Ashwin (Devanagari: ???????), also known as Aswayuja, is the seventh month of the lunisolar Hindu calendar and the sixth month of the solar Bengali calendars, and also sixth month in the solar India's national civil calendar, where it is the second month in Shôrot, (Sharad in Hindi) or Autumn.

It overlaps September and October of the Gregorian calendar. It is the month just before Diwali, the festival of lights. In lunar religious calendars such as the Hindu calendar, Ashvin may begin on either the new moon or the full moon around the same time of year, and is usually the seventh month of the year. In solar religious calendars such as the Bengali calendar (in which the month is named Ashshin, Bangla lipi ??????), Aashvin begins with the Sun's exit from Virgo, and is usually the sixth month of the year.

Etymology

Ashwin also means light in the Hindi language, and Ashvini is the first star that appears in the evening sky, in Hindu constellation it is the head of Aries, or the first of the 27 Nakshatras. In Thai a variation of Ashwin, known as Asawin, stands for "brave knight".

Ashwin also stands for the Divine twins, the "Ashwins" , considered to be the Hindu Gods of vision, in Hindu mythology.

Festivals

Several major religious holidays take place in Ashvin, including Durga Puja (6-10 Ashvin), Dasehra (10 Ashvin) and Divali (29 Ashvin), and Kojagiri festivals, which are held as per the lunar calendar, usually fall in this month.

Popular names

Both Ashwin and Asvin are very common Hindu Indian names. This is not to be confused with the old Anglo-Saxon surname Ashwin or Aescwine, meaning 'spear friend'.

Notable people named Ashwin

• Ashwin Batish - Sitar maestro
• Ashwin Sood - Musician, husband of Sarah MacLachlan
• Ashwin Navin - Entrepreneur, President of BitTorrent, Inc.
• Ashwin Madia - Indian-born American politician
• Ashwin Willemse - South African rugby player
• Ashwin Reddy - rugby union player for Cambridge University and India national rugby team

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