The 12 Masas
A masa is a lunar month, and there are twelve in a year — with a thirteenth inserted roughly every thirty-two and a half months to stop the calendar drifting away from the seasons.
Each is named for the nakshatra in which its full moon falls: Chaitra for Chitra, Vaishakha for Vishakha, Kartika for Krittika, and so on down the list. That is the naming rule rather than a coincidence, and it is why the month names and the nakshatra names run in the same order.
These pages are stated in the amanta reckoning, in which a month runs from the day after one new moon to the next. Purnimanta states cut the month at the full moon instead, which shifts the name of every waning fortnight by one — the single most common reason two panchangams appear to disagree.
1. Chaitra
March-AprilThe first month — the lunar year opens at Ugadi on its first tithi.
Vasanta (spring)
2. Vaishakha
April-MayThe month of Akshaya Tritiya, and of giving water against the heat.
Vasanta (spring)
3. Jyeshtha
May-JuneThe hottest month, and the one that carries the strictest fast of the year.
Grishma (summer)
4. Ashadha
June-JulyChaturmasya begins — the four months when weddings stop and study starts.
Grishma (summer)
5. Shravana
July-AugustThe densest devotional month of the year, and the one Shiva is kept in.
Varsha (monsoon)
6. Bhadrapada
August-SeptemberVinayaka Chaviti opens it; the fortnight of the ancestors closes it.
Varsha (monsoon)
7. Ashwina
September-OctoberNine nights and a victory — the month Sharad Navratri runs in.
Sharad (autumn)
8. Kartika
October-NovemberThe month of lamps, and the most auspicious of the twelve.
Sharad (autumn)
9. Margashira
November-DecemberKrishna's own month, and the one Vaikuntha Ekadashi falls in.
Hemanta (pre-winter)
10. Pushya
December-JanuaryThe harvest month — Makara Sankranti falls in it, and the sun turns north.
Hemanta (pre-winter)
11. Magha
January-FebruarySaraswati at one end, Shiva's great night at the other.
Shishira (winter)
12. Phalguna
February-MarchThe year ends in colour — Holika Dahan on the full moon, Holi the day after.
Shishira (winter)