Ritu () means "

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

" in different ancient Indian calendars used in India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka. There are six ritus (also transliterated ritu) or seasons. Seasons are different times of the year and there are 12 months in the year. Every month has its own special season. The word is derived from the

Vedic Sanskrit Vedic Sanskrit, also simply referred as the Vedic language, is the most ancient known precursor to Sanskrit, a language in the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan subgroup of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family. It is atteste ...

word

Ṛtú Ritu () in Vedic Sanskrit refers to a fixed or appointed time, especially the proper time for sacrifice (yajna) or ritual in Vedic Religion. The word is so used in the Rigveda, the Yajurveda and the Atharvaveda. In Classical Sanskrit, it refers ...

, a fixed or appointed time, especially the proper time for sacrifice (

yajna In Hinduism, ''Yajna'' or ''Yagna'' (, Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ɐd͡ʒɲə ) also known as Hawan, is a ritual done in front of a sacred fire, often with mantras. Yajna has been a Vedas, Vedic tradition, described in a layer of Vedic literature ...

) or ritual in Vedic religion; this in turn comes from the word

Ṛta In the Historical Vedic religion, Vedic religion, ''Ṛta'' (International Phonetic Alphabet, /ɹ̩t̪ɐ/; Sanskrit ' "order, rhythm, rule; truth; logos") is the principle of natural order which regulates and coordinates the operation of the un ...

(ऋत), as used in

literally means the "order or course of things". This word is used in nearly all Indian languages.

Nepalese and Indian calendars

Nepal and India observes six ecological seasons.

East Indian calendars

East Indian calendars (Bengali, Assamese, Odia and Mithila) start their new year on Mesh Sankranti. The season names corresponds to the Sanskrit Vasanta, Grishma, Varsha, Sharada, Hemanta, Shishira order. The

Bengali Calendar The Bengali Calendar or Bangla Calendar (, colloquially , or , , "Bangla Year") is a solar calendar used in the Bengal region of the Indian subcontinent. In contrast to the traditional Indian Hindu calendar, which begins with the month Chait ...

is similar to the Sanskrit calendar above, but differs in start and end times which moves certain dates/days around (i.e., Vasant Panchami occurs here in Vasant ritu but in the calendar above, it occurs in Shishir as that is the Magha Shukla Panchami). The East Indian Calendar has the following seasons or ritus:

Assamese Calendar

Seasons in the

Assamese Calendar The Assamese Calendar () is a Lunisolar calendar, followed in the Indian state of Assam. The New Year in the Assamese calendar is known as '' Bohag Bihu''. The calendar is counted from the date of the ascension of Kumar Bhashkar Barman to the t ...

Bengali Calendar

Seasons in the

Maithili Calendar

Seasons in the

Maithili Calendar Tirhuta Panchang (Devanagari script, Devanagari: तिरहुता पंचांग, Tirhuta script, Tirhuta: 𑒞𑒱𑒩𑒯𑒳𑒞𑒰 𑒣𑓀𑒔𑒰𑓀𑒑, International Phonetic Alphabet, IPA: ''Tirhutā pan̄cāṅg'') is a cale ...

Odia Calendar

Seasons in the

Odia calendar The Odia calendar ( Pāñji) is a solar calendar used by the Odia people from the Odisha region of the Indian subcontinent. The calendar follows the sidereal solar cycle while using the lunar Purnimanta phase for the religious dates. The New Year ...

South Indian calendars

Malayalam Kannada Telugu Calendar

The

Malayalam calendar The Malayalam Calendar, or the Kollam Era (), is a sidereal solar calendar used in Kerala. The origin of the calendar has been dated to 825 CE, commemorating the establishment of Kollam. There are many theories regarding the origin of t ...

or Kollam Era, a

solar Solar may refer to: Astronomy * Of or relating to the Sun ** Solar telescope, a special purpose telescope used to observe the Sun ** A device that utilizes solar energy (e.g. "solar panels") ** Solar calendar, a calendar whose dates indicate t ...

and sidereal

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 ...

used in

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

, and in Karnataka they follows a pattern of six seasons slightly different from North Indian Calendars.

Tamil calendar

The

Tamil Calendar The Tamil calendar (தமிழ் நாட்காட்டி) is a Sidereal time, sidereal solar calendar used by the Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It is also used in Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry, and by the Tamil ...

follows a similar pattern of six seasons as described in the Hindu calendar.

In culture

The seasons are described in literature such as the

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 ...

poem ''

Ṛtusaṃhāra ''Ṛtusaṃhāra'', often written ''Ritusamhara'', (Devanagari: ऋतुसंहार; ऋतु , "season"; संहार , "compilation") is a medium length Sanskrit poem.Lienhard, Siegfried (1984). ''A History of Classical Poetry: Sanskri ...

'' written by the legendary Sanskrit poet

Kālidāsa Kālidāsa (, "Servant of Kali (god), Kali"; 4th–5th century CE) was a Classical Sanskrit author who is often considered ancient India's greatest poet and playwright. His plays and poetry are primarily based on Hindu Puranas and philosophy. ...

. Names of the ritu are commonly used for persons: typically, Vasant, Sharad, Hemant, Shishir and Varsh are "male" names; "female" names include Vasanti, Sharada, Hemanti, Grishma and Varsha. Similar naming conventions are also used in Tamil: For female Ilavenil. For male Kar(Vannan).

Nepalese and Indian calendars

East Indian calendars

Assamese Calendar

Bengali Calendar

Maithili Calendar

Odia Calendar

South Indian calendars

Malayalam Kannada Telugu Calendar

Tamil calendar

In culture

See also

References

Further reading