Lunar months
Jyeshtha: where the lunar month falls
Jyeshtha is the lunar month in which the Sun enters sidereal Gemini. See its dates for 2026 to 2028 and the full Moon behind its name.
01 · In the lunar year
Jyeshtha is the lunar month in which the Sun enters Gemini.
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 Gemini is Jyeshtha, the third month of the lunar year.
02 · The name in the sky
Jyeshtha’s full Moon falls in or near Jyeshtha.
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 third month
Jyeshtha (ज्येष्ठ) is the third of the twelve lunar months, after Vaishakha and before Ashadha. 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: Jyeshtha is the month in which the Sun enters sidereal Gemini. 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 Gemini | Full Moon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 15 Jun, 08:24 | 14 Jul, 15:13 | 15 Jun, 12:28 | 30 Jun, 05:26 |
| 2027 | 5 Jun, 01:10 | 4 Jul, 08:32 | 15 Jun, 18:31 | 19 Jun, 06:14 |
| 2028 | 24 May, 13:46 | 22 Jun, 23:57 | 15 Jun, 00:49 | 7 Jun, 11:38 |
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 Jyeshtha, came before the ordinary one from 17 May 2026 to 15 June 2026; 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 Gemini, the full Moon of the month stands opposite it, and Jyeshtha is named for Jyeshtha, the nakshatra the full Moon falls in or near. In the site’s ephemeris the Moon at the full Moon of Jyeshtha stood in Purva Ashadha in 2026, in Moola in 2027 and in Jyeshtha 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, Jyeshtha runs from the full Moon of Vaishakha to its own full Moon. Its waxing half is the same in both counts. The waning half that ends an Amanta Jyeshtha is called Ashadha Krishna in the Purnimanta count, and Purnimanta Jyeshtha begins instead with the waning half of Amanta Vaishakha, 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.