Why is the Moon affectionately called Chanda Mama in India

Time of India

28-07-2025

Throughout the ages, the moon has always captivated human beings with its mysterious charm and glow in the night sky, serving as a symbol of hope, rebirth, and rhythm.
The Moon has been a part of it all, be it myths, legends, rituals or calendars, ever since the childhood of a baby by influencing how we pray, and how we dream.
In India, the moon isn't just a celestial body, but a deity, a symbol of royalty, and a storyteller in the sky.
Children still call it Chanda-mama, the maternal uncle who visits often but never stays long. But have you ever thought about why it is called by this name?
What is the legendary story of the Moon
The moon has long been a symbol of resurrection in Indian mythology. As per legend, Chandra, the moon-god, was cursed with a wasting disease because he favoured only one of his 27 wives, the lunar constellations or nakshatras.
According to another legendary version, he eloped with Tara, the wife of Brihaspati (Jupiter), causing a divine outrage. In both tales, Chandra began to wane and feared he would vanish forever.
In desperation, he turned to Lord Shiva for help.
It is explained in a Puranic lore that Shiva holds the Ganga in his matted hair and Ganga is the river believed to grant rebirth. 'If Shiva can give the dead another chance at life, he surely can resurrect the waning moon,' writes mythologist Devdutt Pattanaik in one of his essays.
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Shiva appeared before Chandra at Somnath, Gujarat, and placed him in his hair-knot, enabling him to wax again. Since then, the moon has been called Soma, symbolizing regeneration and hope.
The Moon has long been associated with empires
The symbolism of the Moon also has a place among the warriors. Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, the 17th-century Maratha king, wore the crescent moon, or chandra-kor, on his forehead. It served as a visual reminder of freedom and resilience.
'It was meant to inspire people never to give up on the idea of freedom (swarajya), to remind all that after the dark night of the new moon, the waxing begins,' writes Pattanaik.
The crescent moon is also associated with Islam, seen on the flags of Pakistan and Turkey. But it was not originally a religious symbol but an imperial one, used by the Ottomans after they conquered Byzantium in the 15th century. The crescent represented the founder, Osman's dream of an empire stretching across the world.
Moon symbolism goes deeper in Indian lore. Chandragupta Maurya's name, according to Jain tradition, comes from his mother's desire to drink moonlight-infused water. Chanakya fulfilled it by offering the water bathed in moonlight.
Why is the Moon called '
Chanda Mama
'
Indian kings often traced their lineage to the moon or Soma-vamsa and the sun or Surya-vamsa. The Ramayana is the tale of the solar dynasty, while the Mahabharata follows the lunar. Interestingly, Lord Ram, who belonged to the Solar lineage, is called 'Ram-chandra'.
It is that he was fond of the moon. According to Pattanaik, he would not sleep until his mother showed him the reflection of the moon in a pot of water and saw the moon as his mother's brother.
That's why, just like Ram, even today we lovingly call the moon Chanda-mama—the dear uncle who visits his sister often, but never stays too long.
The name 'maas' is also associated with the Moon
Linguists believe the word maas (month) doesn't come from Sanskrit but from the Munda tribes, whose women called the moon maa.
So a full moon became poorna-maa, and a new moon, a-maa.
Art also immortalizes the moon-god riding a chariot pulled by deer or geese, holding a rabbit or Shasha. As per the Jataka tales, that rabbit was the Buddha in a previous life, who sacrificed himself for a hungry man. The gods rewarded him with a place on the moon, making him Shashank, the rabbit-marked moon.