Pakṣa
पक्ष
Lunar fortnight: waxing śukla or waning kṛṣṇa, fifteen tithis each.
Definition
A pakṣa ('wing, side') is half a lunar month. Śukla pakṣa, the bright fortnight, runs from the day after new moon to full moon; kṛṣṇa pakṣa, the dark fortnight, from the day after full moon to new moon. Tithis are named within each pakṣa (pratipadā, dvitīyā and so on), so a date is given as, for example, Kārtika śukla ekādaśī.
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
Navratri, twice a year: Chaitra and Sharad
The two nine-night festivals of the goddess, at the spring and autumn turns of the year, and the rules almanacs use to fix their first and last days.
7 min read · 1 October 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