Why Your Panchang May Differ from a North Indian One

Sometimes a North Indian panchang, or the default page of a popular panchang website, shows a different year or a different month name than this app. Do not worry: the tithi, the nakshatra and the festivals are identical in both. The difference is purely between two naming conventions.

First difference: when the year number changes. Gujarat counts the Kartakadi Vikram Samvat, where the new year begins right after Diwali, on Bestu Varas (Kartak Sud 1). North India counts the Chaitradi Samvat, where the new year begins on Chaitra Sud 1 in March or April. So for roughly seven months, from Chaitra until Diwali, the northern year number runs one ahead of ours. July 2026, for example, is Samvat 2082 in Gujarat but appears as 2083 in a North Indian panchang. Both are correct within their own tradition.

Second difference: where the month ends. Gujarat (along with Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh) uses the amanta system, where a month ends on Amas, the new moon. North India uses the purnimanta system, where a month ends on Poonam, the full moon. In the bright Sud fortnight both systems carry the same month name, but in the dark Vad fortnight the northern month name runs one ahead. Our Ashadh Vad is called Shravan Krishna in the north.

None of this moves a single festival, because festivals follow the tithi and both systems count the very same tithis. Janmashtami is Shravan Vad 8 by our reckoning and Bhadarvo Krishna 8 by the northern one, yet it is the very same day.

GujjuCal follows the Gujarati tradition throughout: amanta months, the Kartakadi samvat, and tithis fixed by the sunrise where you are. When you compare with a website, open its Gujarati calendar page set to your city rather than its default North Indian one, and the numbers will line up.