Hindu Date Today
As of Tuesday, May 19, 2026 at 10:30 PM, today's Hindu (Vikram Samvat) date is:
Today's Hindu (Vikram Samvat) date — full detail
- Date
- 29 Vaishakha 2083 VS
- Devanagari
- २९ वैशाख २०८३
- Short form
- 29/2/1948 Saka
- Month
- Vaishakha
- Year
- 1948 VS — Vikram Samvat (विक्रम संवत्)
- Gregorian
- Tuesday, May 19, 2026
- Vikram Samvat
- 2083
- Vikram Samvat year (today)
- 2083 VS
- Saka era year (today)
- Saka 1948
- Year conversion (VS)
- Gregorian + 56 or +57 = VS year (depending on whether before/after Chaitra)
- Twelve months
- Chaitra, Vaishakha, Jyaishtha, Ashadha, Shravana, Bhadrapada, Ashvina, Kartika, Margashirsha, Pausha, Magha, Phalguna
- Two main variants
- Purnimanta (North, ends at full moon) and Amanta (South, ends at new moon)
- Leap rule
- Approximately every 32–33 months, an extra lunar month (<em>adhik mas</em>) is inserted
Why today matters
Today's Hindu date is governed by the Panchanga (पञ्चाङ्ग) — literally "five limbs" — the daily astrological almanac that tracks five elements: tithi (the lunar day), vara (the weekday), nakshatra (the lunar mansion, one of 27 sectors of the sky), yoga (a sun-moon longitudinal combination), and karana (a half-tithi). Every traditional Hindu observance — naming a baby, choosing a wedding date, beginning a business, performing a yajna or homa, fasting on Ekadashi, celebrating Navaratri or Diwali — consults the Panchanga to find auspicious times (shubh muhurta) and avoid inauspicious ones (rahu kaal, yamaganda). The Hindu calendar is therefore not merely a measure of days but a sophisticated astrological-religious instrument.
In every moment, the Panchanga unfolds — and the soul recognizes its time. — Hindu astrological tradition
How we compute this
Hindu (Vikram Samvat) is a lunisolar calendar. Each year contains 354 days (common year); 384 days (leap year with intercalary month, <em>adhik mas</em>), with each month averaging 29.5 days per lunar (synodic) month, split into two pakshas (waxing and waning fortnights of 15 tithis each). Years are counted from 57 BCE — traditional date of the reign of legendary King Vikramaditya of Ujjain (era: VS — Vikram Samvat (विक्रम संवत्)).
The Hindu lunisolar calendar traces its astronomical roots to the Vedic period over 3,500 years ago, with detailed mathematical refinements developed by the great Indian astronomers Aryabhata (5th century CE), Varahamihira (6th c.), Brahmagupta (7th c.), and Bhaskara II (12th c.). The current calendrical algorithms were largely standardized in the Surya Siddhanta, an astronomical treatise compiled in the early centuries CE. The lunisolar calendar comes in two regional variants distinguished by where each month "ends": Purnimanta (North Indian — months end at the full moon; widely used in Hindi-speaking states, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan) and Amanta (South Indian / Deccan — months end at the new moon; used in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Gujarat). Both systems share the same twelve month names (Chaitra, Vaishakha, Jyaishtha, Ashadha, Shravana, Bhadrapada, Ashvina, Kartika, Margashirsha, Pausha, Magha, Phalguna) but differ in where they place the boundaries. The Vikram Samvat era is named after the legendary king Vikramaditya of Ujjain and is the most widely used era for civil and religious purposes; the Saka era (78 CE) is the official national era of India, used on government calendars and in the Indian National Calendar adopted in 1957.
Used by: ~1 billion Hindus across India, Nepal, Mauritius, Trinidad, Fiji, and the global diaspora. Regions: India (all regions, with local variations), Nepal (where Vikram Samvat is the official state calendar), the Hindu diaspora worldwide.