The Six Seasons (Ritu) of India Explained

The six seasons of India, known in Sanskrit as the ritu, are the traditional divisions of the Hindu calendar year into Vasanta (spring), Grishma (summer), Varsha (monsoon or rainy season), Sharad (autumn), Hemanta (pre-winter) and Shishira (winter), each lasting about two months. The scheme comes from ancient Indian texts and still shapes festivals, food, poetry and regional calendars, even though the official weather service divides the year differently.

The six seasons of India are a cultural and agricultural framework rather than a scientific classification. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) uses four seasons for forecasting and records, while the ritu system describes the rhythm of the year as people in the Gangetic plain experienced it for centuries. Comparing the two shows how a country spanning deserts, rainforests, coasts and mountains has never had just one way of naming its seasons.

Quick Facts

Key Takeaways

• The six seasons of India are Vasanta, Grishma, Varsha, Sharad, Hemanta and Shishira, corresponding roughly to spring, summer, monsoon, autumn, pre-winter and winter.
• Each ritu spans two months of the Hindu calendar, so the six seasons together make up the twelve months of the year.
• The India Meteorological Department uses four seasons instead of six: winter, pre-monsoon, southwest monsoon and post-monsoon.
• The ritu system fits the climate of the north Indian plains best, and it matches poorly with regions such as Kerala, the north-east, Ladakh and the Tamil coast.
• The ritus are woven into Indian culture through festivals, Sanskrit poetry, regional calendars, Ayurvedic diet advice and farming traditions.
• Because the Hindu calendar is lunisolar and the ritus follow the Sun, the Gregorian dates of each season shift slightly from year to year.

What are the six seasons of India?

The six seasons of India are Vasanta, Grishma, Varsha, Sharad, Hemanta and Shishira, a sequence that begins with spring and runs through summer, the rainy season, autumn, early winter and deep winter. The word ritu in Sanskrit means a season or a recurring period, and it is linked with ideas of order and cycle in Vedic thought.

The idea of dividing the year into seasons appears in the earliest Sanskrit texts. Over time, a stable six-fold scheme emerged and was adopted by classical poets, astronomers, physicians and calendar makers. The six ritus appear in the Hindu panchang, the traditional almanac, and in temple rituals and agricultural advice that follow it.

What are the names, months and dates of the six ritus?

The six ritus are Vasanta (spring, Chaitra and Vaishakha), Grishma (summer, Jyeshtha and Ashadha), Varsha (monsoon, Shravana and Bhadrapada), Sharad (autumn, Ashvina and Kartika), Hemanta (pre-winter, Margashirsha and Pausha) and Shishira (winter, Magha and Phalguna). Each pairs two Hindu months and covers roughly two calendar months.

The dates in the table are approximate because the Hindu months begin at different points depending on whether a region follows the amanta (new-moon-ending) or purnimanta (full-moon-ending) system. Some regional calendars also place the year’s first season elsewhere.

What is each ritu like?

Each of the six ritus has a distinct character in the Gangetic plain, from the mild flowering of Vasanta to the cold fog of Shishira. The descriptions below follow the traditional north Indian experience.

Vasanta (spring)

Vasanta is the pleasant spring that follows winter, when temperatures rise gently, trees flower and new leaves appear. It is celebrated as the season of renewal and love in Indian poetry. Festivals such as Holi, Ugadi and Gudi Padwa, which mark the new year in several regions, fall around this period.

Grishma (summer)

Grishma is the hot season, with the highest temperatures of the year, dry winds such as the Loo in the north, and dust storms on the plains. Rivers shrink, and people seek shade, water and cooling foods. The season ends with the arrival of the southwest monsoon in most regions.

Varsha (monsoon)

Varsha is the rainy season, when the southwest monsoon delivers most of the year’s rain, the land turns green, and rivers swell. It is the main growing season for kharif crops. Festivals such as Raksha Bandhan and Onam are linked to the rainy months, and the season features heavily in classical poetry as a time of longing and renewal.

Sharad (autumn)

Sharad is the clear, bright autumn that follows the monsoon, with blue skies, mild days and cooler nights. It is a season of harvest and celebration, including Navaratri, Durga Puja, Dussehra and Diwali. Poets have long praised the moonlit nights of Sharad.

Hemanta (pre-winter)

Hemanta is the early winter, when the air turns dry and cool, mornings are misty and rabi crops are sown. The days shorten and the festival season fades. Food becomes richer and warmer, as traditions of eating sesame, jaggery and seasonal vegetables take hold.

Shishira (winter)

Shishira is the coldest season of the traditional year, with frost and fog on the northern plains, leaf fall on many trees and the lowest temperatures. It includes the festival of Makar Sankranti at its start in many reckonings, and ends with the approach of spring. In the Himalaya, the season brings heavy snow.

How are the six seasons connected to the Hindu calendar?

The six seasons are connected to the Hindu calendar because each ritu corresponds to a pair of its twelve months, and the Hindu year is organised around the apparent movement of the Sun and the phases of the Moon. The calendar is lunisolar: months follow the Moon, while the ritus are tied to the Sun’s seasonal motion.

