Jyeshtha (month)

Jyeshtha (IAST: Jyēṣṭha) is the third month of the Hindu lunar calendar and the Indian national calendar.^[1] The name of the month is derived from the position of the Moon near the Jyeshtha nakshatra (star) on the full moon day. ^[2] It is associated with summer and corresponds to May–Junein the Gregorian calendar.^[3]

Jyeshtha
Native name	ज्येष्ठ (Sanskrit)
Calendar	Hindu calendar
Month number	3
Season	Summer
Gregorian equivalent	May-June
Significant days	Ganga Dussehra Jamai Sasthi Nirjala Ekadashi Sitalsasthi Carnival Snana Yatra Vat Purnima
← Vaisakha Ashadha →

In the Hindu solar calendar, it corresponds to the month of Vṛṣabha and begins with the Sun's entry into Taurus.^[4] It corresponds to Joishtho, the second month in the Bengali calendar.^[4] In the Tamil calendar, it corresponds to the third month of Āni, falling in the Gregorian months of June–July.^[4][5] In the Vaishnav calendar, it corresponds to the third month of Trivikrama.^[6][7]

Festivals

Ganga Dussehra at Har Ki Pauri, Haridwar in 2005

• Ganga Dussehra is celebrated to commemorate the descent of the Ganges river from heaven to earth.^[8][9] It is celebrated on Dashami (tenth day) tithi of the Shukla paksha (waxing moon).^[10] As per Hindu mythology, bathing in the river on this day is said to rid the bather of ten lifetimes of sins.^[11]

• Jamai Sasthi is celebrated by Bengalis on Shashthi, the sixth tithi of Shukla paksha.^[12] It is dedicated to the son-in-laws, who are invited by the wife's parents to their house for the celebrations.^[13]

• Nirjala Ekadashi is celebrated on Ekadashi (11th day) of Shukla Paksha.^[14] It is the most sacred and auspicious Ekadashi in the year, and people fast during the day to please Hindu god Vishnu.^[15]

• Shani Dev Jayanti is celebrated on Amavasya (new moon) of the month. It is dedicated to Shani (Saturn), one of the navagrahas.^[16]

• Sitalsasthi celebrates the marriage of Hindu god Shiva with Parvati. It is commemorated on the Shashthi thithi.^[17]

• Snana Yatra is a bathing festival celebrated on the Purnima (full moon) of the month.^[18] It commemorates the birthday of Hindu god Jagannath, and is a major festival in Jagannath temple in Puri. The deities Jagannath, Balabhadra, and Subhadra are taken for procession and ceremonially bathed.^[19]

• Vat Purnima is celebrated on the full moon day of the month. It honors Satyavan's wife Savitri, who rescued her husband from death by using her intelligence and devotion.^[20][21] Women pray for their husbands by tying threads around a banyan tree on this day.^[22]

See also

• Astronomical basis of the Hindu calendar
• Indian astronomy
• Hindu astrology
• Hindu units of time