The year Sarvajeet

The Hindu calendar (both solar and lunar) has a cycle of 60 years starting from Prabhava. The current year is called Sarvajeet which started on the 19th March 2007. So the birth year is repeated when a person completes his or her 60th year. The year Sarvajeet has 13 months just asa leap year has 29 days in February. In this case it is an entire month which is extra. This happens once in three years and it is unique to only the lunar calendar. The lunar calendar is shorter than the solar calendar by 8 to 10 days. In India, both solar and lunar calendars are in use and the unique feature of the Hindu lunar calendar is that it does not lag behind the solar calendar (as in the case of Muslim calendar) though it is shorter by 8 to 10 days. This is because the days are put together once in three years and made into an extra month. In the English calendar it is only February which has one extra day in the leap year. But in the lunar calendar, different months have an extra month. For instance, in the year Sarvajeet it is the third month which has the extra month. It is called Adhika Jyeshta. The real Jyeshta follows the Adhika Jyeshta. By doing this, both the solar and the lunar calendars go hand in hand. The festivals also keep moving forward and backward in successive years. The Lunar new years' day was on 19th March 2007. Next year it will fall on 7th April, 2008. So the year Sarvajeet has 284 day.



Now getting back to our original topic of FESTIVALS AND RECIPES, there appears to bea lull in the festivities after Ramanavami. This lull continues till the end of the month of Ashada - the 4th month of the lunar calendar. But the period upto the onset of Ashada is considered very auspicious for celebrating weddings and upanayanams(Thread ceremony). In South India most of the weddings and upanayanams are celebrated during these months. The month of Ashada is considered inauspicious for conducting weddings and upanayanams. The last day of the month of Ashada heralds the beginning of the festival season in South India - especially Karnataka.