Asharh ( ''āshāḍh'', ''āsāḍha'') is the third month of the
Bengali and
Odia calendars and the
Tirhuta Panchang
Tirhuta Panchang (Devanagari script, Devanagari: तिरहुता पंचांग, Tirhuta script, Tirhuta: 𑒞𑒱𑒩𑒯𑒳𑒞𑒰 𑒣𑓀𑒔𑒰𑓀𑒑, International Phonetic Alphabet, IPA: ''Tirhutā pan̄cāṅg'') is a cale ...
(a
Hindu calendar
The Hindu calendar, also called Panchangam, Panchanga (), 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 ...
followed by the Maithil community in India and Nepal). It is the first of the two months that comprise the
wet season
The wet season (sometimes called the rainy season or monsoon season) is the time of year when most of a region's average annual rainfall occurs. Generally, the season lasts at least one month. The term ''green season'' is also sometimes used a ...
, locally known as "Barsha" ( ''Bôrsha'', ''Barsha'', ''Barsā''), when the
monsoon
A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in Atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annu ...
winds blow. It is one of the first five months of the year that have 31 days, according to the Bangladeshi version of the Bengali Calendar.
In the Indian version of the Bengali Calendar, the month can have up to 32 days.
Etymology
It is named for the constellation
Uttarashadha ( ''Uttôrashaŗha''), identified with
Sagittarius.
Culture
Bengali culture
The month and the monsoon are welcome with songs, dance, and celebration in Bangladesh. A popular poem "Abar Eshechhey Asharh" আবার এসেছে আষাঢ় by
Rabindranath Tagore
Rabindranath Thakur (; anglicised as Rabindranath Tagore ; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengalis, Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer, and painter of the Bengal Renai ...
, that is about this season.
Odia culture
There are occurrences of an extra Asadha which is referred as ''maḷa māsa'' (meaning unclean) in
Odia whereas the non-extra Asadha is referred to as ''suddha''.
See also
* Equivalent month in
Hindu calendar
The Hindu calendar, also called Panchangam, Panchanga (), 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 ...
, ''
Aashaadha
Ashadha or Aashaadha or Adi () is a month of the Hindu calendar that corresponds to June/July in the Gregorian calendar. In India's national civil calendar, this month is the fourth month of the year, beginning on 22 June and ending on 22 July. I ...
''
References
Months of the Bengali calendar
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