manvantaras

Manvantaras are a unit of time in Hindu cosmology, representing a division of creation within Brahma’s day, or kalpa. Each manvantara is presided over by a Manu, a legendary progenitor or lawgiver who rules the world during that period. The concept situates cycles of creation and dissolution within the larger framework of yugas and cosmic time.

In traditional calculations, a kalpa lasts 4.32 billion years and contains fourteen manvantaras, separated by twilight periods known as sandhyas. Each manvantara lasts 306.72 million years, and each sandhya lasts about 1.728 million years. The total of these segments adds up to the length of a kalpa, after which Brahma’s day ends and a dissolution or renewal occurs.

There are fourteen Manus in a kalpa, listed in successive order. Vaivasvata Manu is commonly identified as the seventh Manu and is regarded as the current ruler in the present cosmic cycle. The present manvantara contains the current cycle of the four yugas—Satya (Krita), Treta, Dvapara, and Kali—with humanity said to progress through these ages during this period. The Kali Yuga, the fourth and last age, is believed to have begun around 3102 BCE in traditional accounts.

The manvantara framework, found in the Puranas and other Hindu scriptures, emphasizes recurring cosmic eras in which different Manus govern, followed by transitions to subsequent manvantaras. This system illustrates the Hindu view of time as a series of long, hierarchical cycles rather than a single linear chronology.