Purnimanta Margashirsha begins the day after Kartika Purnima; Krishna calls it the best of months

In the Purnimanta calendar followed in North India, the month of Margashirsha (Agahan) begins on the Krishna Pratipada after Kartika Purnima; in the Amanta calendar of the South and West it begins after the following Amavasya. The month is named after Mrigashira nakshatra, in which the full moon falls. In the Bhagavad Gita (10.35), Krishna declares 'Masanam Margashirsho'ham' — 'of months, I am Margashirsha'; it was once the first month of the year, and the Bhagavata Purana tells that the gopis kept the Katyayani vrat in this month to win Krishna as their husband. It is the month of the Gita Jayanti on Mokshada Ekadashi, Vivah Panchami (the wedding of Rama and Sita), Kalabhairav Jayanti, Dattatreya Jayanti, Annapurna Jayanti and, in Maharashtra, the Thursday Margashirsha Lakshmi vrat. Winter sets in, the rabi crops are sown, and it is regarded as an excellent month for weddings, bathing in the Yamuna, worship of Krishna, reading the Gita, and charity of warm clothes. Tamil Nadu's corresponding month, Margazhi, is dedicated to dawn worship and the singing of the Tiruppavai.

The month begins; its vrats are kept on their own days.