Adhika masa
How does an extra lunar month fit in?
A lunar month with no Sankranti in it is counted as Adhika, an extra month. See the extra months of 2026, 2029 and 2031 against the Sun’s sign changes.
01 · A month with no sign change
When two new Moons fall in the same solar sign, the month between them is extra.
Each lunar month is named from the Sankranti inside it. A lunar month is shorter than most solar months, so now and then one starts after a Sankranti and ends before the next. With no Sankranti to name it, it becomes Adhika, an extra month, and shares the next month’s name.
Named by the Sankranti inside
A lunar month takes its name from the Sankranti that falls within it: the month in which the Sun enters Aries is Chaitra, the one in which it enters Taurus is Vaishakha, and so on, as why lunar festival dates change each year explains. Most lunar months contain exactly one Sankranti.
A lunar month lasts 29.3 to 29.8 days. A solar month, the Sun’s time in one sign, lasts from about 29.4 days in December and January, when Earth moves fastest, to about 31.5 days in June and July. A lunar month that begins just after a Sankranti in one of the long solar months can therefore end before the next Sankranti. It contains none, and has no name of its own.
The rule
Such a month is Adhika (अधिक, “additional”). It takes the name of the month that follows, so a year with one has two months of that name, Adhika first and the ordinary, nija, month second. The lunar year then holds thirteen months, which pulls it back into step with the solar year.
From the site’s ephemeris:
- 2026: the Sun entered Taurus on 15 May and Gemini on 15 June. The new Moons of 17 May and 15 June both fell between, so 17 May to 15 June was Adhika Jyeshtha.
- 2029: the month from 15 March to 14 April falls entirely while the Sun is in Pisces, so it is Adhika Chaitra.
- 2031: the month from 18 August to 17 September falls entirely in Leo, so it is Adhika Bhadrapada.
The gaps between them, 34 and 29 months, average out to an extra month about every 32½ months.
In the calendar
An Adhika month keeps its single name through both pakshas, in both the Amanta and Purnimanta counts. Many festivals are not kept in it and move to the nija month that follows; others have observances specific to it. The lunar month guide shows how the site labels it. The opposite case, a month that holds two Sankrantis, is rarer still; how a lunar month name can be skipped covers it.
See today’s lunar month on the Delhi Panchang, or explore another topic in Learn.