Adhik Maas (
translit.
Transliteration is a type of conversion of a text from one script to another that involves swapping letters (thus '' trans-'' + '' liter-'') in predictable ways, such as Greek → , Cyrillic → , Greek → the digraph , Armenian → or ...
' = 'extra', ' = 'month') is an extra month in the
Hindu calendar
The Hindu calendar, Panchanga () or Panjika is one of various lunisolar calendars that are traditionally used in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, with further regional variations for social and Hindu religious purposes. They adopt a s ...
that is inserted to keep the
lunar
Lunar most commonly means "of or relating to the Moon".
Lunar may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Lunar'' (series), a series of video games
* "Lunar" (song), by David Guetta
* "Lunar", a song by Priestess from the 2009 album ''Prior t ...
and
solar calendar
A solar calendar is a calendar whose dates indicate the season or almost equivalently the apparent position of the Sun relative to the stars. The Gregorian calendar, widely accepted as a standard in the world, is an example of a solar calendar.
T ...
s aligned.
The position of Adhik Maas amongst the other months is variable, re-occurring about every 32.5 months. This is in contrast to some other common
lunisolar calendar
A lunisolar calendar is a calendar in many cultures, combining lunar calendars and solar calendars. The date of Lunisolar calendars therefore indicates both the Moon phase and the time of the solar year, that is the position of the Sun in the Ea ...
s that insert an intercalary lunar month at a fixed point of the year. For example, in the
Jewish calendar
The Hebrew calendar ( he, הַלּוּחַ הָעִבְרִי, translit=HaLuah HaIvri), also called the Jewish calendar, is a lunisolar calendar used today for Jewish religious observance, and as an official calendar of the state of Israel. I ...
, the extra month is added before Adar; in the
Buddhist calendar
The Buddhist calendar is a set of lunisolar calendars primarily used in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, India, Sri Lanka, and Thailand as well as in Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam by Chinese populations for religious or official occasions. While the ...
, it is added after Ashadha / Waso.
During 2018, Adhik Jyestha (extra month after Jyestha) was observed from 16 May to 13 June. In 2020, Adhik Ashwin (extra month after Ashwin) will be from 18 September to 16 October 2020, leading to an unusual month long break between
Pitri Paksha
Pitru Paksha ( sa, पितृ पक्ष, ; lit. "fortnight of the paternal ancestors") is a 16–lunar day period in Hindu calendar when Hindus pay homage to their ancestors (Pitrs), especially through food offerings. The period is also k ...
and
Durgā Pujā /
Navarātri.
The other names for Adhik Maas is Mal Maas. Spellings in the Latin alphabet vary, including ''adhik'', ''adhika''; ''mal'', ''mala''; ''maas'', ''maasa'', ''mās'', ''māsa'', ''mas''. This is the thirteenth month of the lunar calendar. Adhik Maas adopts the name of the month that follows. It is a time for prayer, fasting, charity, and self-improvement.
Overview
The concept of Adhik Maas is one of the most accurate methods to adjust the gap between Solar and Lunar Year.
When the
Sun
The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this energy mainly as light, ultraviolet, and infrared radi ...
does not at all transit into a new ''
rāshi'' (30° sidereal zodiac) but simply keeps moving within a ''rāshi'' in a
lunar month
In lunar calendars, a lunar month is the time between two successive syzygies of the same type: new moons or full moons. The precise definition varies, especially for the beginning of the month.
Variations
In Shona, Middle Eastern, and Europ ...
(i.e. before a
new moon
In astronomy, the new moon is the first lunar phase, when the Moon and Sun have the same ecliptic longitude. At this phase, the lunar disk is not visible to the naked eye, except when it is silhouetted against the Sun during a solar eclipse.
...
), then that lunar month will be named according to the first upcoming transit. It will also take the epithet ''adhik'' or "extra". The transition of the sun from one ''rāśi'' to the next is called ''sankranti''. For example, if a lunar month elapsed without a ''sankranti'' and the next transit is into Mesha (Aries), then this month without transit is labelled Adhik Chaitra. The next month will be labeled according to its transit as usual and will get the epithet ''nija'' ("original") or ''shuddha'' ("clean"), in this case Nija Chaitra. The terms Pratham (first) Chaitra and Dwitiya (second) Chaitra may also be used.
Extra Month, or Adhika Māsa falls every 32.5 months on an average. The solar year is made up of 365 days and about 6 hours, and the lunar year is made up of 354 days. Thus there is a gap of 11 days, 1 hour, 31 minutes and 12 seconds between the lunar and the solar years. As this gap accumulates each year, it approximates in 2.7 years to one month. No ''adhik mas'' falls during Margsheersh to Magh. A case of Adhik Karttik is extremely rare, but in the 250-year span (1901-2150 AD) it would occur once, in 1963 AD.
Scientific calculation
The
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...
takes about 27.3 days to make one complete orbit around the earth. The earth orbits around the sun once every 365.2422 days (= earth's orbital speed of 29.79 km per second). The earth and the moon in 27.3 days have moved as a system about 1/12 of the way around the sun. This means that from one full moon to the next full moon, the moon must travel 2.2 extra days before it appears again as a full moon, due to the curve of the earth's orbit around the sun. Ultimately this creates a variance of 10.87 days a year between a lunar year and a solar year. To compensate for this difference, the additional month is added after every 32.5 months on average.
Advance Ephemeris by N. C. Lahiri contains the full list of all Adhik and Kshaya months during 1913-2016 AD by both modern astronomy and Surya Siddhanta on page 92.
