Festivals & the sky

When the calendar meets the sky

Hindu festivals are timed to the nakshatra + tithi + masa, so the actual dates shift each year against the civil calendar. The dates listed below are based on the panchang for New Delhi.

• Ugadi — March / April

  Hindu New Year (Parabhava cycle)

• Holi — March

  Spring fire festival — full-moon of Phalguna

• Ram Navami — April

  Birth of Rama — ninth day of Chaitra Shukla

• Janmashtami — August / September

  Birth of Krishna — eighth day of Bhadrapada Krishna

• Ganesh Chaturthi — August / September

  Birth of Ganesha — fourth day of Bhadrapada Shukla

• Navratri — September / October

  Nine nights of the goddess — Ashvina Shukla

• Diwali — October / November

  Lakshmi puja — new-moon of Ashvina