Vikram Samvat

What it is

The Vikram Samvat is a lunisolar calendar. Its months follow the moon, and an extra month is added so that the year stays in step with the sun. Twelve lunar months make about 354 days, so an adhika māsa, a leap month, is inserted roughly seven times in nineteen years. Each month has two fortnights of fifteen lunar days, called tithis. The bright fortnight after the new moon is held auspicious; the dark one is not. A lunar month runs about 29.5 days, two months make a season, three seasons an ayana, and two ayanas a year.

Origins and naming

Inscriptions from ancient and medieval times used this era, but the name Vikrama Samvat is not found before the ninth century. Earlier records call it Krita, or the era of the Malava tribe. The earliest inscription using the word Vikrama comes from 842, at Dholpur in the reign of the Chauhana ruler Chandamahasena. Linking the era to a king named Vikramaditya appears only in 971, and in a Jain literary work of 993 to 994. According to popular tradition, King Vikramaditya of Ujjain began the era after driving out the Sakas. Colonial scholars took that story as history; later study of inscriptions found no basis for it. Some writers instead credit Chandragupta II or Yashodharman.

The new year

The year turns differently from place to place. In many parts of India the new year comes with Chaitra Navaratri, kept in the lunar month of Chaitra, in March or April, after or during the spring harvest. In Punjab and much of northern, eastern and central India, Vaisakhi marks the solar new year when the month of Vaisakha opens, usually on 13 or 14 April. In Nepal the year opens with Baisakh and that day is the national new year, a public holiday. In Gujarat, Varsha Pratipada or Bestu Varas falls as the bright fortnight of Kartika opens, when farmers begin new account books.

Today and change

Nepal's Rana dynasty made the Vikram Samvat the country's official Hindu calendar in 1901. Its year there begins in mid-April and closes with the last day of Chaitra. Nepal Sambat was recognised alongside it in 2007. In India the reformulated Saka calendar is official and Vikram Samvat is kept for festival dates. The Hindi preamble of the constitution gives the adoption date of 26 November 1949 as Margsheersh Shukla Saptami, Samvat 2006, and a call has been made to replace the Saka calendar with it.

How Vikram Samvat is kept

Vikram Samvat is kept as a way of fixing time rather than as one ritual. Almanac makers work out the tithis and the fortnights each month, and add a leap month when the reckoning needs it. Their published dates then decide when festivals, fasts and harvest rites fall. In Nepal the new year is the opening day of Baisakh and a public holiday; Bhaktapur marks it with the Bisket Jatra carnival. In Gujarat, Bestu Varas is when traders begin new account books. Over the centuries the era has also been used by Sikhs and Pashtuns.

When and where

The epoch of Vikram Samvat is a full moon or new moon in March or April of 57 BCE; which one depends on the culture. Its year count stays about 57 years ahead of the Gregorian, or 56 between January and March. New year falls in March or April in India and in mid-April in Nepal.

The calendar belongs to Nepal and India. In Nepal it is the national calendar; the year opens with Vaishakha, called Baisakh, and closes with Chaitra. In India it serves religious dates rather than civil ones, and is strongest among Hindus of the north, west and central regions, while south India and parts of the east and west use the Indian national calendar.

What Vikram Samvat means

Time in the Vikram Samvat is not neutral. The bright fortnight, shukla paksha, is the auspicious half of the month, and most festivals fall there; the dark fortnight, krishna paksha, is treated as inauspicious. Adding the leap month keeps festivals and crop rituals in their right season. For many communities the new year is a fresh start: accounts are opened, harvest thanks are given, and the year is counted from an era that, in popular telling, honours a king's victory.

Days Vikram Samvat is marked

Questions people ask about Vikram Samvat

See also

NowruzThe Iranian new year at the March equinox, kept with fire, greenery and picnicsIndian national calendarIndia's official civil solar calendar, designed to bring unity to timekeepingLosarThe Tibetan Buddhist New Year festival of renewal, offerings, and family feastsUgadiA South Indian New Year feast celebrating life with sweet, sour, and bitter tastes

Good reading and sources

• Chaitra Navratri 2020: Significance, history behind the nine-day festival and how will it be different this yearHindustan Times, Article
• Chaitra Navratri 2020: Significance, history behind the nine-day festival and how will it be different this yearHindustan Times, Article

• Vikram Samvat on WikipediaEncyclopedia
• Wikidata recordOpen data

It may contain mistakes. Traditions differ from one family, village and community to the next, and the people who keep them know them best. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-05.