Lunar month 10 of 12 · Hemanta (pre-winter)
Pausha Maas पौष
Pausha, the tenth month, falls in deep winter. Traditionally it is a quiet month held inauspicious for weddings and new ventures - a pause before the festivals return.
- Presiding deity
- Surya (the Sun)
- Season (ritu)
- Hemanta (pre-winter)
- Order
- Month 10 of 12
Significance
Its devotional focus turns to the Sun: Makar Sankranti, the Sun's northward turn into Capricorn, falls at the month's end (mid-January) and is the great harvest and Sun-worship festival. The Pausha Putrada (Vaikuntha) Ekadashi is also kept.
Festivals in Pausha
- Makar Sankranti
- Vaikuntha (Putrada) Ekadashi
Observances
A month for Sun-worship and simple devotion rather than celebration. Weddings and major beginnings are avoided; sesame-and-jaggery sharing, kite-flying and holy dips mark Makar Sankranti.