Book of Indian Eras, with Tables for Calculating Indian Dates c5.12

c5.12

The old year was divided into three seasons of Heat, Rain, and Cold, called Grishma, Varsha, and Hemanta,—all of which names are found in the Indo-Scythian inscriptions. They are also commonly known as Dhúp-kál, Barkha-kál, Sít-kál.* So in Ceylon the rainy season, or Wasso, still consists of four months, and extends from July to November. In ancient times, however, Wasso or Varsha extended from June to October; but owing to the greater length of the Indian year the seasons fall back about one day and-a-half in every hundred years. At the present time the solar year begins on the 13th of April instead of on the 21st of March. In consequence of this difference the beginning of Varsha, or the rainy season, in the times of Alexander and Asoka, would have fallen just one month earlier than at present.