How can Lord Shri Krishna have 2 birthdays in one year? 😮 | Hindu Festival Janmashtami | The Dal Chawal

Indian Politician Shashi Tharoor shared on ‘X’ that in Kerala, Janmashtami falls on 14 September, while in 2025 almost the entire country would have already celebrated it on 16 August.

Tharoor was surprised and objected to Kerala’s culture, saying,
“Kerala’s people don’t celebrate Christmas on different dates!”

By the way, Tharoor himself is an MP from Kerala + his parents also belonged to the same state.

Interestingly, on ‘X’, Grok replied to Tharoor (on a user’s request) that Kerala follows the Malayalam calendar.

In our research, we found this calendar, Kollavarsham, is a solar calendar. This means months are based on the sun, but for festivals both sun and moon are considered.
For Janmashtami, Krishna Paksha’s Ashtami tithi (8th lunar day of the waning moon) + Rohini Nakshatra coinciding at midnight is necessary, because Shri Krishna is believed to have been born exactly at midnight under this astrological configuration. The month could be Bhadrapada or Shravana, depending on the region, but usually it is Bhadrapada (Bhado).

On the other hand, the rest of India follows a luni-solar calendar. Here, months are based on the moon and adjusted with the sun. Festivals are mostly fixed according to lunar phases. That means Rohini Nakshatra is not compulsory for Janmashtami outside Kerala.

This same explanation was also given by ‘Seetharaman K C’ in a comment on Tharoor’s post. (2nd screenshot attached in video)

Got it? Kerala’s way of deciding festivals is quite deep and seems accurate.

Also, note that Hindu festivals are of 2 types:
a. Tithi-based festivals (majority) – fixed by lunar phases.
Ex: Janmashtami, Diwali → Ashtami, Amavasya. Their Gregorian date changes every year. *Normally, we follow the Gregorian calendar.
b. Fixed-date festivals (exceptions) – fixed by the solar calendar.
Ex: Makar Sankranti (14/15 Jan), Pongal (14 Jan), Baisakhi (13/14 Apr) → Based on the sun’s entry into zodiac signs, not the moon.

So this was the answer to Tharoor’s question…

He also asked:
“Is it possible to rationalize religious holiday dates so that everyone of the same faith celebrates together?”

Yes, this is worth considering.
But did you know all this?

Drop your thoughts in the comments 👇

#Krishna #Janmashtami #Shashi #Tharoor #Kerala #Culture #Malayalam #Calendar #Kollavarsham #Hindu #Festivals #Indian #Traditions #Lunar #Solar #Astrology #Facts #Festival #Dates #Religious #Heritage #Tradition #Debate #Knowledge #explained

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