Seasons

According to the most traditional enumeration, there are six seasons, each
spanning two lunar months: Vasanta
(spring) in the lunar months of Chaitra
and Baisakh; Grishma (hot season) in
Jyeshth and Ashadh; Varsha (rains) in
Shravan and Bhadrapada; Sharad (fall)
in Ashvin and Kartik; Hemanta (winter)
in Margashirsha and Paush; and
612
Savitri
Shishira (late winter) in Magh and
Phalgun. In actual practice, there are
three major seasons, at least in northern
India: the hot season (April–June), the
monsoon (July–September), and the
cool season (October–March). All these
seasons are approximate, because they
are ultimately determined by larger climatic phenomena. In the hot season the
sun bakes the northern Indian plains,
eventually setting in motion air currents
that suck moist air north from the
Indian ocean; the resulting monsoons
break the heat and provide rain for the
crops. The weather then gets gradually
cooler until January, when it becomes
gradually hotter until the hot season
returns. The monsoon arrives at different times in different parts of the country—earlier to regions further south,
later to regions further north—and at
times the monsoons are sporadic or do
not come at all. Each of these three seasons has general correlations with certain festivals.
The hot season is a time of gradually
increasing heat, and many of the festivals during this time have associations
with heat: Holi, Navaratri, Ram
Navami, Shitalashtami, and Ganga
Dashahara. Although the rising heat
can make life difficult, it is considered a
generally auspicious time.
The rainy season is a time of both
physical and ritual danger. The sudden
influx of rain drives venomous animals
such as snakes and scorpions from their
holes, and their search for other habitations often brings them into contact with
human beings. On a bacteriological level,
the runoff from the rains often leads to
the contamination of water supplies by
sewage and to a sharp rise in sickness and
death from gastrointestinal ailments, as
well as other infections. On the ritual
level, the gods are considered to be sleeping during part of the rainy season and
thus less available to protect their devotees (bhakta). At the same time, the coming of the rains is greatly anticipated, and
the moisture is essential for crops to grow.
Consequently, although this is a time of
great fertility and abundance, it is also
associated with danger, and some of the
festivals are rites of protection: Nag
Panchami, Raksha Bandhan, Ganesh
Chaturthi, Anant Chaturdashi, and the
Pitrpaksha. Other ceremonies are associated with water or with the rains, such as
the Shravan festival and Janmashtami.
In the cool season the gods awaken
from their sleep, and crops that have been
fed by the rains are ready for harvest. This
is the most ritually active time of the year,
and is generally auspicious. Major festivals
include the fall Navaratri, ending with the
festival of Dussehra (Vijaya Dashami),
Diwali, Karva Chauth, Kartik Purnima,
Makara Sankranti, and Shivaratri. The
last major festival of the year is Holi, which
marks the unofficial beginning of the hot
season. In ending with Holi, a festival celebrating license, excess, and the dissolution of all social boundaries, followed by
an abrupt reestablishment of propriety
and social order, the lunar year thus mirrors the cycle of the cosmos, which is subject to degeneration and periodic renewal.