The Panchang: India's living astronomical calendar
Every Hindu calendar on a kitchen wall is the product of two thousand years of astronomy. What are the five limbs of the Panchang, why is there sometimes an extra month, and how is a muhurat chosen?
Five limbs of time
[Traditional account]
Pañcāṅga means "five limbs". For every day it gives: the tithi (lunar day), the vāra (weekday), the nakṣatra (the lunar mansion the moon occupies), the yoga (a combination of the sun's and moon's positions) and the karaṇa (half of a tithi). Together they describe the quality of time, used for festivals, rituals and muhurats.
A calendar of two lights
[Historical scholarship]
The Hindu calendar is lunisolar: months follow the moon, while the year follows the sun. But twelve lunar months are about eleven days shorter than a solar year. The ancient astronomers solved this with an elegant device — an extra month that appears roughly every three years…
The journey continues for members
- The extra month
- The five limbs, explained
- Sidereal zodiac and ayanamsa
- Muhurat — choosing a moment
- What we can learn
Sources
- Surya Siddhanta
- Vedanga Jyotisha — Lagadha
- Government of India Calendar Reform Committee report (1955)