Paksha

For the county in China's Hainan Province, see Baisha Li Autonomous County.

Paksha (or pakṣa: Sanskrit: पक्ष), 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 Full Moon Day (Purnima). A lunar month in the Hindu calendar has two fortnights, and begins with the New moon, (Amavasya). The lunar days are called tithis and 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 New Moon Day and Full Moon Day is called Shukla Paksha, the period of the brightening moon (waxing moon), and the second fortnight of the month is called Krishna Paksha, or the period of the fading moon (waning moon).^[1]^[4] Nimach Panchang begin new lunar month from first day of Krishna Paksha while Gujarat Panchang begin new lunar month from first day of Shukla Paksha.^[5]

Days

Shukla Paksha	Krishna Paksha
1. Prathama	1. Prathama
2. Dwitiya	2. Dwitiya
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.Trayodasi
14.Chaturdashi	14.Chaturdashi
15.Purnima	15. Amavasya

Shukla Paksha

Shukla paksha refers to the bright lunar fortnight or waxing moon in the Hindu calendar. Shukla (Sanskrit: शुक्ल) is Sanskrit word for "white".

Shukla Paksha (Waxing Moon period) is a period of 15 days, which begins on the Shukla Amavasya (New Moon) day and culminating Purnima (Full Moon) day and is considered auspicious.^[6]

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

Day	Tithi	Festival	Month
1st Day	Pratipada	Bali Pratipada, Govardhan Puja	Kartika
2nd Day	Dvitiya	Bhaibeej	Kartika
3rd Day	Tritiya	Teej	Bhadrapad
3rd Day	Tritiya	Akshaya Tritiya	Vaishakha
4th Day	Chaturthi	Ganesh Chaturthi	Bhadrapada
4th Day	Chaturthi	Ganesh Jayanti	Magha
5th Day	Panchami	Nuakhai	Bhadrapad
5th Day	Panchami	Vivaha Panchami	Margashirsha
6th Day	Shasthi	Sitalsasthi	Jyestha
9th Day	Navami	Rama Navami	Chaitra
10th Day	Dasami	Vijayadashami	Ashvin
11th Day	Ekadasi	Shayani Ekadashi	Asadha
11th Day	Ekadashi	Vaikunta Ekadashi	Margashirsha
14th Day	Chaturdashi	Samvatsari	Bhadrapada
15th Day (Full Moon)	Poornima	Guru Purnima	Ashada

Krishna Paksha

Krishna paksha refers to the dark lunar fortnight or waning moon in the Hindu calendar. Krishna (Sanskrit: कृष्ण) is Sanskrit for "dark". Krishna Paksha is a period of 15 days, which begins on the (Full Moon) day (Purnima), culminating on (New Moon) day (Amasvasya). Krishna Paksha is considered inauspicious, as the moon loses light during this period.^[4]^[7]

Festivals during Krishna Paksha are:

Day	Tithi	Festival	Month
4th Day	Chaturthi	Karva Chauth	Kartika
8th Day	Ashtami	Krishna Janmashtami	shravan
11th Day	Ekadasi	Vaikunta Ekadasi	Margashirsha
13th Day	Trayodasi	Dhanteras	Āśvina
14th Day	Chaturdashi	Maha Shivaratri	Maagha
14th Day	Chaturdashi	Naraka Chaturdashi (Diwali)	Āśvina

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.

References

1 2 Defouw, Hart; Robert Svoboda (2003). Light on Life: An Introduction to the Astrology of India. Lotus Press. p. 186. ISBN 0-940985-69-1.
↑ Kumar, Ashwini (2005). Vaastu: The Art And Science Of Living. Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd. p. 50. ISBN 81-207-2569-7.
↑ Monnier-Williams, M: (1851) Sanskrit Dictionary ISBN (none)
1 2 Hindu calendar
↑ Moon Calendar
↑ http://www.rockingbaba.com/blog/index.php/2015/07/22/phases-paksha-of-moon-shukla-paksha-krishna-paksha/
↑ "The Lunar Year".

External links

Days of the Paksha

Pratipad Dwitiya Tritiya Chaturthi Panchami Shashti Saptami Ashtami Navami Dashami Ekadashi Dwadashi Thrayodashi Chaturdashi Purnima/ Amavasya

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