Masa 5 of 12
Shravanaశ్రావణం
The densest devotional month of the year, and the one Shiva is kept in.
- Named for
- Shravana
- Ritu
- Varsha (monsoon)
- Sun crosses
- Karka into Simha
- Roughly
- July-August
About Shravana
Shravana is the month of the rains at their fullest, and it carries more weekly observance than any other: every Monday is a Shravana Somavara kept for Shiva, and in the Telugu country every Friday and Tuesday carries its own vratam. Varalakshmi Vratam falls on the Friday before the full moon and is among the largest household observances of the Telugu year. Janmashtami falls in its waning fortnight.
Festivals and observances
- Shravana Somavara — every Monday of the month, for Shiva
- Naga Panchami — shukla panchami, in the north and west
- Varalakshmi Vratam — the Friday before the full moon
- Raksha Bandhan and Avani Avittam — Shravana purnima
- Krishna Janmashtami — krishna ashtami, at midnight
How the month gets its name
The month is named for the nakshatra in which its full moon falls. Because a lunar month is about 29.5 days and the moon returns to the same nakshatra in about 27.3, the match is close rather than exact — the full moon lands in the named nakshatra most months and in a neighbouring one occasionally. The name does not change when it does; the rule fixed the names long ago and they stay put.
Everything here follows the amanta convention used across the Telugu country and the south, in which the month ends at the new moon. In the purnimanta reckoning of the north the month ends at the full moon instead, so every waning-fortnight day carries the following month's name. The days are identical; only the label differs.