Author: Adiveda
Exalted and Debilitated: How Jyotisha Rates a Graha
Read almost any page about a rāśi and the word exalted will turn up, usually without explanation. It is worth setting out properly, because the dignity scheme is one of the few parts of Jyotiṣa that…
Diwali and Lakshmi Puja: What Is Observed and What Is Recited
Diwali is usually described as a festival. It is more accurately a sequence of five distinct observances on consecutive tithis, which happen to have been gathered under one name, and into which…
Ram Navami: The Birth of Rama and What Is Recited
Ram Navami marks the birth of Rama. What makes it unusual among Hindu observances is that the earliest source describes not just the day but the sky — in enough detail to be checked. When it falls…
Maha Shivaratri: The Great Night and What Is Recited
Maha Shivaratri is the one major observance of the Hindu year that is deliberately nocturnal. Almost everything else is done at sunrise or midday. This one is kept awake, through the dark, in four…
What Is a Panchang? The Five Limbs of the Day
Pañcāṅga means "five limbs" — pañca, five, and aṅga, limb. A panchang is not a calendar in the Western sense. It is a description of a moment in five independent measurements, and each limb answers a…
What Is a Tithi? The Lunar Day Explained
Almost every date in Hindu observance is given as a tithi rather than a calendar date. Ekadashi, Chaturthi, Amavasya, Purnima — these are tithis. Understanding what one actually is explains most of…
How to Read a Nakshatra: What the Terms Mean
Every one of AdiVeda’s twenty-seven nakshatra pages opens with the same block of data: span, ruling planet, deity, symbol, gana, animal, dosha, guiding power, dasha years. So does nearly every other…
Navratri: The Nine Nights, and What Is Recited
Navratri is nine nights given to the Goddess. That is the short answer, and most explanations stop there. The longer answer is more useful: the nine nights are not an anniversary of a single event,…
Revati Nakshatra: The Star of Nourishment, Safe Journeys and Divine Completion
Revati is the final nakshatra — the last star of the whole 27-star cycle. It sits at the end of Meena (Pisces), it’s ruled by Budha (Mercury), and its deity is Pushan, the shepherd god who guards…
Uttara Bhadrapada Nakshatra: The Star of Cosmic Wisdom, Rain and Deep Compassion
Uttara Bhadrapada is the star of deep, still wisdom. It sits in Meena (Pisces), it’s ruled by Shani (Saturn), and its deity is Ahir Budhnya, the serpent of the depths of the ocean. Its symbol is the…