When a priest writes the date for a puja, he begins with the year, and in much of north and west India the year is a Vikram Samvat number such as 2083. The number is about 57 years ahead of the common era. This page explains where the era comes from, how to convert between the two, and why two families in India can quote different Samvat years in the same month.
What the era is
Vikram Samvat is an era, a way of counting years from a starting point, in the same sense that the common era counts from a starting point in the sixth century. Its starting point is traditionally put at 57 BCE, and it is linked in tradition to a king called Vikramaditya of Ujjain, who is said to have defeated the Shakas and begun a new reckoning. Nepal uses Vikram Samvat as its official calendar, under the name Bikram Sambat.
Historians are cautious about the story. The era was not called Vikram at first: inscriptions of the early centuries use the name Krita or Malava for it, and the name Vikrama is found attached to it from about the ninth century. Who the original Vikramaditya was, or whether one king is meant at all, is debated. There are several traditions, and the honest summary is that the era is old, widely used, and tied by long tradition to a king whose identity scholars do not agree upon.
Converting Samvat years to the common era
Because the year turns in spring and the common year turns in January, the conversion depends on the time of year. For most of India, add 57 to the common-era year for dates from Chaitra Shukla Pratipada to the end of December, and add 56 for dates from January to the end of Phalguna. A date in October 2026 therefore reads as Samvat 2083 in most of India (2026 plus 57), and a date in February 2027 reads as 2083 as well (2027 plus 56), until Chaitra turns the number to 2084.
The Chaitra of 2026 began at the new moon on 19 March 2026, 06:53 AM, and the bright half that followed opened Samvat 2083. The Chaitra of 2027 begins at the new moon on 07 April 2027, 05:21 AM, and opens Samvat 2084. The dates and times are from the computed table on the Chaitra page.
Gujarat’s different new year
Gujarat follows a different starting month. The Vikram year there begins on Kartika Shukla Pratipada, the first day of the bright half of Kartika, which is the morning after Diwali and the day of Govardhan Puja elsewhere. It is called Bestu Varas, and families greet each other with Nutan Varsh Abhinandan. This is the Kartikadi Vikram Samvat, and in the same period the north counts the Chaitradi Samvat.
The effect is that between Chaitra and Kartika the two counts differ by one. In October 2026 a Gujarati calendar reads Samvat 2082 and a calendar of the north reads 2083. After the new moon of 09 November 2026, 12:32 PM, which opens Kartika, and the morning that follows it, Gujarat also reads 2083. The Kartika page describes the festivals that surround that turn. Other regional starting points have also been used in the past, which is one reason older documents can look inconsistent.
The year in the Hindu calendar
The Samvat year contains twelve lunar months, or thirteen when an Adhika masa is added, so the year is not a fixed number of days. A Samvat year is about 354 days when it has twelve months and about 384 when it has thirteen. The count of the era runs on regardless, so the year number is a label for the whole span from one Chaitra Shukla Pratipada to the next.
In the south and the Deccan the Samvat number sits beside another cycle, the sixty-year cycle of named samvatsaras, whose names are read out in the sankalpa, the statement of time and place at the start of a puja. Those names repeat every sixty years and are separate from the Vikram count. The priest’s sankalpa usually names the era, the samvatsara, the ayana (the Sun’s northward or southward course), the ritu, the month, the paksha and the tithi, which is a complete address in time.
Vikram Samvat and Shaka Samvat
Vikram Samvat is the era of the north and west, and Shaka Samvat is the era of the national calendar and of the Deccan. Shaka runs about 135 years behind Vikram, since one is 57 years ahead of the common era and the other 78 behind it. Both start the year at Chaitra Shukla Pratipada in most places. For how the months are counted inside the year, read about amanta and purnimanta, and for the full picture of the calendar, open the Hindu calendar hub.
Frequently asked questions
↳ Which Vikram Samvat year is it now?
In October 2026 most of India reads Samvat 2083, which began with Chaitra in March 2026. Gujarat reads 2082 until the morning after Diwali, in November 2026, when it also becomes 2083.
↳ How do I convert a Vikram Samvat year to the common era?
Subtract 57 for dates from Chaitra to December and subtract 56 for dates from January to Phalguna. So Samvat 2083 is 2026 from Chaitra to December and 2027 from January to the end of Phalguna.
↳ Who was Vikramaditya?
Tradition names a king of Ujjain who defeated the Shakas and began the era. Historians are not sure whom the name refers to and note that the era was first called by other names, so the tradition is best held as tradition.
↳ Why does Gujarat start the year after Diwali?
Gujarat uses the Kartikadi form of the Vikram Samvat, in which the year begins on Kartika Shukla Pratipada. The northern form begins on Chaitra Shukla Pratipada. Both are old regional customs.
↳ Does Nepal use Vikram Samvat?
Yes. Nepal uses it as its official calendar under the name Bikram Sambat, though its months are solar and its new year falls in mid-April.