This is how the names of the 12 months of the Indian calendar originated

We all know that the 12 months of the Indian calendar are Chaitra, Vaishaka, Jyestha, Ashada, Sranavana, Bhadrapada, Aswaija, Karthika, Margasira, Pushya, Magha, and Phanguna. Do you know how these names originated? Like in the English Calendar, some months are from the names of the Roman gods festivals, and other traditions.

January is from the Roman god Janus, and February is from a Roman festival called Febura which is a festival of purification. March originated Roman God Mars, April is from the Latin word "Aperier" which means to open. May is named after the Greek goddess Maia and June is named after the Roman goddess Juno. July and August are named after Emperors, Julius Caesar and Augustus. The months from September, October, November, and December are Roman numerals Seven, Eight, Nine, and Ten. Thus there is a heavy Roman and Greek influence on the English months that we follow.

How did the Indian months get their names?

Unlike so many things coming randomly in naming the English months, Indian months follow just one simple principle. That is, "the star in which the full moon occurs in a month, gets the name of that star as month name". You know that a full moon occurs once in a month and thus there are 12 months, so there are 12 full moons. There are 27 nakshatras in total, but the full moon occurs only in these 12 nakshatras on any year. The full moons don't change. Thus we got our 12 months names as follows:

1. Chaitra month: Full moons occurs in "Chitta" Nakshatra and Sun will be in Aries, which is the first Zodiac sign.

2. Vaishaka month: Full moon occurs in "Visakha" nakshatra and Sun will be in Taurus, the second Zodiac.

3. Jyestha month: Full moon occurs in "Jyestha" nakshatra and Sun will be in Gemini the third Zodiac sign. Hence its the 3rd month.

4. Ashada month: Full moon occurs in "Uttarashada" nakshatra and Sun will be in Cancer the fourth Zodiac sign, hence its the 4h month.

5. Shravana month: Full moon occurs in "Shravana" nakshatra and the Sun will be in Leo the fifth Zodiac.

6. Bhadrapada month: Full moon occurs in "Uttarabhadrapada" nakshatra and Sun will be in Virgo, the 6th Zodiac. So, its the 6th month of the year.

7. Aswaija month: Full moon occurs in "Ashwini" nakshatra and Sun will be in Libra, the 7th Zodiac.

8. Karthika month: Full moon occurs in "Krittika" Nakshatra, as it happened today and Sun will be entering the Scorpio the 8th Zodiac tonight when this full moon occurs.

9. Margashira month: Full moon occurs in "Mrigashira" Nakshatra and the Sun will be in Sagittarius the 9th Zodiac sign.

10. Pushya month: Full moon occurs in "Pushya" Nakshatra and the Sun will be in Capricorn the 10th Zodiac, signifying the 10th month.

11. Magha month: Full moon occurs in "Makha" nakshatra and the Sun will be in Aquarius, the 11th Zodiac.

12. Phalguna month: Full moon occurs in "Uttara Phalguni" nakshatra and the Sun will be in Pisces the Last Zodiac.

Hence this is the last month of the year. Whenever these full moons appear to deviate from their nakshatras, adhik maas comes an restores the order. Now you can see how systematically and Scientifically the Indian months are named and how randomly the English months are named.