Eternal Reality Calendar — Holy Days and Festivals

The Eternal Reality order keeps the traditional Hindu lunisolar calendar: months follow the Moon (each month begins at full moon in the pūrnimānta system or at new moon in the amānta system — both are in use, and festival dates are quoted identically), and the solar year sets the harvest and solstice markers. Observances vary widely by region, sect, and local custom; where a practice differs by tradition, both are noted rather than collapsed into one.

Daily

Sandhyā vandanam (morning, noon, evening) — At dawn, midday, and dusk, the three junctures when light turns. Traditionally kept by the twice-born with ācamana (sipping water), prāṇāyāma, and recitation of the Gāyatrī mantra facing east at dawn, zenith at noon, west at dusk; in practice many households keep one or two junctures with lamp, water, and Gāyatrī.
Nitya pūjā (daily worship) — Morning offering of flowers, water, incense, and a lit lamp before the household shrine (or one’s chosen deity), with brief recitation of names or a short stotra; closes with ārati (waving the lamp) and partaking of prasāda (blessed food). The full daily structure in traditional homes: purification, invocation, offering of the five elements (water, fire/incense, earth/flower, air, ether/sound), praise, and dismissal.

Weekly

Monday (Somvār) — Shiva — Observed widely across India; devotees fast, offer water, milk, and bilva leaves to the Shiva linga, and visit Shiva temples.
Tuesday (Mangalvār) — Hanuman and Durga — Hanuman temples keep a Tuesday rhythm (offerings of sindoor, bananas; recitation of the Hanuman Chālisā); in Bengal and eastern India, Tuesday is also associated with Goddess Mangala/Durga.
Wednesday (Budhvār) — Krishna/Vishnu — Common in Vaishnava households (green offerings to Krishna); in Maharashtra and South India, Wednesday is also Ganesh’s day.
Thursday (Guruvār) — Vishnu/Brihaspati — Observed for Vishnu, Lakshmi (in some regions), and Brihaspati, guru of the gods; devotees wear yellow, offer chickpeas and jaggery. Sai Baba devotees also keep Thursday.
Friday (Shukravār) — Lakshmi and the Goddess — Kept for Lakshmi, Durga, and Santoshi Mata (the Friday Santoshi Mata vrat is kept by many women for sixteen consecutive Fridays).
Saturday (Shanivār) — Shani (Saturn) — Observed to propitiate Shani; devotees offer sesame oil and black sesame at Shani shrines or under peepal trees, fast, and give charity to the poor. Also kept for Hanuman in some regions.
Sunday (Ravivār) — Surya (the Sun) — Offerings of water at sunrise, fasting by some, and temple visits honoring Surya, the visible divine.

Monthly

Each lunar month (c. 29.5 days) carries the same recurring tithi observances; the lunisolar basis means the months drift against the Gregorian year by about 11 days annually.

Pūrnimā (full moon) — Sacred to the divine in fullness; each month’s pūrnimā has its own keeping (e.g., Guru Pūrnimā in Ashadha honors teachers; Kartik Pūrnimā honors Shiva and the holy bath). General practice: fasting, night worship, charity, holy bathing.
Amāvasyā (new moon) — Sacred to the ancestors (pitṛ): offerings of water, sesame, and food to departed forebears; in many regions the night’s darkness is also the occasion of goddess worship.
Ekādashī (11th lunar day, twice monthly) — The principal recurring fast: observed on the 11th day of both the bright (shukla) and dark (krishna) fortnights, sacred to Vishnu. Kept by abstaining from grains (strict fast or fruit-and-milk fast), with prayer and vigil; breaking the fast at the proper time the next morning is itself part of the observance.

