Samvat

Samvat is any of the various Hindu calendars. In India, there are several calendars in use:

• Vikrama Samvat: lunar months, solar sidereal years
• Shaka Samvat (traditional): lunar months, solar sidereal years
• Shaka Samvat (modern): solar tropical
• Bangla Calendar: solar tropical years
• Tamil Nadu/Kerala: solar tropical years such as Malayalam calendar
• Nepali calendar with Bikram Sambat: solar tropical years

Most holidays in India are based on the first two calendars. A few are based on the solar cycle, Sankranti (solar sidereal) and Baisakhi (solar tropical).

Contents 1 Months and approximate correspndence 2 Time cycles in India 3 Date conversion 3.1 The Kali "Samvat" 4 Variations 5 References 6 See also 7 External links

Months and approximate correspndence

Indian months are listed below. Shaka and Chaitradi Vikram (UP, Rajasthan etc.) start with Chaitra, Kartikadi Vikram (Gujarat, Maharashtra) start in Kartika.

#	Indian	Gregorian
1	Chaitra	March-April
2	Vaisākha	April-May
3	Jyeshta	May-June
4	Āshāda	June-July
5	Srāvana	July-August
6	Bhādrapada	August-September
7	Ashwina	September-October
8	Kārtika	October-November
9	Mārgasirsa (Agrahayana)	November-December
10	Pausha	December-January
11	Māgha	January-February
12	Phālguna	February-March

Nakshatras are divisions of ecliptic, each 13° 20', starting from 0° Aries. The purnima of each month is synchronized with a nakshatra.

Time cycles in India

The time cycles in India are:

• 60-year cycle
• Year
• 6 seasons of a year
• about 60 days (2 months) in a season
• Month (lunar)
• 2 pakshas in a month, shukla (waxing) and krishna (waning)
• 15 tithis in a paksha (1-14, 15th is purnima or amavasya)
• 60 ghatikas (or 30 muhurtas or 8 praharas) in a 24-hour period (ahoratra).
• 30 Kala (approx) in 1 muhurta
• 30 Kastha in 1 kala
• 15 Nimisha in 1 kastha

Years are synchronized with the solar sidereal year by adding a month every four years. The extra month is termed as "Adhik Mass" (extra month). This extra month is called Mala Masa (impure month) in Eastern India.

Date conversion

Converting a date from an Indian calendar to the common era can require a complex computation. To obtain the approximate year in the common era (CE):

• Chaitradi Vikram (past) : Chaitra-Pausha: subtract 57; Pausha-Phalguna: subtract 56.
• Shaka: add 78-79
• Kalachuri: add 248-249
• Gupta/Valabhi: add 319-320
• Bangla: add 593-594
• Vira Nirvana Samvat: subtract 527-526
• Yudhishthira Samvat: Subtract 3101 (Ascension of Lord Krishna at age 125) from common era
• Sri Krishna Samvat: Subtract 3226 (Birth of Lord Sri Krishna) from common era
• Balabhi Samvat: add 320 to common era

The Kali "Samvat"

The Kali Era is not called a "Samvat" in common Indian usage, but since it Is also an era, it might be useful to mention it here too. The Hindu calendar article has more information on the Kali Era. The conversion is given here:

• Add 3101 or 3100 (using the same guidelines as above) to the Gregorian year to get the number of elapsed Kali years.
• Add 3102 or 3101 to get the current Kali yuga number.
• Remember that the former (of the above two) is the standard, as explained at the Hindu calendar article.
• This era also corresponds with Yudhisthira Samvat in which we have present year as 5110 (2009 AD)

Variations

• In UP/Rajasthan, months are Purnimanta. In Gujarat/Maharashtra, they are Amanta.
• In inscriptions, the years may be gata (past) or current.

References

• Rai Bahadur Pandit Gaurishankar Hirachand Ojha, The Paleography of India, 2 ed., Ajmer, 1918, reprinted Manshuram Manoharlal publishers, 1993.

See also

• Hindu Calendar
• Ancient Indian units of measurement
• Perpetual Calendar of 800 Years

External links

• Pancanga: Vikrama/Saka to Gregorian conversion utility