Paksha

See also: Astronomical basis of the Hindu calendar

This article is about the lunar phase in the Hindu calendar. For the Slavic festive dish, see paskha.

Not to be confused with Paska.

Paksha (Sanskrit: पक्ष, romanized: pakṣa) refers to a fortnight or a lunar phase in a month of the Hindu lunar calendar.^[1][2]

Literally meaning "side",^[3] a paksha is the period either side of the purnima (full moon day). A lunar month in the Hindu calendar has two fortnights, and begins with the purnima (new moon). The lunar days are called tithis; each month has 30 tithis, which may vary from 20 – 27 hours. A paksha has 15 tithis, which are calculated by a 12 degree motion of the moon. The first fortnight between the new moon day and the full moon day is called the Gaura Paksha or Shukla Paksha (lit. 'white/bright/golden side'), the period of the brightening moon (waxing moon), and the second fortnight of the month is called the Vadhya Paksha or Krishna Paksha (lit. 'dark/black side'), the period of the fading moon (waning moon).^[1][4] The Neemuch calendar begin a new lunar month from first day of Krishna Paksha, while the Gujarat calendar begins a new lunar month from the first day of Shukla Paksha.

Days of Shukla Paksha and Krishna Paksha

Shukla Paksha	Krishna Paksha
1. Prathama	1. Prathama
2. Dvitiya	2. Dvitiya
3. Tritiya	3. Tritiya
4. Chaturthi	4. Chaturthi
5. Panchami	5. Panchami
6. Shashti	6. Shashti
7. Saptami	7. Saptami
8. Ashtami	8. Ashtami
9. Navami	9. Navami
10. Dashami	10. Dashami
11. Ekadashi	11. Ekadashi
12. Dwadashi	12. Dwadashi
13. Thrayodashi	13. Thrayodashi
14. Chaturdashi	14. Chaturdashi
15. Purnima	15. Amavasya, Ausi

Shukla Paksha

Shukla Paksha refers to the bright lunar fortnight or waxing moon in the Hindu calendar. Shukla (Sanskrit: शुक्ल) is a Sanskrit word for "white" or "bright". The Shukla Paksha is a period of 15 days, which begins after the amavasya (new moon) day and culminating on purnima (full moon) day and is considered auspicious.^[5]

Numerous festivals are held during this period, including the Navaratri festivals, most importantly Chaitra Navaratri and Ashvin Navaratri.

Day	Tithi	Festival	Month
1st day	Pratipada	Gudi Padwa, Ugadi	Chaitra
1st day	Pratipada	Bali Pratipada, Govardhan Puja	Kartika
2nd day	Dvitiya	Bhaibeej	Kartika
3rd day	Tritiya	Teej	Bhadrapada
3rd day	Tritiya	Akshaya Tritiya	Vaishakha
4th day	Chaturthi	Ganesh Chaturthi	Bhadrapada
4th day	Chaturthi	Ganesh Jayanti	Magha
5th day	Panchami	Nuakhai	Bhadrapada
5th day	Panchami	Vivaha Panchami	Margashirsha
5th day	Panchami	Vasanta Panchami	Magha
6th day	Shasthi	Sitalsasthi	Jyestha
8th day	Ashtami	Radhashtami	Bhadrapada
9th day	Navami	Rama Navami	Chaitra
10th day	Dashami	Vijayadashami	Ashvin
11th day	Ekadashi	Shayani Ekadashi	Ashadha
11th day	Ekadashi	Vaikuntha Ekadashi	Margashirsha
14th day	Chaturdashi	Samvatsari	Bhadrapada
15th day (full moon)	Purnima	Guru Purnima	Ashada

Krishna Paksha

Krishna Paksha refers to the dark lunar fortnight or waning moon in the Hindu calendar. Krishna (Sanskrit: कृष्ण) is a Sanskrit word for "dark". Krishna Paksha is a period of 15 days, which begins after purnima day (full moon), culminating on the amavasya (new moon). Krishna Paksha is considered inauspicious,^[6] as the moon loses light during this period.

Festivals during the Krishna Paksha are:

Day	Tithi	Festival	Month
4th day	Chaturthi	Karva Chauth	Kartika
8th day	Ashtami	Krishna Janmashtami	Bhadrapada
13th day	Thrayodashi	Dhanteras	Kartika
13th day	Thrayodashi	Pradosha	Magha
14th day	Chaturdashi	Maha Shivaratri	Magha
14th day	Chaturdashi	Naraka Chaturdashi (Diwali)	Kartika
15th day (no moon)	Amavasya	Lakshmi Puja (Diwali)	Kartika

Other usages

In Vedic astrology when a person does a prasna (a question chart) and the planet Venus indicates the time period, the event referred to in the answer will happen in a pakṣa (fortnight) from the time the question was asked.

See also

• Pitru Paksha

References

1. Defouw, Hart; Robert Svoboda (2003). Light on Life: An Introduction to the Astrology of India. Lotus Press. p. 186. ISBN 0-940985-69-1.
2. Kumar, Ashwini (2005). Vaastu: The Art And Science Of Living. Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd. p. 50. ISBN 81-207-2569-7.
3. Monnier-Williams, M: (1851) Sanskrit Dictionary ISBN (none)
4. Hindu calendar Archived 2010-09-01 at the Wayback Machine
5. Rinehart, Robin (2004-07-21). Contemporary Hinduism: Ritual, Culture, and Practice. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. p. 125. ISBN 978-1-57607-906-5.
6. Iyer, N. P. Subramania (1991). Kalaprakasika. Asian Educational Services. p. 79. ISBN 978-81-206-0252-6.

• K. V. Sarma (2008), "Paksa", Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures (2nd edition) edited by Helaine Selin, Springer, ISBN 978-1-4020-4559-2.

External links

• Ahargana - The Astronomy of the Hindu Calendar: Maana, Krishna Pksha, Shukla Paksha and Chandra Masa Explains Krishna paksha and Shukla paksha by means of astronomical simulations created using Stellarium.
• Hindu Festivals Calendar 2010 Archived 2016-12-06 at the Wayback Machine
• Introduction to the Hindu Calendar (pdf)