मल मास - Adhik Masa / अधिक मास / Kshay Masa / क्षय मास

 मल मास - Adhik Masa / अधिक मास / Kshay Masa / क्षय मास 

Adhik masa refers to the extra month in Hindu Lunar Calendar. It is composed of two words Adhik means extra and Mas means month. A year with an Adhik masa will mean that it has 13 months instead of the usual 12 months. This s unique concept in Hindu calendar for bridging of the lunar and solar calendars. The Adhik masa appears only in calendars that consider it. Hence, the local / regional calendars that are followed in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Orissa, Bengal and Assam will not have them since they follow the Solar Calendar. Another name of this month is Mal Maas or Purushottam Maas. This month is dedicated to Lord Vishnu.
As per the Indian Calendar system, there are two calendars i.e. Lunar and Solar. A lunar month consists of about 29.5 days long whereas Solar month is 30 or 31 days.
In the lunar calendar, there are 354 days in a year and in the solar calendar there are 365 days and 6 minutes in the year. Hence, there is a difference of 11 days, 1 hour, 31 minutes and 12 seconds between the both.