Keeping Time with the Skies
Luni-solar calendars
Find out how luni-solar calendars combine the Moon and the Sun.
A third kind of calendar takes the best of both. It counts days and months by the Moon, but adjusts itself to keep up with the seasons.
The problem it solves is simple arithmetic: 12 lunar months make 354 days, about 11 days short of a solar year.
Eleven days a year add up. After 2 to 3 years the gap is nearly a whole month.
So every few years an extra month is added to the year. It's called the Adhika Maasa (an extra, or intercalary, month). That keeps the Moon's months and the seasons in step.
Calendars that do this are called luni-solar calendars: they combine parts of the lunar and the solar calendars. They are used in many parts of India.
You may know the names (or similar names) of their months: Chaitra, Vaisakha, Jyeshtha, Ashadha, Shravana, Bhadrapada, Ashwin, Kartika, Margashirsha (also called Agrahayan), Pausha, Magha, Phalguna.
Not all of them start a month at the same moment:
| Calendar | A month starts | A month ends |
|---|---|---|
| Amant | the day after the new Moon | on the new Moon (amavasya + ant, end) |
| Purnimant | the day after the full Moon | on the full Moon |
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