Religious significance of Adhik Maas
A month-long ''
mela'' (fair) is celebrated in
Machhegaun
Machhegaun (Sanskrit: मच्छेगाऊं) is a village and former Village Development Committee (Nepal), Village Development Committee that is now part of Chandragiri Municipality in Kathmandu District in Province No. 3 of central Nepal. A ...
village in
Nepal
Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne,
सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...
during Adhika Māsa. It is general belief that one can wash away all his sins by taking a bath in the pond at Machhenarayan temple.
Since this is a special month which does not come every year, there are no specific festivals like
Dussehra
Vijayadashami ( sa, विजयदशमी, Vijayadaśamī, translit-std=IAST), also known as Dussehra, Dasara or Dashain, is a major Hindu festival celebrated at the end of Navaratri every year. It is observed on the tenth day in the Hindu ...
or
Diwali
Diwali (), Dewali, Divali, or Deepavali ( IAST: ''dīpāvalī''), also known as the Festival of Lights, related to Jain Diwali, Bandi Chhor Divas, Tihar, Swanti, Sohrai, and Bandna, is a religious celebration in Indian religions. It is ...
in this month. Rather this month is treated as special and holy month and many people perform the ''adhik maas
vrata
Vrata is a Sanskrit word that means "vow, resolve, devotion", and refers to pious observances such as fasting and pilgrimage ( Tirtha) found in Indian religions such as Jainism and Hinduism. It is typically accompanied with prayers seeking hea ...
''. People perform extra ''mala japas'', ''pradakshinas'', pilgrimages, scriptural reading and ''parayanas''.
During Adhik Maas, people perform various types of religious rituals such as keeping fast, recitation of religious scriptures, mantras, prayers, performing various types of ''
puja'' and ''
havan''. ''
Vrata
Vrata is a Sanskrit word that means "vow, resolve, devotion", and refers to pious observances such as fasting and pilgrimage ( Tirtha) found in Indian religions such as Jainism and Hinduism. It is typically accompanied with prayers seeking hea ...
s'' (fasts) of various durations (full day, half day, weekly, fortnight, full month) are often undertaken. The ''vratas'' may be of complete fasting with liquids only or without liquids, fasting with fruits only or keeping fast with vegetarian food, as the individual can tolerate. It is said that the persons performing good deeds (''satkarma'') in this month conquer their senses (''indriyas'') and they totally come out of ''punar janam'' (the cycle of rebirth).
In
Beed district
Beed district (Marathi pronunciation: iːɖ is an administrative district in the state of Maharashtra in India. The district headquarters are located at Beed. The district occupies an area of 10,693 km² and has a population of 2,585,049 ...
of
Maharashtra
Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...
there is a small village (with a population of 659 of whom 54.6% belong to a Scheduled Caste) called Purushottampuri where there is Temple of God
Purushottam
Purushottama ( sa, पुरुषोत्तम, from पुरुष, ''purusha'' "spirit" or "male" and उत्तम, ''uttama'', "highest") is an epithet of the Hindu preserver deity, Vishnu. According to Vaishnavism, Vishnu is the sour ...
. Every Adhik Mass there is big fair and thousands of people come from various places to take the blessings of God Purushottam. This is the only temple dedicated to God Purushottam. Moreover, this is the only temple where people come to worship during Adhik Maas, due to which a false idea has evolved during recent decades that Adhik Maas is Purushottam Maas. Like eclipses, Adhil Maas is inauspicious for Hindus and no auspicious events like marriage, upanayana, etc. can he held during Adhik Maas. In order to alleviate the inauspiciousness, people perform austerities, worships, japa, etc. during such inauspicious times. In Gita, Purushottam Maas is used for Agrahaayana luni-solar month after the name of Lord Krishna. Varahamihira's Pancha-Siddhantika
contains the extant Vasishtha Siddhanta which has no reference to the word "Purushottam". Original Vasishtha Siddhanta was lost thousands of years ago, even Varahamihira's Pancha-Siddhantika could mention only a handful of references from Vasishtha Siddhanta.
See also
*
Hindu calendar
The Hindu calendar, Panchanga () or Panjika is one of various lunisolar calendars that are traditionally used in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, with further regional variations for social and Hindu religious purposes. They adopt a s ...
*
Tithi
In Vedic timekeeping, a ''tithi'' is a uration of two faces of moon that is observed from earth known as ''milа̄lyа̄'' (𑐩𑐶𑐮𑐵𑐮𑑂𑐫𑐵𑑅, मिलाल्याः) in Nepal Bhasa, or the time it takes for the longit ...
*
Ekadasi
Ekadashi () is the eleventh lunar day (''tithi'') of each of the two lunar phases which occur in an Vedic calendar month - the '' Shukla Pakṣa'' (the period of the brightening moon also known as the waxing phase) and the ''Kṛṣṇa Pakṣa ...
*
Blue moon
A blue moon is an additional full moon that appears in a subdivision of a year: the third of four full moons in a season.
The phrase in modern usage has nothing to do with the actual color of the Moon, although a visually blue Moon (the Moon a ...
External links
Adhik Maas or Malmas - The Divine IndiaRead About Adhik Mass in Hindi Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition
The ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' Eleventh Edition (1910–1911) is a 29-volume reference work, an edition of the ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. It was developed during the encyclopaedia's transition from a British to an American publication. So ...
(1911)
The Astronomical Basis of the Hindu Lunisolar CalendarHindu Calendars in various Indian LanguagesHindu Calendars 2020Adhik Maas 2020
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hindu Calendar
Hindu calendar,
Hindu astronomy
Hindu astrology
Articles containing video clips