Māsa
मास
Month: lunar (amānta or pūrṇimānta) or solar.
Definition
A māsa is a month. The lunar months, Caitra to Phālguna, are named after the nakshatra near which the Moon is full; the amānta reckoning ends each month at new moon (common in southern and western India) and the pūrṇimānta at full moon (common in the north), so the kṛṣṇa pakṣa carries different month names in the two systems. Solar months (saura māsa) are defined by the Sun's passage through each rasi.
Articles that use this term
- PanchangaExplainer
Ekadashi: the eleventh lunar day
Why a lunar year has 24 Ekadashis and sometimes 26, and why smarta and vaishnava almanacs can print different dates for the same one.
7 min read · 2 October 2026
- PanchangaExplainer
Sankranti: the Sun's twelve sign entries
Why Makar Sankranti stays near 14 January while Diwali wanders, how the twelve sankrantis are classed, and the slow drift that will move the date.
6 min read · 26 September 2026
- PanchangaExplainer
Adhika masa: the leap month
Twelve lunar months fall about eleven days short of the solar year. How the calendar inserts a thirteenth month, when it does so, and what the rare lost month is.
6 min read · 25 September 2026
- PanchangaExplainer
Amanta and purnimanta: the Hindu calendar's two month systems
Two ways of deciding where a lunar month ends, why they give one festival two month-names, and which regions use which.
7 min read · 24 September 2026