The nakaiy calendar: how Maldivians read the seasons

Think of the nakaiy as a weather almanac built from generations of watching. Instead of twelve months, the year is cut into 27 slices of roughly a fortnight, and each name carries a reputation: this one brings squalls, that one glassy seas, another a good run of tuna.

The Edition, a national news outlet, describes it as an indigenous system that tells islanders about rain, thunder, wind direction, tides and calm spells. It was passed down by word of mouth and by doing, from older fishermen to younger crews, rather than from books.

The periods are grouped under the two Maldivian monsoons, hulhangu (southwest) and iruvai (northeast), and break each season into finer phases. Fishing communities and older islanders still refer to them, and news reports often open a weather story by naming the current nakaiy.

The nakaiy belongs to a much older and wider tradition of “lunar mansions”: a set of stars along the path the moon travels across the sky, used across South Asia and the Arabic-speaking world to mark time.

A comparison table published by Cambridge University Library lines up each Dhivehi nakaiy name with its Arabic and Sanskrit equivalents. Assida matches the Sanskrit Ashvini, Rōnu matches Rohini, Mula matches Mūla, and so on. The same table compares the Maldivian dates with those given by Ibn Mājid, the 15th-century Arab navigator, and notes that one old mansion, Avihi, survives as a name but is not part of the modern official calendar.

That mix of Sanskrit and Arabic roots fits the islands’ place on Indian Ocean trade routes. For more on that past, see our guides to the Maldives before Islam and Dhivehi and the Thaana script.

The best-known local work on the subject is *History 2: Nakaiy* by the Maldivian historian Hassan Ahmed Manik, published in Malé in 1989. The National Centre for Cultural Heritage has listed it in an international database of intangible heritage research as a record of how Maldivians calculated the days and seasons.

The dates below come from the Cambridge University Library table, which gives them for the official Maldives calendar of 2024. News reports from 2026 match them, so they are a good guide for any year. Spellings vary in English; the names here follow that table, with common news spellings in brackets.

Each period runs until the day before the next one starts.

The Maldives has two seasons, named for the winds. Hulhangu is the southwest monsoon: wetter, windier, with rougher seas. Iruvai is the northeast monsoon: drier, with clearer skies and calmer water. Our guide to hulhangu and iruvai explains them in detail.

The nakaiy works inside these two seasons. News reports count the periods within each monsoon: in June 2026 the Edition called Miaheli the fifth nakaiy of hulhangu, and in February 2026 it called Hiyaviha the sixth nakaiy of iruvai. Counting back from those, the traditional hulhangu half opens with Assida in early April, and iruvai opens with Mula in December.

That is a little different from the modern scientific calendar. The Maldives Meteorological Service treats January to March as the dry northeast monsoon, mid-May to November as the wet southwest monsoon, and April and December as transition months. The two systems describe the same year; the nakaiy simply starts its seasons at the turn rather than when the new wind is fully set.

Not every nakaiy has a well-recorded character in reliable sources, so here are the ones described in national news.

Hulhangu periods

• Rōnu, Miaheli and Ada. The Edition links these with heavy cloud, choppy seas and currents that are hard to read. Fishermen traditionally stayed close to home in these weeks and used the time to mend boats and gear. Miaheli in particular is known for strong westerly winds and rough seas.
• Ahuliha. Rain is common, but the gusts are said to ease and the seas calm. An old saying holds that rain in Ahuliha means rain in the following nakaiy, Mā, too.
• Hei. Fishing is said to be excellent from 18 to 30 October, with plenty of large tuna. It is a good reminder of how closely the calendar is tied to pole-and-line tuna fishing.

Iruvai periods

• Uturu Haḷa. Known for clear blue skies, strong winds and rough seas, even though it falls in the dry season.
• Huvan, Dinaṣa and Fas Baduruva. The Edition links these with calm, glassy seas, gentle winds and clear water: good weeks for travel between islands and for fishing on the reef.
• Hiyavihā. Usually very calm seas, light winds and hot days and nights. In February 2026 the Met Service reported heat index readings above 35°C in several areas during this period.

For fishermen without compasses or forecasts, the nakaiy was a planning tool. It suggested which weeks were safe for long trips, where tuna were likely to be running, and when to keep the boat on shore.

On land, the Edition notes, farmers used the periods to decide when to plant, prune and harvest.

Today the nakaiy sits side by side with satellite forecasts. The Met Service issues the official warnings, but you will still see a news report pair a weather alert with a note on what the current nakaiy usually brings. In January 2021, for example, the Edition pointed out that rain during Uturu Haḷa, normally a clear period, was a break from the traditional pattern.

Islanders increasingly say the calendar and the weather do not line up as neatly as they used to. Reports in 2026 noted that the nakaiy now matches the actual weather less often than before, as global weather patterns shift.

That has given the old system a new use. The Edition reports that marine researchers and environmental scientists are comparing traditional nakaiy expectations with today’s monsoons and repeated coral bleaching to understand long-term change. Our guide to whether the Maldives is sinking looks at the bigger picture.

You do not need the nakaiy to plan a trip. For practical decisions, use the Met Service seasons and our guide to the best time to visit the Maldives. If you are coming in a particular month, the month guides help too, such as the Maldives in October.

But knowing a little of it makes island life easier to read:

• Ask a local. An older fisherman or boat crew will often know which nakaiy is running. It is an easy way to start a conversation.
• Watch the boats. In rough nakaiy, more boats stay in harbour and trips may be moved. Follow your crew’s judgement, and check our guide to weather hazards.
• Look up. The names come from the stars, and a dark local island beach is a good place to see them. Our stargazing guide explains what you can spot.

On Dhiffushi, the easternmost inhabited island in the Maldives, fishing has long shaped the rhythm of the year, and the open eastern horizon makes it a lovely place to watch the sky change with the seasons. Read more in our guide to Dhiffushi’s history and island life, or walk to the east beach at sunrise.