Agrahāyaṇa or Mārgaśīrṣa, (
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 ...
:
अगहन - agahana; मार्गशीर्ष - Mārgaśirṣa) 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
India's national civil calendar, ''Agrahāyaṇa'' is the ninth month of the year, beginning on 16 December 2021 and ending on
13 January 2022. But In Hindu , Agrahayana or Margaseerisha will starts on November 22.
Mārgaśīrṣa means: related to Mṛgaśiras - the
Nakṣatra (
asterisms) known since
Vedic times
The Vedic period, or the Vedic age (), is the period in the late Bronze Age and early Iron Age of the history of India when the Vedic literature, including the Vedas (ca. 1300–900 BCE), was composed in the northern Indian subcontinent, betw ...
. In Tamil, Mārgasīrsa is also known as Margazhi.
In lunar religious calendars, Agrahāyaṇa may begin on either the new moon or the full moon around the same time of year, and is usually the 9th month of the year.
In solar religious calendars, Agrahāyaṇa/Maarkazhi 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 Scorpio, and is the 9th month of the year.
Festivals
Vaikuṇṭha Ekādaśī, the
Ekādaśī (i.e. 11th lunar day) of this
Mārgaśīṣa month, is celebrated also as ''Mokṣadā Ekādaśī''. The 10th Canto, 22nd Chapter of
Bhāgavata Purāṇa
The ''Bhagavata Purana'' ( sa, भागवतपुराण; ), also known as the ''Srimad Bhagavatam'', ''Srimad Bhagavata Mahapurana'' or simply ''Bhagavata'', is one of Hinduism's eighteen great Puranas (''Mahapuranas''). Composed in Sa ...
, mentions young marriageable daughters (
gopis
Gopi ( sa, गोपी, ) or Gopika in Hinduism are worshipped as the consorts and devotees of Krishna within the Vaishnavism and Krishnaism traditions for their unconditional love and devotion (''Bhakti'') to god Krishna as described in the S ...
) of the cowherd men of
Gokula
Gokula Singh (also known as Veer Gokula, or Gokal or Gokul Singh Jat; died on 1 January 1670 AD) was a Jat zamindar of Tilpat, belonging to Haga(Agre/Agha) gotra, in what is now the state of Haryana, India. The second of four sons born to Madu ...
, worshiping Goddess
Kātyāyanī and taking a
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 ...
, or vow, during the entire month of
Mārgaśīṣa, the first month of the winter season (Śiśira), to get
Śrī Kṛṣṇa as their husband.
Bhairava Ashtami
Bhairava Ashtami, also known as Bhairavashtami, Bhairava Jayanti, Kala-Bhairava Ashtami and Kala-Bhairava Jayanti is a Hindu holy day commemorating the birthday of Bhairava (lit. "terror-inspiring"), a fearsome and wrathful manifestation of the ...
falls on
Krishna paksha
Paksha (also known as ''pakṣa''; sa, पक्ष, Nepal Bhasa: ''thwa'' and ''gа̄''; ) refers to a fortnight or a lunar phase in a month of the Hindu lunar calendar.
Literally meaning "side", a paksha is the period either side of the Ful ...
Ashtami
Ashtami (अष्टमी ''aṣṭamī'') is the eighth day (Tithi) of Hindu lunar calendar.
Festivals Krishna Janmashtami
Krishna Janmashtami or Gokul Ashtami is a Hindu festival celebrating the birth of Lord Krishna, an avatar of Hindu deit ...
of this month of
Mārgaśīṣa. On this day it is said that
Lord Śiva appeared on earth in the fierce manifestation (avatāra) as Śrī Kālabhairava. This day is commemorated with special prayers and rituals.
In Odisha, all Thursdays in this month are celebrated as Manabasa Gurubara where in Goddess Lakshmi is worshipped by Hindu women.
In Tamil Nadu during this month of "Margazhi" ladies make "kolams" or "rangoli" early in the morning. Devotees usually go to temples early in the morning and recite
Thiruppavai
The Thiruppavai ( Tamil: திருப்பாவை) is a set of Tamil devotional religious hymns attributed to the female poet-saint Andal (also known as Nachiyar, Kodhai or Goda Devi). She is considered the manifestation of Bhudevi, who h ...
by
Andal and
Thiruvempavai The Thiruvempavai (Tamil: திருவெம்பாவை, IAST: Tiruvempāvai) is a collection of songs composed by the poet and saint, Manikkavacakar. It consists of 20 stanzas devoted to the Hindu God Shiva. It forms part of the collection c ...
by
Manikkavacakar
See also
*
Astronomical basis of the Hindu calendar
The Hindu calendar is based on a geocentric model of the solar system.Burgess 1935, p. 285 (XII. 32) A geocentric model describes the solar system as seen by an observer on the surface of the earth.
The Hindu calendar defines nine measures o ...
*
Hindu units of measurement
Before the introduction of the Metric system, one may divide the history of Indian systems of measurement into three main periods: the pre-Akbar's period, the period of the Akbar system, and the British colonial period.
During pre-Akbar period, ...
*
Hindu astronomy
Astronomy has long history in Indian subcontinent stretching from pre-historic to modern times. Some of the earliest roots of Indian astronomy can be dated to the period of Indus Valley civilisation or earlier. Astronomy later developed as a dis ...
*
Jyotiṣa
Jyotisha or Jyotishya (from Sanskrit ', from ' “light, heavenly body" and ''ish'' - from Isvara or God) is the traditional Hindu system of astrology, also known as Hindu astrology, Indian astrology and more recently Vedic astrology. It is one ...
*
Precession
Precession is a change in the orientation of the rotational axis of a rotating body. In an appropriate reference frame it can be defined as a change in the first Euler angle, whereas the third Euler angle defines the rotation itself. In oth ...
of the earth,
Equinox
A solar equinox is a moment in time when the Sun crosses the Earth's equator, which is to say, appears directly above the equator, rather than north or south of the equator. On the day of the equinox, the Sun appears to rise "due east" and se ...
References
{{Indian astronomy
*09