Lunar Months
We said that a new lunar month starts whenever Sun and Moon are at the same longitude. Then Moon will go ahead of Sun and, after about 29-30 days, he will catch up with Sun again. A new lunar month will start again. These lunar months go by special names. KP Experts in India
The name of a lunar month is decided by the rasi in which Sun-Moon conjunction2 takes place. If Sun-Moon conjoin in Pisces, for example, it starts Chaitra maasa. These names come from the constellation that Moon is most likely to occupy on the full Moon day. In the month that starts when Sun and Moon conjoin in Pisces, Moon is likely to be in Chitra constellation (23°20') KP Astrologer in India
A solar year has about 365.2425 days, but a lunar year only has about 355 days. Once in every 3 years, this difference accumulates to one month and an extra lunar month comes. This results in Sun-Moon conjunction coming twice in the same rasi. For example, Sun-Moon conjunction took place at 0°23' in Taurus on May 15, 1999 at 5:35:32 pm (IST) and again at 28°29' in Taurus on June 14, 1999 at 12:33:27 am (IST). Sun-Moon conjunction in Taurus starts Jyeshtha maasa (maasa = month) as per Table 4. So 1999 had 2 Jyeshtha maasas. One is called “Nija” Jeshtha maasa and the other is called “Adhika” Jyeshtha maasa. Nija means real and adhika means extra. An adhika maasa (extra month) comes once in every 3 years and that synchronizes the lunar years with solar years. This calendar has been in use in India for millennia.
Comments
Post a Comment