---
type: Concept
bundle: jyotisha-kala
bundle_version: 0.12.0
id: samvatsara
title: Saṃvatsara
iast: Saṃvatsara
devanagari: संवत्सर
description: 'The year in Jyotiṣa reckoning, especially the sixty named years of the Bṛhaspati cycle (Prabhava to Akṣaya) used in inscriptions and almanacs; NOT a universal Hindu year, NOT an era count, NOT a trivia list.'
darshana:
- Jyotiṣa
text_source: Bṛhat Saṃhitā 8; Sūrya Siddhānta 1
tags:
- samvatsara
- year
- jupiter-cycle
- calendrics
- jyotisha
not:
- term: 'a universal Hindu year'
  why: 'Multiple new-year conventions coexist: Caitra śukla pratipadā opens the almanac year, Meṣa saṅkrānti the solar year of several regional calendars, Dīpāvali a merchant year. “The Hindu new year” is a family of conventions, not one day.'
  instead: 'Render saṃvatsara as the named cyclical year, state which convention is in play, and keep the Sanskrit term.'
- term: 'an era count'
  why: 'The saṃvatsara names cycle in sixty and repeat; eras (śaka, vikrama, kali) count linearly and do not. A full traditional date stacks both: era year, cycle name, māsa, pakṣa, tithi, vāra.'
- term: 'a trivia list'
  why: 'The sixty names date real inscriptions and colophons across two millennia of Indian record-keeping. The cycle is an instrument of chronology, not an ornament.'
related:
- /concepts/masa.md
- /concepts/ayana.md
- /concepts/ritu.md
- /concepts/kala-jyotisha.md
timestamp: '2026-07-09'
okf_version: '0.2'
license: CC BY-SA 4.0
---

# Saṃvatsara -- संवत्सर

**Not:** a universal Hindu year, an era count, a trivia list

## What It Actually Means

Saṃvatsara is the year, and in Jyotiṣa usage especially the named year: the sixty-year cycle from Prabhava to Akṣaya, classically tied to Bṛhaspati (Jupiter) stepping through the zodiac, its roughly twelve-year period run through five rounds. Bṛhat Saṃhitā gives the cycle its classical treatment, and inscriptions and almanac colophons across India date themselves by cycle name. The names cycle; eras count linearly; a complete traditional date stacks era, saṃvatsara, māsa, pakṣa, tithi, and vāra. Multiple new-year conventions coexist by region and calendar type, so the term names a reckoning system, not a single anniversary.

## Audience Metaphor

Sixty named years cycling like a very long week: Prabhava, Vibhava, on to Akṣaya, then round again. An inscription naming its saṃvatsara dates itself the way “Tuesday the 3rd” narrows a date: by position in a cycle, with the era number doing the linear counting.

## Citations

1. Bṛhat Saṃhitā 8 on the sixty-year Jupiter cycle -- see [references/brihat-samhita.md](../references/brihat-samhita.md)
2. Sūrya Siddhānta 1 on year reckonings -- see [references/surya-siddhanta.md](../references/surya-siddhanta.md)
