Paksha () refers to a

fortnight A fortnight is a unit of time equal to 14 days (two weeks). The word derives from the Old English term , meaning "" (or "fourteen days", since the Anglo-Saxons counted by nights). Astronomy and tides In astronomy, a ''lunar fortnight'' is hal ...

or a

lunar phase A lunar phase or Moon phase is the apparent shape of the Moon's directly sunlit portion as viewed from the Earth. Because the Moon is tidally locked with the Earth, the same hemisphere is always facing the Earth. In common usage, the four maj ...

in a month of the Hindu lunar calendar. Literally meaning "side", a

paksha Paksha () 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 '' purnima'' ( full moon day). A lunar month in the Hindu calendar has two fortnight ...

is the period either side of the ''

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 exac ...

'' ( full moon day). A

lunar month In lunar calendars, a lunar month is the time between two successive syzygies of the same type: new moons or full moons. The precise definition varies, especially for the beginning of the month. Variations In Shona, Middle Eastern, and Euro ...

in the Hindu calendar has two fortnights, and begins with the ''

amavasya Amāvásyā () is the lunar phase of the new moon in Sanskrit. Indian calendars use 30 lunar phases, called tithi in India. The dark moon tithi is when the Moon is within 12 degrees of the angular distance between the Sun and Moon before conj ...

'' (

new moon In astronomy, the new moon is the first lunar phase, when the Moon and Sun have the same ecliptic longitude. At this phase, the lunar disk is not visible to the naked eye, except when it is silhouetted against the Sun during a solar eclipse. ...

). The lunar days are called ''

tithi In Vedic timekeeping, a ''tithi'' is a "duration of two faces of moon that is observed from earth", known as ''milа̄lyа̄'' () in Nepal Bhasa, or the time it takes for the longitudinal angle between the Moon and the Sun to increase by 12 ...

s;'' each month has 30 ''tithi''s, which may vary from 20 – 27 hours. A paksha has 15 ''tithi''s, which are calculated by a 12 degree motion of the moon. The first fortnight between the new moon day and the full moon day is called the Gaura Paksha or Shukla Paksha (), the period of the brightening moon ( waxing moon), and the second fortnight of the month is called the Vadhya Paksha or Krishna Paksha (), the period of the fading moon ( waning moon).Hindu calendar
The

Neemuch Neemuch or Nimach is a city in the Malwa region of Madhya Pradesh. The town shares its northwestern border with the state of Rajasthan and is the administrative headquarters of Neemuch District. Formerly a large British people, British cantonm ...

calendar begin a new lunar month from first day of Krishna Paksha, while the

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, 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 List of states and union territories ...

calendar begins a new lunar month from the first day of Shukla Paksha.

Days of Shukla Paksha and Krishna Paksha

Shukla Paksha

Shukla Paksha refers to the bright lunar fortnight or waxing moon in the

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 ...

. ''Shukla'' () is a

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

word for "white" or "bright". The Shukla Paksha is a period of 15 days, which begins after the ''amavasya'' (new moon) day and culminating on ''purnima'' (full moon) day and is considered auspicious. Numerous festivals are held during this period, including the

Navaratri Navaratri () is an annual Hindu festival observed in honor of the goddess Durga, an aspect of Adi Parashakti, the supreme goddess. It spans over nine nights, first in the month of Chaitra (March/April of the Gregorian calendar), and aga ...

festivals, most importantly

Chaitra Chaitra () is a month of the Hindu calendar. In the standard Hindu calendar and India's national civil calendar, Chaitra is the first month of the year. It is the last month in the Bengali calendar, where it is called Choitro. Chaitra or Cha ...

Navaratri and

Ashvin Ashvin or Ashwin or Ashwan (; ; Malay/ Indonesian: ''Aswin''; Thai: ''Asawin''), also known as Aswayuja, is the seventh month of the lunisolar Hindu calendar, the solar Tamil calendar, where it is known as Aippasi, and the solar Indian nation ...

Navaratri.

Krishna Paksha

Krishna Paksha refers to the dark lunar fortnight or waning moon in the

. ''Krishna'' () is a

word for "dark". Krishna Paksha is a period of 15 days, which begins after ''purnima'' day (full moon), culminating on the ''amavasya'' (new moon). ''Krishna Paksha'' is considered inauspicious, as the moon loses light during this period. Festivals during the Krishna Paksha are:

Other usages

In Vedic astrology when a person does a prasna (a question chart) and the planet Venus indicates the time period, the event referred to in the answer will happen in a pakṣa (''fortnight'') from the time the question was asked.

References

* K. V. Sarma (2008), "Paksa",

Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures ''Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures'' is an encyclopedia edited by Helaine Selin and published by Kluwer Academic Publishers in 1997, with a second edition in 2008, and third edition in 2016 ...

(2nd edition) edited by

Helaine Selin Helaine Selin (born 1946) is an American librarian, historian of science, author and book editor. Career Selin attended Binghamton University, where she earned her bachelor's degree. She received her MLS from SUNY Albany. She was a Peace Corps ...

, Springer, .

External links

Ahargana - The Astronomy of the Hindu Calendar: Maana, Krishna Pksha, Shukla Paksha and Chandra Masa
Explains Krishna paksha and Shukla paksha by means of astronomical simulations created using

Stellarium A stellarium is a three-dimensional map of the stars, typically centered on Earth. They are common fixtures at planetarium A planetarium (: planetariums or planetaria) is a theatre built primarily for presenting educational and entertainin ...

.
Hindu Festivals Calendar 2010

Introduction to the Hindu Calendar (pdf)
{{Time measurement and standards Hindu calendar Phases of the Moon