Prathama First Day in Hindu Calendar

Prathama is the First Day in a Hindu calendar. Prathama is a Sanskrit word which means “First”. Traditionally the Hinduism lunar calendar is split into two pakshas of 15 days. The waxing phase is known as Shukla Paksha or bright half and waning phase is known as Krishna Paksha or dark half. Hence there will be two Prathama days in each month – one in the Shukla paksa and the second in the Krishna paksa. Paksha means a fortnight or a lunar phase in a month of the Hindu lunar calendar.

Many Hindu festivals are celebrated on the Prathama day. Some of the important ones are Gudi Padwa or Chaitra Shukla Pratipada, first day of Chaitra Navratri, Govardhan Puja and Bali Pratipada in Kartik month.