Paksha () refers to a fortnight 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'' ( 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). The lunar days are called '' tithis;'' 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 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 festivals, most importantly Chaitra Navaratri and Ashvin 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 (2nd edition) edited by Helaine Selin, 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.
Hindu Festivals Calendar 2010

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