Makara (month) month of Kumbha. The start of this month is almost always January 14, the day of the Makara Sankranti festival, and periodically the Kumbh Mela. The Makara month is called "Tai" in the Tamil Hindu calendar. The ancient and medieval era Sanskrit texts of India vary in their calculations about the duration of Makara, just like they do with other months. For example, the "Surya Siddhanta" calculates the duration of Vrschika to be 29 days, 10 hours, 45 minutes and 12 seconds. In contrast, the "Arya Siddhanta" calculates the duration of the Vrschika month to be 29 days, 10 hours,
Lunar month The nodes of the Moon's orbit precesses 360° in about 6,798 days (18.6 years). A draconic month is shorter than a sidereal month because the nodes precess in the opposite direction to that in which the Moon is orbiting Earth, one rotation every 18.6 years. Therefore, the Moon returns to the same node slightly earlier than it returns to meet the same reference star. Regardless of the culture, all lunar months approximate the mean length of the synodic month, the average period the Moon takes to cycle through its phases (new, first quarter, full, last quarter) and back again: 29–30