Shashthi (Sanskrit: षष्ठी, romanized: Ṣaṣṭhī) also referred to as Chhath is the sixth day of the lunar fortnight in the Hindu calendar.<ref>Monier-Williams, Monier (1872). A Sanskrit-English Dictionary: ...with Special Reference to Greek, Latin, Gothic, German, Anglo-saxon... Clarendon. p. 1034.</ref> It is tithi (lunar day) of a paksha, the fourteen-day phase of the moon.
Etymology
The word comes from the Sanskrit cardinal ṣaṣ (six), whence the ordinal number (linguistics) ṣaṣṭha (sixth), fem. ṣaṣṭhī (days of the paksha are feminine gender).
Occasions
The sixth tithi, especially in the waxing period (shuklapaksha), is important in several rituals including:
- Durga Puja (September–October, east India, Bengal)
- Sitalsasthi<ref>"Festivals of India : Sital Shashti". Aryabhatt.com. Retrieved 2017-07-29.</ref> (May–June, Orissa, neighbouring regions)
- Skanda (Kandha) Shashti or Subramanya Shashti<ref>Kannikeswaran, Kanniks. "Skanda Sashti". Indiantemples.com. Retrieved 29 July 2017.</ref> (November–December, south India, Tamil Nadu)
- Chandra Shashti (Channan Chhath): It is celebrated on Krishna Paksha Shahsti of Bhadrapada month. It is quite popular among Dogra community of Jammu division.<ref>Śāstrī, Rāmanātha; Mohana, Madana; Langeh, Baldev Singh (1970). (Rajata jayantī abhinandana grantha) (in हिन्दी). Ḍogarī Saṃsthā.</ref> The day is celebrated as birthday of Balarama and hence also called Balram Chhath or Baldev Chhath.
- Surya Shashti (Chhath), a major sun-worshiping day of Hindus is celebrated on sixth day Shukla Paksha of Kartika.
References
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