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 2018 (all times are in Universal Time – add 5.5 hours for IST)
| Date and Time (Universal Time) | ||
|---|---|---|
| New Moon | Full Moon | Month |
| — | 2018 Jan 02 02:24 | (Mauna) |
| 2018 Jan 17 02:17 | 2018 Jan 31 13:27 | (Magha) |
| 2018 Feb 15 21:05 | 2018 Mar 02 00:51 | (Phalgun) |
| 2018 Mar 17 13:12 | 2018 Mar 31 12:37 | (Chaitra) |
| 2018 Apr 16 01:57 | 2018 Apr 30 00:58 | (Vaishakha) |
| 2018 May 15 11:48 | 2018 May 29 14:19 | (Jyeshta) |
| 2018 Jun 13 19:43 | 2018 Jun 28 04:53 | (Ashadha) |
| 2018 Jul 13 02:48 | 2018 Jul 27 20:20 | (Shravana) |
| 2018 Aug 11 09:58 | 2018 Aug 26 11:56 | (Mahalaya) |
| 2018 Sep 09 18:01 | 2018 Sep 25 02:52 | (Aswayuja) |
| 2018 Oct 09 03:47 | 2018 Oct 24 16:45 | (Karthika) |
| 2018 Nov 07 16:02 | 2018 Nov 23 05:39 | (Vakula) |
| 2018 Dec 07 07:20 | 2018 Dec 22 17:49 | |
(image from https://www.salatshots.com/moon.php)