Chaturmas (Chaturmasya)
Chaturmas is the four-month period from Devshayani Ekadashi in Ashadha to Devuthani (Prabodhini) Ekadashi in Kartika, when Vishnu is said to rest. Weddings and similar ceremonies are traditionally paused.
Also known as: Chaumasa, Chatur maas
Chaturmas means ‘four months’. It begins on Ashadha Shukla Ekadashi, Devshayani Ekadashi, when Vishnu is said to enter yogic sleep, and ends on Kartika Shukla Ekadashi, Devuthani or Prabodhini Ekadashi, when he awakens. It spans the monsoon months of Shravana, Bhadrapada and Ashwin, and stretches to five months in a year with an Adhik maas.
Across North and West India, weddings, griha pravesh, mundan and similar ceremonies are traditionally held back until Devuthani Ekadashi, after which the wedding season opens with Tulsi Vivah. The season itself is rich in devotion: Shravan Mondays, Janmashtami, Ganesh Chaturthi, Navratri and Diwali all fall within it. Our Muhurat finder applies Chaturmas to weddings and mundan; for griha pravesh it uses the classical month list, which skips Ashadha to Ashwin but allows the whole of Kartika.
Many people take a Chaturmas vow, giving up certain foods or habits for the season, and Jain monks and nuns stay in one place through the monsoon. It is a time of restraint and inner work, not an unlucky period.