Vṛścik‌‌‌a (वृश्चिक), also referred to as Vrishchika or Vrschika, is a month in the Indian solar calendar. It corresponds to the zodiacal sign of Scorpio, and approximately overlaps with the later half of November and first half of December in the

Gregorian calendar The Gregorian calendar is the calendar used in most parts of the world. It went into effect in October 1582 following the papal bull issued by Pope Gregory XIII, which introduced it as a modification of, and replacement for, the Julian cale ...

. In Vedic texts, the Vrscika month is called Urja (IAST: Ūrja), with which a female goddess is also associated called Urja but in these ancient texts it has no zodiacal associations. The solar month of Vrschika overlaps with its lunar month Agahana or Mangsir, in Hindu lunisolar calendars. The Vrschika marks the end of the autumn season and the start of the winter on the Indian subcontinent, and is preceded by the solar month of Tulā, and followed by the solar month of Dhanu. The Vrschika month is called ''Kartigai'' in the Tamil Hindu calendar. The ancient and medieval era Sanskrit texts of India vary in their calculations about the duration of Vrschika, just like they do with other months. For example, the ''Surya Siddhanta'' calculates the duration of Vrschika to be 29 days, 11 hours, 46 minutes and 0 seconds. In contrast, the ''Arya Siddhanta'' calculates the duration of the Vrschika month to be 29 days, 12 hours, 12 minutes and 24 seconds. The Indian solar month names are significant in epigraphical studies of South Asia. For example, ''Vrischika'' month, along with other solar months are found inscribed in medieval era temples. The ''Vrischika'' month, along with the other months, is found inscribed in Chola Empire monuments. Vrschika is also an astrological sign in Indian horoscope systems, corresponding to

Scorpio (astrology) Scorpio (; , Latin for " scorpion") is the eighth astrological sign in the zodiac, originating from the constellation of Scorpius. It spans 210–240° ecliptic longitude. Under the tropical zodiac (most commonly used in Western astrolo ...

. Vrishika is also the twenty-fourth month in the Darian calendar for the planet

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...

, when the

Sun The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as visible light a ...

traverses the western sector of the constellation

Ophiuchus Ophiuchus () is a large constellation straddling the celestial equator. Its name comes from the Ancient Greek (), meaning "serpent-bearer", and it is commonly represented as a man grasping a snake. The serpent is represented by the constellati ...

as seen from Mars.

References

{{Nepali calendar Hindu solar months