Amavasya – Hindu New Moon

The new moon day is called Amavasya (अमावस्या) and is observed as a day of fasting in many Hindu households. Since the Hindu calendar is organized according to the lunar month, Amavasya is the beginning of the new lunar month which last 29 days. Many festivals, the most famous being Diwali (the festival of lights) are observed on this day.

The importance of Amavasya is that it is a day of new beginnings. It is a time to discard the old (habits, thought processes, failures and negative influences) and embrace the promise of new ‘light’ that the new moon brings to us. The ‘dark’ side of the moon is revealed on this day as the moon completes its waning cycle of fourteen days. The ancients considered this day with a lot of fear and trepidation because they thought that the moon had been swallowed by the sun. The first day of the waning cycle is actually the full moon day, also called purnima. (पूर्णिमा)

The current phase of the moon can help us determine whether we are approaching amavasya or purnima.

Amavasya and Purnima Dates for 2012 (all times are in Universal Time) (key: d=Day, h=Hour, m=Minute)

      NEW MOON    FIRST QUARTER       FULL MOON     LAST QUARTER
      AMAVASYA                         PURNIMA
      d  h  m          d  h  m         d  h  m          d  h  m
                    Jan  1  6 15    Jan  9  7 30    Jan 16  9 08
    Jan 23  7 39    Jan 31  4 10    Feb  7 21 54    Feb 14 17 04
    Feb 21 22 35    Mar  1  1 21    Mar  8  9 39    Mar 15  1 25
    Mar 22 14 37    Mar 30 19 41    Apr  6 19 19    Apr 13 10 50
    Apr 21  7 18    Apr 29  9 57    May  6  3 35    May 12 21 47
    May 20 23 47    May 28 20 16    Jun  4 11 12    Jun 11 10 41
    Jun 19 15 02    Jun 27  3 30    Jul  3 18 52    Jul 11  1 48
    Jul 19  4 24    Jul 26  8 56    Aug  2  3 27    Aug  9 18 55
    Aug 17 15 54    Aug 24 13 54    Aug 31 13 58    Sep  8 13 15
    Sep 16  2 11    Sep 22 19 41    Sep 30  3 19    Oct  8  7 33
    Oct 15 12 02    Oct 22  3 32    Oct 29 19 49    Nov  7  0 36
    Nov 13 22 08    Nov 20 14 31    Nov 28 14 46    Dec  6 15 31
    Dec 13  8 42    Dec 20  5 19    Dec 28 10 21
 

(image from http://www.salatshots.com/moon.php)

Listen to the Shaanti Mantra for cleansing your spirit and beginning your spiritual journey anew on this auspicious day of Amavasya.

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