Yugadi is the first day of the year according to the Indian Calendar System.
Indians use two calendars to record time using astronomy: the Chandramana calendar and the Souramana calendar.
Chandramana System
The Chandramana Calendar System uses the Phases of The Moon along with the Sun’s position to keep record of time. This is the Lunisolar Calendar System where, each month begins with the New Moon and names of each month are derived from the stars near the Full Moon of the respective month. This calendar contains around 354 days in a year.
The Yugadi of Chandramana calendar, also known as Ugadi and Gudi Padwa, is celebrated as the first day (Padhya) in the month of Chaitra.
Souramana System
The Souramana Calendar System uses the Sun’s position with respect to the background stars to keep record of time. This solar calendar system divides the 3600 path of the Sun across the sky, into 300 partitions, each of which marks a month. The names of these months are derived from the background constellation.
The Souramana Yugadi, also known as Vaisaki or Baisakhi begins on the day the Sun enters the constellation of Mesha (Aries) – Mesha Sankranti. In South India, this day is celebrated as Vishu.
Adhika Masa – The Offset
The difference in the number of days between the two calendars is what leads to the Chandramana Yugadi and Souramana Yugadi occurring around 20 days apart each year.
This difference which sums up to a almost a month, every three years. To offset this, a leap month a.k.a Adhika Masa is added to the Chandramana calendar every three years.
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