ಸಂವತ್ಸರ: ಅರವತ್ತು ವರ್ಷಗಳ ಚಕ್ರ | Samvatsara: the sixty-year cycle

Alongside the numbered eras, Hindu tradition names its years. There are sixty names, and the cycle repeats. A person who lives past sixty has seen their birth year come round again, which is the basis of the shashtiabdapurti, the sixtieth-birthday ceremony.

The sixty, in order: Prabhava, Vibhava, Shukla, Pramoduta, Prajotpatti, Angirasa, Shrimukha, Bhava, Yuva, Dhatu, Ishvara, Bahudhanya, Pramathi, Vikrama, Vrisha, Chitrabhanu, Svabhanu, Tarana, Parthiva, Vyaya, Sarvajit, Sarvadhari, Virodhi, Vikriti, Khara, Nandana, Vijaya, Jaya, Manmatha, Durmukhi, Hevilambi, Vilambi, Vikari, Sharvari, Plava, Shubhakrit, Shobhakrit, Krodhi, Vishvavasu, Parabhava, Plavanga, Kilaka, Saumya, Sadharana, Virodhikrit, Paridhavi, Pramadicha, Ananda, Rakshasa, Nala, Pingala, Kalayukti, Siddharthi, Raudri, Durmati, Dundubhi, Rudhirodgari, Raktakshi, Krodhana and Akshaya.

The cycle turns at Ugadi, the first tithi of Chaitra. The year beginning in March 2026 is Parabhava, the fortieth.

Where sixty comes from

Jupiter takes a little under twelve years to go once round the zodiac. Five of those circuits come to about fifty-nine years, close enough to sixty that the cycle was built on it. The system is sometimes called the Barhaspatya, Jupiter’s, cycle for that reason. Because five Jupiter cycles are not exactly sixty years, the northern and southern reckonings of which name belongs to which year have drifted apart by about twelve; the southern reckoning, used in Karnataka, is what Anudina follows.

The numbered eras

Shaka is the era of the Indian national calendar and the one most panchangas print. It begins in 78 CE, so the Shaka year is the Gregorian year minus 78 for dates after Ugadi. The year beginning in March 2026 is Shaka 1948.

Vikrama begins in 57 BCE, so it runs 135 years ahead of Shaka. It is the common era in Gujarat, Rajasthan and much of North India.

Kali is the longest count, beginning in 3102 BCE. Shaka 1948 is Kali 5127. It is this epoch from which the Surya Siddhanta counts its days, and every position that reckoning computes is derived from the number of days elapsed since it.

Regional eras also survive: the Kollam era in Kerala, the Bengali San, the Nepal Sambat.