Paksha

See also: Astronomical basis of the Hindu calendar
This article is about the lunar phase in the Hindu calendar. For the Slavic festive dish, see paskha.
Not to be confused with Paska.

Paksha (Sanskrit: पक्ष, romanized: pakṣa) refers to a fortnight or a lunar phase in a month of the Hindu lunar calendar.[1][2]

Literally meaning "side",[3] a paksha is the period either side of the purnima (full moon day). A lunar month in the Hindu calendar has two fortnights, and begins with the purnima (new moon). The lunar days are called tithis; each month has 30 tithis, which may vary from 20 – 27 hours. A paksha has 15 tithis, which are calculated by a 12 degree motion of the moon. The first fortnight between the new moon day and the full moon day is called the Gaura Paksha or Shukla Paksha (lit. 'white/bright/golden side'), the period of the brightening moon (waxing moon), and the second fortnight of the month is called the Vadhya Paksha or Krishna Paksha (lit. 'dark/black side'), the period of the fading moon (waning moon).[1][4] The Neemuch calendar begin a new lunar month from first day of Krishna Paksha, while the Gujarat calendar begins a new lunar month from the first day of Shukla Paksha.

  1. ^ a b Defouw, Hart; Robert Svoboda (2003). Light on Life: An Introduction to the Astrology of India. Lotus Press. p. 186. ISBN 0-940985-69-1.
  2. ^ Kumar, Ashwini (2005). Vaastu: The Art And Science Of Living. Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd. p. 50. ISBN 81-207-2569-7.
  3. ^ Monnier-Williams, M: (1851) Sanskrit Dictionary ISBN (none)
  4. ^ Hindu calendar Archived 2010-09-01 at the Wayback Machine