Agrahāyaṇa or Mārgaśīrṣa, (
Hindi:
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 s ...
. 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
Nakshatra ( sa, नक्षत्रम्, translit=Nakṣatram) is the term for lunar mansion in Hindu astrology and Indian Astronomy. A nakshatra is one of 27 (sometimes also 28) sectors along the ecliptic. Their names are related to a ...
(
asterisms) known since
Vedic times. 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'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, mentions young marriageable daughters (
gopis) of the cowherd men of
Gokula, worshiping Goddess
Kātyāyanī
''Katyayani'' (कात्यायनी) is an aspect of Mahadevi and the slayer of the tyrannical demon Mahishasura. She is the sixth among the Navadurgas, the nine forms of Hindu goddess Durga who are worshipped during the festival of Nava ...
and taking a
vrata, or vow, during the entire month of
Mārgaśīṣa, the first month of the winter season (Śiśira), to get
Śrī Kṛṣṇa as their husband.