Last Updated on August 13, 2024 by Tejaswini

The Adhik अधिक maas मास is a method to synchronise our solar and lunar years.

• Adhik means abundant, redundant, intercalated, inferior, excellent, surpassing, subsequent, etc.
• Maas means a month, the moon etc.

This month is also called Purushottam पुरुषोत्तम maas. Purush is the ‘Ish’ who dwells in the ‘Pur’. It is Consciousness which dwells within this creation/Prakruti, not as a participant but as a witness. Some people use this term for Bhagwan Vishnu, which is also correct as the word ‘Vishnu’ in Sanskrit means the Intelligence which pervades throughout duality/ creation allowing it to continue. We Hindus worship the Eternal nondual consciousness.

It is also called the Mala मल maas मास. Mala has several meanings including mist, natural impurity, exudation, any secretion, camphor, possession, the wrappings of ignorance on the jivatma/individual soul, the Creation which has emanated from the Advaita etc.

A lunar month is composed of the tithi/lunar day and the solar month has vaar/solar day and these are astronomical concepts. We follow both types of months for different purposes (post here). Our Rishis had devised methods to ensure that the lunar and solar years always remain in sync over extended periods of time. One of these methods is this the adhik lunar month which is added to the lunar calendar every 33 months.

Creation manifested on the Chaitra Shukla pratipada, ie the first day of the bright half of the Chaitra month. This is the day a fresh new Moon emerged from its complete conjunction with the Sun (amavasya). This day is called Yugadi, the start of the Yug/era. The first lunar month thus was an Amavasyant, ie the month was complete when the Moon is completely absorbed into the Sun. (The Adhik maas is always calculated from the Amavasyant perspective.) In the duration of one lunar month, one Surya sanskranti has to compulsorily occur, ie the Sun has to transit from one sign to the next. Only then can that lunar month be called Shudda/pure or Nija/original. But after 33 Shuddha lunar months, this astronomical event does not happen, ie the Sun does not transit into the next sign. So this one lunar month is said to be Adhik.

Here are the dates of the astronomical events in 2023 so that this logic is clear.

• Karka sankranti, Sun moves into Cancer – 16^th July
• Ashadh Amavasya – 17^th July
• Adhik Shravan Shukla pratipada, the additional lunar month begins – 18^th July
• Adhik Shravan Purnima – 30^th Aug
• Adhik Shravan Amavasya, the additional lunar month ends – 16^th Aug
• (Note: Sun has not changed his sign in this additional lunar month, he has continued in Cancer.)
• Shuddha Shravan Shukla pratipada, the regular lunar month begins – 17^th Aug
• Simha Sankranti, Sun enters Leo – 17^th Aug
• Shuddha Shravan Purnima – 31^st Aug
• Shuddha Shravan Amavasya, the regular Shravan ends – 14^th Sept

The time from Devshayani Ashadh Shukla Ekadashi to Devutthan Kartik Shukla Ekadashi is the time when the Bhagwan Vishnu along with Devi Laxmi rest in Yognidra. And during this time the responsibility of managing the world is handed over to Bhagwan Shankar and Devi Parvati, this time is called the Chaturmaas. The Chaturmaas is dedicated to pujas for Bhagwan Shankar and Devi Parvati. These months are full of festivals and every day has some associated puja. We do not consume non-vegetarian food or alcohol during this time and try to eat Satvik food so that our bodies/minds can absorb the positive energies of this time. Genuine spiritual aspirants additionally avoid physical intimacy, eat the food they have cooked themselves and keep to a strictly Satvik lifestyle as much as possible.

This year, in 2023, the Adhik maas is falling within the Chaturmaas as an Adhik Shravan. During the Adhik month there are certain rules to be followed,

• No Sanskars, except Anteyshti, can be performed. In Sanatan dharma there are 16 compulsory sanskars, from Garbhadhan to Anteysthi, ie pre-conception to cremation.
• No special pujas like Gruhpravesh, housewarming etc. There are no special muhurts available in this lunar month.
• Initiation of new mantras is not to be done in this month.
• You can do pujas as remedies for astrological combinations after discussing with your regular astrologer, they will give greater effect.
• The pujas and festivals associated with the month are not performed in the Adhik maas but are performed in the Shuddha maas. ie, all the regular pujas, like Naag Panchami etc will be performed in the regular Shravan not the Adhik Shravan.
• During this month it is advisable to perform small anushthan, vrat, upasana, homa, yajnya, do additional jaap of the mantra you are already initiated into, do more repeats of the mantra which you are already practicing etc as much as possible.
• You can go for pilgrimages, teerthyatra during this time is especially auspicious. Try going to teerth and temples where pujas are continuously going on for at least 1000yrs.

(I dad written this in some previous post, repeating it here. There are two variations in the lunar months which are followed in Bharat. In the Dakshin, the lunar month ends in Amavasya, it is called Amavasyant. And the Uttar follows the Purnimant system, where the lunar month ends on the Purnima. This is also a cause of division in the Uttar and Dakshin. Purnima and Amavasya are two extremely powerful tithis. Between the two, the Amavasya has more concentrated energy useful for the spiritual aspirant.

Our Rishis had developed several corrections for ensuring that the ‘year’ would match the movement of the Sun, Moon, Nakshatra (Bhaa-chakra), and the motion around the Vishnu-nabhi (central black hole of our galaxy). With the systematic genocide of Hindus over the past 1000yrs and the calculated killings of our Brahmins, destruction of our centres of learning, our universities, our temple complexes, burning of our libraries, etc, all this is now lost. By my very rough calculations over 100million Hindus have been killed in the recorded past. 

Earlier there was a 30yr cycle for syncing these various movements and keeping the ‘year’ on track. For 15yrs, the lunar months would be Amavasyant, then one fortnight of 15days would be dropped and the next 15yrs cycle would be Purnimant and repeating again to Amavasyant. With the unprecedented destruction by the invaders, some parts of Bharat remained stuck in continuous Amavasyant and some in continuous Purnimant. This error will be corrected only when dedicated families of Brahmins refer to the books, take observations of the Sun, Moon, Bhaachakra, Vishnu-nabhi over a few years, do the math etc and take on the responsibility of maintaining the correct Time over generations.

At present, the best option is to follow whatever your family traditionally follows. In this blog, the Amavasyant lunar month system is followed.)