Phalguna ( sa, फाल्गुन ) 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 s ...

. In India's national civil calendar, Phalguna is twelfth month of the year, and corresponds with February/March in 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 ...

.Henderson, Helene. (Ed.) (2005) ''Holidays, festivals, and celebrations of the world dictionary'' Third edition. Electronic edition. Detroit: Omnigraphics, p. xxix. In Luni-Solar calendars, Phalgun may begin on either the new moon or the full moon around the same time of year, and is the twelfth month of the year. However, in

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

, Kartika is the first month of the year, and so Phalguna follows as the fifth month for

Gujaratis The Gujarati people or Gujaratis, are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who reside in or can trace their ancestry or heritage to the present-day western Indian state of Gujarat. They primarily speak Gujarati, an Indo-Aryan language. While G ...

. The holidays of

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 ...

(15 Phalguna in Amanta System/30 Phalguna In Purnimanta System) and

Maha Shivaratri Maha Shivaratri (IAST: Mahāśivarātri) is a Hindu festival celebrated annually in honour of the god Shiva. The name also refers to the night when Shiva performs the heavenly dance called Tandava. In every month of the luni-solar Hindu ca ...

(14th Phalguna in Purnimanta System) are observed in this month. In the Vikram Sambat calendar, Phalgun is the eleventh month of the year. In solar religious calendars, Phalguna begins with 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 ...

's entry into

Aquarius Aquarius may refer to: Astrology * Aquarius (astrology), an astrological sign * Age of Aquarius, a time period in the cycle of astrological ages Astronomy * Aquarius (constellation) * Aquarius in Chinese astronomy Arts and entertainme ...

, and is the twelfth month of the solar year. 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,

Govinda Govinda (), also rendered Govind and Gobind, is an epithet of Vishnu which is also used for his avatars such as Krishna. The name appears as the 187th and the 539th name of Vishnu in '' Vishnu Sahasranama''. The name is also popularly addresse ...

governs this month.

Gaura-purnima Gaura Purnima is a Vaishnava festival that celebrates the appearance of the Supreme Personality of Godhead Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (1486–1534), who founded Gaudiya Vaishnavism. It occurs on the Purnima (Full moon day) in the Hindu month Phalgu ...

celebrating the birth of the saint Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (1486–1534) also falls in this month.

Festivals

Most parts of North India see the early celebration of the famous Hindu festival

in this month. Holi is celebrated at the end of the winter season on the last full moon day of the lunar month Phalguna (''Phalguna

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 exact ...

''), which usually falls in the later part of February or March. The Hindu festival of

Shigmo Shimga, or Shishirotsava is a spring festival celebrated in the Indian state of Goa, where it is one of the major festivals of the Hindu community. It is also celebrated by Konkani diaspora and Indian festival of Holi is part of it. Etymology T ...

is also celebrated in

Goa Goa () is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to the ...

and

Konkan The Konkan ( kok, कोंकण) or Kokan () is a stretch of land by the western coast of India, running from Damaon in the north to Karwar in the south; with the Arabian Sea to the west and the Deccan plateau in the east. The hinterland ...

in the month of Phalguna. Celebrations can stretch over a month and may last even after the Hindu Luni-Solar New Year begins. Another popular fair is

Phalguna Mela in Khatushyamji Barbarika (''Barbarīka)'' or Khatu Shyam, is a Hindu deity, particularly worshipped in western India. According to the ''Skanda Purana'', Barbarika was the son of Ghatotkacha (Son of Bhima) and Princess Maurvi, daughter of Daitya Moora, tho ...

in Rajasthan.

References

*12 {{Hindu-theo-stub

Festivals

See also

References