Chaitra (

Hindi Hindi ( Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

: चैत्र) is a month of 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 ...

. In the standard

and India's national civil calendar, Chaitra is the first month of the year. It is the last month in the

Bengali calendar The Bengali Calendar or Bangla Calendar ( bn, বঙ্গাব্দ , , Baṅgābda), colloquially ( bn, বাংলা সন, Baṅgla Śon), is a solar calendar used in the Bengal region of the Indian subcontinent. A revised version of th ...

, where it is called Choitro. Chaitra or Chait is also the last month in the Nepali calendar (the

Vikram Samvat Vikram Samvat (IAST: ''Vikrama Samvat''; abbreviated VS) or Bikram Sambat B.S. and also known as the Vikrami calendar, is a Hindu calendar historically used in the Indian subcontinent. Vikram Samvat is generally 57 years ahead of Gregorian Calend ...

), where it commences in mid-March. Chithirai is the first month in the Tamil calendar. In the Sindhi calendar, this month is referred to as Chet and is marked by the celebration of the

Cheti Chand Chetri Chandra (, Moon of Chaitra) is a festival that marks the beginning of the Lunar Hindu New Year for Sindhi Hindus. The date of the festival is based on the lunar cycle of the lunisolar Hindu calendar, falling on the first day of the year, ...

(birth of Jhulelal, an incarnation of Vishnu). In the

Vaishnava Vaishnavism ( sa, वैष्णवसम्प्रदायः, Vaiṣṇavasampradāyaḥ) is one of the major Hindu denominations along with Shaivism, Shaktism, and Smartism. It is also called Vishnuism since it considers Vishnu as the ...

calendar,

Vishnu Vishnu ( ; , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism. Vishnu is known as "The Preserver" withi ...

governs this month. In solar religious calendars Chaitra Begins with the Sun's Entry Into

Pisces Pisces may refer to: * Pisces, an obsolete (because of land vertebrates) taxonomic superclass including all fish * Pisces (astrology), an astrological sign * Pisces (constellation), a constellation **Pisces Overdensity, an overdensity of stars in ...

In the more traditional reckoning, the first month commences in March or April of the

Gregorian calendar The Gregorian calendar is the calendar used in most parts of the world. It was introduced in October 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII as a modification of, and replacement for, the Julian calendar. The principal change was to space leap years dif ...

, depending upon whether the

Purushottam Maas Adhik Maas ( translit. ' = 'extra', ' = 'month') is an extra month in the Hindu calendar that is inserted to keep the lunar and solar calendars aligned. The position of Adhik Maas amongst the other months is variable, re-occurring about every 32. ...

(extra month for alignment of lunar or solar calendar) was observed in the year. There is no fixed date in the Gregorian calendar for the 1st day of Chaitra, i.e., the beginning of the Hindu New Year.

Names

Hindi and Marathi: चैत्र ''chaitra'',

Gujarati Gujarati may refer to: * something of, from, or related to Gujarat, a state of India * Gujarati people, the major ethnic group of Gujarat * Gujarati language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them * Gujarati languages, the Western Indo-Aryan sub ...

: ચૈત્ર ''chaitra'', Nepali: चैत ''chait'',

Rajasthani Rajasthani may refer to: * something of, from, or related to Rajasthan, a state of India * Rajasthani languages, a group of languages spoken there * Rajasthani people, the native inhabitants of the region * Rajasthani architecture * Rajasthani art ...

: चेत ''chet'', Punjabi: ਚੇਤ ''cēt'',

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

: চৈত্র ''Choitro'', Assamese: চ’ত ''sot'', Odia: ଚୈତ୍ର ''Chaitra'',

Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...

: ''ಚೈತ್ರ'' ''Chaitra'',

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

: చైత్రము ''chaitramu'',

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

: சித்திரை ''chithirai'',

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 2 ...

: ചൈത്രം ''chaitram''.

Festivals

The month of Chaitra is also associated with the departure of spring.

Holi Holi (), also known as the Festival of Colours, the Festival of Spring, and the Festival of Love,The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) p. 874 "Holi /'həʊli:/ noun a Hindu spring festival ...". is an ancient Hindu religious festival ...

, the spring festival of colour, is celebrated on the full moon day (

Purnima Pūrṇimā () is the word for full moon in Sanskrit. The day of Purnima is the day (''Tithi'') in each month when the full moon occurs, and marks the division in each month between the two lunar fortnights (paksha), and the Moon is aligned exa ...

) of Phalguna, the month before Chaitra, exactly six days after which the festival of

Chaiti Chaiti are semi-classical songs, originating from the Indian subcontinent, sung in the Hindu calendar month of Chait. These songs are rendered during the Holy month of Sri Rama Navami in March/April. It falls under light classical form of Hindustan ...

is observed. In lunar religious calendars, Chaitra begins with the new moon in March/April and is the first month of the year. The nine-day festival Chaitra

Navratri Navaratri is an annual Hindu festival observed in the honour of the goddess Durga. It spans over nine nights (and ten days), first in the month of Chaitra (March/April of the Gregorian calendar), and again in the month of Sharada. It is o ...

or Nava Durga (nine forms of Goddess Durga) starts from Krishna Pratipada. The first day of month Chaitra is celebrated as New Year's Day, known as

Gudi Padwa Gudhi Padwa is a spring-time festival that marks the traditional new year for Marathi and Konkani Hindus, but is also celebrated by other Hindus as well. It is celebrated in and around Maharashtra, Goa, Madhya Pradesh and the union terr ...

in Maharashtra,

Puthandu Puthandu (), also known as Puthuvarudam, and the Tamil New Year, is the first day of year on the Tamil calendar, traditionally celebrated as a festival by Tamil Hindus. The festival date is set with the solar cycle of the lunisolar Hindu cal ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...

and

Ugadi Ugadi or Yugadi, also known as Samvatsarādi (), is New Year's Day according to the Hindu calendar and is celebrated in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Karnataka in India. It is festively observed in these regions on the first ...

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

Telangana Telangana (; , ) is a state in India situated on the south-central stretch of the Indian peninsula on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the eleventh-largest state and the twelfth-most populated state in India with a geographical area of and 3 ...

and

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

. In

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fou ...

, Basanti Puja, Annapurna Puja, Ram Nabami, Neel Puja and Chorok Puja aka 'Gajon' are held consecutively before the beginning of Bengali New Year on Poila Baishakh.

References

External links

Chaitra Navratri
{{Indian astronomy *01

Names

Festivals

See also

References

External links