A lunar month, about March to April
Sanskrit name of a lunar month, from the nakshatra (star) near its full moon: Chitra.
Chaitra falls in about March to April on the solar calendar, and is the month that opens the Hindu year in many regions, with Chaitra Navratri and Rama Navami. The exact dates move a little each year because the Hindu calendar follows the moon.
The four-day festival of gratitude to Surya, the Sun God, observed with rigorous fasting and river-bank worship across Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, and Nepal.
Hanuman Jayanti honours Hanuman's birth on different days in different regions. This article sets out the dates, the Valmiki story and what is custom.
Mahavir Jayanti marks Mahavira's birth on the bright thirteenth of Chaitra. This article sets out the day, what the Kalpa Sutra tells, and where the traditions differ.
The Padma Purana katha of Lalit and Lalita, where a wife's Kamada Ekadashi fast and surrendered merit freed her husband from a demonic curse.
The divine story from the Bhavishyottara Purana of Sage Medhavi and Apsara Manjughosha redeemed from a terrible curse by observing Papmochani Ekadashi in Chaitra Krishna Paksha.
Chhath in order: Nahay Khay, Kharna, then standing in water to offer arghya to the setting and rising Sun, with the fast, the offerings and Chhathi Maiya.