South Asian Calendar Traditions

The Hindu calendars, known as panchanga, combine lunar months with sidereal solar reckoning and insert an extra month, adhika...

India's official civil calendar, also called the Saka calendar, was adopted on 22 March 1957, which became 1 Chaitra 1879 Saka...

The Bengali calendar, or Bangabda, is a solar calendar whose new year, Pohela Boishakh, is a major festival in Bangladesh and...

The Nanakshahi calendar was designed by Pal Singh Purewal to fix Sikh festivals to a tropical solar year, with year one in 1469...

Vikram Samvat counts years from 57 BCE and is traditionally linked to the legendary king Vikramaditya. It is widely used in...

The Shaka era begins in 78 CE and became the standard era of Indian astronomers. The Indian national calendar adopted in 1957...

Diwali, the festival of lights, centres on the new moon night of the lunar month Kartika in the amanta reckoning, called Ashvin...

Indian tradition counts the Kali Yuga, the fourth and last world age, from a traditional date of 23 January 3102 BCE, the death...

Buddhists across South and Southeast Asia mark the birth, enlightenment and passing of the Buddha on the full moon of the lunar...