The year is also split into two halves by the Sun’s path. Uttarayana, the Sun’s northward journey, covers roughly the winter and spring months, and Dakshinayana, its southward journey, covers the monsoon and autumn. Traditional texts group Shishira, Vasanta and Grishma in the northern course and Varsha, Sharad and Hemanta in the southern course.

Because lunar months drift against the solar year, the calendar inserts an extra month from time to time to keep the festivals in their proper seasons. As a result, the exact Gregorian dates when each ritu begins and ends change slightly from year to year, and they should be treated as approximate.

How do the six seasons differ from the IMD’s four seasons?

The six seasons differ from the IMD’s four seasons in being a traditional cultural calendar rather than a meteorological one, in using two-month divisions instead of the IMD’s uneven blocks, and in having separate seasons for pre-winter and winter and for spring and summer. The IMD divides the year into winter, pre-monsoon, southwest monsoon and post-monsoon, based on observed weather over the whole country.

The two systems clash most over the monsoon. The IMD counts the southwest monsoon from June to September, since the rains reach Kerala around 1 June and cover the country by early July. The traditional Varsha, however, begins in mid-July and ends in mid-September, so Grishma stretches into the early monsoon weeks.

Why does the ritu system fit some regions better than others?

The ritu system fits the northern and central plains best because it was developed in the Gangetic region, and it fits poorly in regions with very different climates, such as the Kerala coast, the north-east, the Tamil Nadu coast, the deserts and the high Himalaya. India’s climate varies enormously by latitude, altitude and exposure to the two monsoon branches.

• Kerala and the west coast: heavy rain from June, and a mild year-round temperature, with no sharp winter, so Hemanta and Shishira are barely noticeable.
• Tamil Nadu and the east coast: the main rain comes from the northeast monsoon between October and December, which is Sharad and Hemanta in the ritu scheme, not Varsha.
• North-east India: very heavy rain and humidity for most of the year, with a long wet season that overlaps Grishma, Varsha and Sharad.
• Rajasthan and the Thar: extreme summer heat and scant rain, so Varsha is brief and often unreliable.
• Himalaya and Ladakh: winter is long and snowy, and spring comes late, so a spring that begins in March in the plains may begin in April or May in the mountains.

For this reason, many regions developed their own seasonal calendars. The traditional scheme is best seen as a shared cultural template adapted locally.

How do regional calendars use the six seasons?

Regional calendars use the six seasons in different ways, with Bengal, Tamil Nadu and other regions each naming and ordering the seasons to suit local weather. The six-season idea is widespread, though names and starting points vary.

• Bengali calendar: six seasons of two months each, named Grishma, Barsha, Sharat, Hemanta, Sheet and Basanta, and the cycle begins with the summer month of Boishakh.
• Tamil calendar: six seasons called Ilavenil, Mudhuvenil, Kaar, Koothir, Munpani and Pinpani, loosely corresponding to early summer, late summer, the rainy season, autumn, early winter and late winter.
• Kashmiri and Himalayan traditions: seasonal schemes shaped by the long, snowy winter and a short spring.
• Many Hindi-belt and Marathi traditions: the standard Sanskrit names, with local words for the months and the festivals attached to them.

These differences show that the ritu framework is a flexible tradition and not a fixed rulebook, and that it has helped farmers and communities across India read the year in their own landscape.

How do the six seasons shape festivals, food and health?

The six seasons shape Indian life by timing festivals, guiding what people eat and wear, and informing the Ayurvedic idea of seasonal living known as ritucharya. The calendar of religious and agricultural festivals closely tracks the ritus.

• Festivals: Vasant Panchami and Holi, at the end of Shishira, welcome spring, Raksha Bandhan and Onam fall in the rains, Navaratri, Dussehra and Diwali belong to autumn, and Makar Sankranti and Pongal mark the turn of the winter sun.
• Food: cooling drinks and raw mango in Grishma, light food in the monsoon, and sesame, jaggery and ghee in the cold months.
• Farming: the rhythm of kharif sowing with the monsoon and rabi sowing in early winter follows the ritu cycle.
• Ayurveda: classical texts recommend adjusting diet, exercise and daily routine with each ritu to maintain health, and group the seasons into two halves based on the Sun’s course.

In literature, the ritus are a favourite theme. The Ritusamhara, traditionally attributed to the poet Kalidasa, describes each season in turn, and later poets, painters and musicians have continued the tradition through the ragamala paintings and seasonal ragas.

Do the six seasons still match India’s weather today?

The six seasons still broadly match the annual cycle in the northern plains, but warming temperatures, shifting monsoon patterns and urban heat are blurring some of the traditional boundaries. The calendar remains useful as a cultural reference, though the weather no longer follows it neatly.

