Kharmas (Malmas)
When
Kharmas is the period when the Sun is in a sign ruled by Jupiter:
- Dhanu (Sagittarius) — from Dhanu Sankranti, around 15–16 December, to Makar Sankranti, around 14–15 January.
- Meena (Pisces) — from Meena Sankranti, around 14–15 March, to Mesha Sankranti (Baisakhi), around 13–14 April.
These are solar dates, so they barely move from year to year — unlike lunar festivals.
Why
Jupiter is the planet of marriage, children and dharma. When the Sun stands in Jupiter's own signs, Jupiter's light is considered dimmed, and the auspicious results of sanskaras are said to be weakened. A folk story explains the name: the Sun's seven horses grew exhausted, so for one month Surya harnessed two khar (donkeys) to his chariot, and the year crawls at a donkey's pace until the horses return at Sankranti.
What stops, what continues
No weddings, engagements, griha pravesh, mundan, new business openings or property purchases. But Kharmas is a good time for worship, charity, pilgrimage, japa and reading scripture — Dhanu month is especially sacred in South India (Margazhi), when Andal's Tiruppavai is sung at dawn.
Adhik Maas (Purushottam Maas)
Roughly every 32–33 months the lunar calendar inserts an extra month so that festivals stay in their seasons. This intercalary month — also called Malmas, and dedicated to Vishnu as Purushottam — is likewise avoided for weddings and new beginnings, and is given over to devotion. See why Hindu festival dates change every year.
Chaturmas
Chaturmas, "four months", runs from Devshayani Ekadashi (Ashadha Shukla Ekadashi, in June–July) to Devuthani or Prabodhini Ekadashi (Kartika Shukla Ekadashi, in October–November). Vishnu is said to enter yoga-nidra on the cosmic serpent for these months. Because he is not "awake" to bless them, weddings and griha pravesh are not held, and the wedding season reopens with Tulsi Vivah. It is also the rainy season, when travel was historically hard; sannyasis stay in one place through it.
Chaturmas is the year's great season of vratas and festivals — Guru Purnima, Shravan's Mondays, Janmashtami, Ganesh Chaturthi, Pitru Paksha and Navratri all fall in it. See Ekadashi vrat.
Holashtak
The eight days from Phalguna Shukla Ashtami to Purnima, ending with Holika Dahan. Tradition connects them with the eight days of torment Prahlada endured from Hiranyakashipu before Holika's fire, and in Braj and much of North India no sanskaras are performed. Holi itself, the next day, is the release. Read the story of Prahlada and Holi.
Guru and Shukra asta
When Jupiter or Venus passes too close to the Sun to be seen, it is said to be asta (set) — popularly "tara doobna". Since Jupiter and Venus are the karakas of marriage, weddings are not held while either is set. Jupiter's combustion lasts roughly a month a year; Venus's can last longer, and these windows can fall anywhere in the year, which is why some years have unexpected gaps in the wedding calendar.
Pitru Paksha
The sixteen lunar days before Navratri are given to the ancestors. New purchases and celebrations are traditionally deferred. See Pitru Paksha: meaning and rituals.
When a pause cannot be waited out
Life does not always wait: a job transfer, a medical need, a lease. Priests generally allow a sapurva return to one's own house, routine puja, and necessary purchases. For weddings, families sometimes move to an Abujh muhurat day just before or after the pause.