Lunar months, Sankranti and eclipses
A lunar month is named for its full Moon’s star; Sankranti is the Sun entering a sign; a month without one repeats.
- 6-minute lesson
- Basic course: Jyotish Shishya
- Vedic astrology
- The twelve lunar months
- Sankranti and Adhika masa
- Eclipses, events of the sky
A first look at the lesson
A lunar month is named after the nakshatra near the full Moon: Chitra gives Chaitra, Vishakha Vaishakha, Krittika Kartika.
The north counts a month from full Moon to full Moon (*purnimanta*); the south and west from new Moon to new Moon (*amanta*).
Sankranti is the moment the Sun enters a sign: Mesha Sankranti, Makara Sankranti. There are twelve a year.
A lunar month in which the Sun enters no sign is an Adhika masa, an extra month, repeated with the same name. It comes about every 32½ months, and keeps the lunar year in step with the Sun.
Words in this lesson
More lessons on this subject
- The birth chart (D1)A birth chart is the sky held still at the moment and place of birth: houses, signs and grahas.
- North, South and East Indian chartsOne chart, three drawings: houses fixed in the North; signs fixed in the South and East.
- Lagna chart and Moon chartThe same grahas counted from the Moon: the Moon chart, read beside the Lagna chart.
- Divisional charts: D9 and D10Cut every sign into equal parts and a new chart appears: the navamsha (D9) and the dashamsha (D10).
Your first lesson takes about five minutes
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