Pakṣa. The subsequentPakṣa-s will, for example, be -

Note:

1. Phālguna Māsa is the last Lunar month, with the last pakṣa of the year in this pūrṇimānta system being Phālguna Śukla-Pakṣa.

• The Śukla Pakṣa of a given month, say Caitra, comprises the same actual days in both systems, as can be deduces from a careful analysis of the rules. However, the Caitra Kṛṣṇa-Pakṣa-s defined by the 2 systems will be on different days, since the Caitra Kṛṣṇa-Pakṣa precedes the Caitra Śukla-Pakṣa in the pūrnimānta system but follows it in the amānta system.
• Though the regular months are defined by the full moon, the adhika and kṣaya lunar months are still defined by the new moon. That is, even if the pūrnimānta system is followed, adhika or kṣaya months will start with the first sunrise after the new moon, and end with the new moon.
• The adhika month will therefore get sandwiched between the 2pakṣa-s of the nija months. For example, a Śrāvaṇa Adhika Māsa will be inserted as follows:
  1. nija Śrāvaṇa Kṛṣṇa-Pakṣa
  2. adhika Śrāvaṇa Śukla-Pakṣa
  3. adhika Śrāvaṇa Kṛṣṇa-Pakṣa and
  4. nija Shrāvana Śukla-Pakṣa
     after which Bhādrapada Kṛṣṇa-Pakṣa will follow subsequently as usual.
• If there is an adhika Caitra, then it will follow the (nija) Caitra Krṣṇa-Pakṣa at the end of the year. Only with the nija Caitra Śukla-Pakṣa will the new year start. The only exception is when it is followed by a kṣaya, and that will be mentioned later.
• The kṣaya month is more complicated. If in the amānta system there is a Pauṣa-Māgha Kṣaya Māsa, then in the pūrnimānta system there will be the following pakṣa-s:
  1. Pauṣa Kṛṣṇa-Pakṣa
  2. Pauṣa-Maagha kshaya Śukla-Pakṣa
  3. Māgha-Phālguna Kṣaya Kṛṣṇa-Pakṣa and a
  4. Phālguna Śukla-Pakṣa.
• The special Kṣaya case where an adhika māsa precedes a kshaya māsa gets even more convoluted. First, we should remember that the Āśvina Śukla-Pakṣa is the same in both the systems. After this come the following Pakṣa-s:
  1. nija Kārtika Kṛṣṇa-Pakṣa
  2. adhika Kārtika Śukla-Pakṣa
  3. adhika Kārtika Kṛṣṇa-Pakṣa
  4. Kārtika-Māgaśīrṣa Kṣaya Śukla-Pakṣa
  5. Māgaśīrsa-Pauṣa Kṣaya Kṛṣṇa-Pakṣa
  6. Pauṣa Śukla-Pakṣa
     followed by the Māgha Kṛṣṇa-Pakṣa etc., as usual.
• The considerations for the new year are:
  1. If there is a Caitra-Vaiśākha Kṣaya Śukla-Pakṣa:
     1. if an adhika Caitra' precedes it, then the adhika Caitra Śukla-Pakṣa starts the new year
     2. if not, the Kṣaya Śukla-Pakṣa starts the new year
  2. If there is a Phālguna-Caitra Kṣaya Śukla-Pakṣa 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 Kṛṣṇa-Pakṣa-s of the months will change in the two systems, festivals which fall on the Kṛṣṇa-Pakṣa will be defined by the appropriate changed name. That is, the Mahāśivarātri, defined in the amānta māna to be observed on the fourteenth of the Māgha krishna paksha will now (in the pūrnimānta māna) be defined by the Phālguna krishna paksha.