Lunar months
Ashadha: where the lunar month falls
Ashadha is the lunar month in which the Sun enters sidereal Cancer. See its dates for 2026 to 2028 and the full Moon behind its name.
01 · In the lunar year
Ashadha is the lunar month in which the Sun enters Cancer.
A lunar month is named from the Sankranti inside it. The new Moon to new Moon month that holds the Sun’s entry into sidereal Cancer is Ashadha, the fourth month of the lunar year.
02 · The name in the sky
Ashadha’s full Moon falls in or near Purva Ashadha or Uttara Ashadha.
The month names come from nakshatras. With the Sun in the month’s sign, the full Moon stands opposite it, near the nakshatra the month is named after.
The fourth month
Ashadha (आषाढ़) is the fourth of the twelve lunar months, after Jyeshtha and before Shravana. Like every lunar month it runs from one new Moon to the next, and it takes its name from the Sankranti that falls inside it: Ashadha is the month in which the Sun enters sidereal Cancer. It belongs to Grishma ritu, one of the six seasons of two months each.
In the Amanta count, from new Moon to new Moon, in IST:
| Year | Begins | Ends | Sun enters Cancer | Full Moon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 14 Jul, 15:13 | 12 Aug, 23:06 | 16 Jul, 23:15 | 29 Jul, 20:05 |
| 2027 | 4 Jul, 08:32 | 2 Aug, 15:35 | 17 Jul, 05:24 | 18 Jul, 21:14 |
| 2028 | 22 Jun, 23:57 | 22 Jul, 08:31 | 16 Jul, 11:42 | 6 Jul, 23:40 |
The dates move against the calendar from year to year, by about 11 days earlier from 2026 to 2027, because twelve lunar months are about 11 days shorter than the solar year; why lunar festival dates change each year explains the drift and the extra months that correct it. Between 2026 and 2034 an extra month, Adhika Ashadha, came before the ordinary one from 16 June 2034 to 15 July 2034; how an extra lunar month fits in explains it.
The name and the full Moon
The month names come from nakshatras. With the Sun in Cancer, the full Moon of the month stands opposite it, and Ashadha is named for Purva Ashadha or Uttara Ashadha, the nakshatra the full Moon falls in or near. In the site’s ephemeris the Moon at the full Moon of Ashadha stood in Shravana in 2026, in Uttara Ashadha in 2027 and in Purva Ashadha in 2028. The match is to within a nakshatra or two rather than exact: the Sun can be anywhere in its sign when the Moon is full, and the Moon stands opposite wherever the Sun is.
In the Purnimanta count
Where months are counted from full Moon, Ashadha runs from the full Moon of Jyeshtha to its own full Moon. Its waxing half is the same in both counts. The waning half that ends an Amanta Ashadha is called Shravana Krishna in the Purnimanta count, and Purnimanta Ashadha begins instead with the waning half of Amanta Jyeshtha, as why a fortnight can have two month names explains.
The lunar month guide lists all twelve names. See today’s lunar month on the Delhi Panchang, or explore another topic in Learn.