Observations show that summers are becoming hotter and longer, winters in parts of the north are shorter, and the monsoon has become more erratic, with long dry spells broken by intense downpours. As a result, spring can feel as if it is squeezed between the end of winter and the onset of summer heat. Scientists caution that these changes vary between regions and years, and that long-term records are needed to measure them.

Even so, the six-fold scheme persists in language, festival dates and household habits, and many Indians still speak of the monsoon as Varsha or the pleasant autumn as Sharad. The tradition has outlasted many changes of climate and calendar.

Bottom Line

The six seasons of India are an ancient, culture-rich way of reading the year, giving each pair of months a name, a mood and a set of customs. The IMD’s four-season scheme serves science and planning, while the ritus continue to serve culture and tradition, and each is best understood in its own role. Last updated: 30 October 2026.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the six seasons of India?

The six seasons of India are Vasanta (spring), Grishma (summer), Varsha (monsoon), Sharad (autumn), Hemanta (pre-winter) and Shishira (winter). Each lasts about two months. Together they cover the twelve months of the Hindu calendar year.

What is the meaning of ritu?

Ritu is the Sanskrit word for season. It refers to a recurring period of the year with its own character of weather and nature. The word is used in the Hindu calendar, in Sanskrit literature and in many Indian languages.

How many seasons does the India Meteorological Department recognise?

The India Meteorological Department recognises four seasons: winter, pre-monsoon (summer), southwest monsoon and post-monsoon. These are based on observed weather rather than the traditional calendar. Winter covers January and February, the pre-monsoon covers March to May, the monsoon covers June to September, and the post-monsoon covers October to December.

Which months does each of the six seasons cover?

Vasanta covers about mid-March to mid-May, Grishma mid-May to mid-July, and Varsha mid-July to mid-September. Sharad runs from mid-September to mid-November, Hemanta from mid-November to mid-January, and Shishira from mid-January to mid-March. These dates are approximate and vary slightly from year to year.

Why are there six seasons in the Hindu calendar but four in the weather service?

The Hindu calendar divides the year into six seasons for cultural, agricultural and religious purposes, based on the Sun’s position and the old experience of the Gangetic plain. The weather service uses four seasons because they reflect the major weather regimes across the whole country, including the monsoon. The two systems serve different purposes and do not need to match.

Do all parts of India experience six seasons?

No, many parts of India do not experience six distinct seasons. The scheme fits the northern plains best. Coastal Kerala, Tamil Nadu, the north-east and the high Himalaya have climates that differ markedly, and several regional calendars adapt the scheme to local weather.

{“@context”:”https://schema.org”,”@graph”:[{“@type”:”FAQPage”,”mainEntity”:[{“@type”:”Question”,”name”:”What are the six seasons of India?”,”acceptedAnswer”:{“@type”:”Answer”,”text”:”The six seasons of India are Vasanta (spring), Grishma (summer), Varsha (monsoon), Sharad (autumn), Hemanta (pre-winter) and Shishira (winter). Each lasts about two months. Together they cover the twelve months of the Hindu calendar year.”}},{“@type”:”Question”,”name”:”What is the meaning of ritu?”,”acceptedAnswer”:{“@type”:”Answer”,”text”:”Ritu is the Sanskrit word for season. It refers to a recurring period of the year with its own character of weather and nature. The word is used in the Hindu calendar, in Sanskrit literature and in many Indian languages.”}},{“@type”:”Question”,”name”:”How many seasons does the India Meteorological Department recognise?”,”acceptedAnswer”:{“@type”:”Answer”,”text”:”The India Meteorological Department recognises four seasons: winter, pre-monsoon (summer), southwest monsoon and post-monsoon. These are based on observed weather rather than the traditional calendar. Winter covers January and February, the pre-monsoon covers March to May, the monsoon covers June to September, and the post-monsoon covers October to December.”}},{“@type”:”Question”,”name”:”Which months does each of the six seasons cover?”,”acceptedAnswer”:{“@type”:”Answer”,”text”:”Vasanta covers about mid-March to mid-May, Grishma mid-May to mid-July, and Varsha mid-July to mid-September. Sharad runs from mid-September to mid-November, Hemanta from mid-November to mid-January, and Shishira from mid-January to mid-March. These dates are approximate and vary slightly from year to year.”}},{“@type”:”Question”,”name”:”Why are there six seasons in the Hindu calendar but four in the weather service?”,”acceptedAnswer”:{“@type”:”Answer”,”text”:”The Hindu calendar divides the year into six seasons for cultural, agricultural and religious purposes, based on the Sun’s position and the old experience of the Gangetic plain. The weather service uses four seasons because they reflect the major weather regimes across the whole country, including the monsoon. The two systems serve different purposes and do not need to match.”}},{“@type”:”Question”,”name”:”Do all parts of India experience six seasons?”,”acceptedAnswer”:{“@type”:”Answer”,”text”:”No, many parts of India do not experience six distinct seasons. The scheme fits the northern plains best. Coastal Kerala, Tamil Nadu, the north-east and the high Himalaya have climates that differ markedly, and several regional calendars adapt the scheme to local weather.”}}]}]}