Quarterly

Makar Sankranti — When the Sun enters Capricorn (Makar), marking the sun’s northward turn (uttarāyaṇa) and the end of the inauspicious dark half of the solar year. Kept with holy bathing, sesame-and-jaggery offerings, kite flying, and harvest feasting. Primarily a solar marker; celebrated as Pongal in Tamil Nadu (multi-day), Lohri in Punjab (the night before), and Maghi in other regions.
Vishu / Mesha Sankranti (solar new year marker) — The Sun’s entry into Aries opens the solar year in many traditions; kept as Vishu in Kerala (vishukkani, the auspicious first sight), Pohela Boishakh in Bengal, and Baisakhi in Punjab. Regional practice varies greatly; no single pan-Hindu name covers it.

Yearly

Timing is given as lunar month + tithi. Verify exact Gregorian dates against a current Hindu calendar.

Maha Shivaratri — Magha, krishna chaturdashi (14th night of the dark fortnight). The great night of Shiva: night-long vigil, fasting, offering of water, milk, honey, and bilva leaves to the linga, with chanting of “Om Namah Shivaya.”
Holi — Phalguna, purnima (full moon). The festival of colors: bonfire the night before (Holika Dahan), then throwing of colored powder and water, music, sweets, and the loosening of social rank; rooted in the Prahlada legend and the love of Radha and Krishna. In Mathura-Vrindavan it runs several days.
Navaratri — Ashvin, shukla pratipada through navami (first nine days of the bright fortnight). Nine nights of the Goddess: fasting, nightly worship of Durga in her nine forms, dance (garba/dandiya in Gujarat), and in the east the great Durga Puja pandals. A second Navaratri in Chaitra (spring) is kept by many.
Dussehra / Vijayadashami — Ashvin, shukla dashami (10th day of the bright fortnight). The victory of good over evil: Rama’s triumph (Ravana effigies burned in the north), Durga’s victory (idol immersion in the east), and in the south the worship of weapons, tools, and books (Ayudha Puja).
Diwali (Deepavali) — Kartika, amavasya (new moon). The festival of lights: rows of oil lamps, Lakshmi puja, fireworks, sweets, and new beginnings; commemorates Rama’s return to Ayodhya in the north, Lakshmi’s worship in the west, Krishna’s victory in the south, and Kali’s worship in the east. In the south Diwali is often kept a day earlier, on Naraka Chaturdashi.
Krishna Janmashtami — Shravana (pūrnimānta) / Bhadrapada (amānta), krishna ashtami (8th day of the dark fortnight). Krishna’s midnight birth: day fasting, midnight abhisheka (bathing) of the infant Krishna, breaking the fast after midnight, and in Maharashtra the dahi-handi (human pyramid breaking the curd pot).
Raksha Bandhan — Shravana, purnima (full moon). Sisters tie the protective rakhi thread on brothers’ wrists; brothers vow protection and give gifts — a festival of the sibling bond, not a deity worship day.
Ganesh Chaturthi — Bhadrapada, shukla chaturthi (4th day of the bright fortnight). The birth of Ganesha: clay idols installed in homes and public pandals for one to eleven days, daily worship with modak sweets, ending with immersion (visarjan) in water. Largest public celebration in Maharashtra.

Uncertainties for owner review

Krishna Janmashtami’s month: quoted as Shravana in the pūrnimānta system (North India) and Bhadrapada in the amānta system (South/West) — the same night, two month names. This is standard, not disputed.
Diwali’s exact day: one day earlier in South India (Naraka Chaturdashi) vs. North/West (Amavasya). Both are real; kept the Amavasya rule as primary with the note.
Quarterly section: only Makar Sankranti is genuinely pan-Hindu as a seasonal marker; the “Vishu / Mesha Sankranti” entry covers the solar new year, but it is not kept under one name anywhere — flagged as a regional family of observances rather than a single holy day.
Not included: the equinoxes are recognized astronomically in jyotisha but are not widely kept as holy days in the way the solstice markers (uttarāyaṇa/dakshiṇāyana) are — so no equinox entry was invented. Regional-only festivals (Onam, Pongal as separate entries, Bihu, Teej, Karva Chauth, etc.) were left out of the yearly list to keep it to the genuinely pan-Hindu set named in the brief.