Re Ramayana

[Jean-Michel Delire]

In astronomical context, ayana refers to the journey of the sun, not its daily motion, but the annual motion of the midday sun : from the winter solstice to the summer solstice, usually described as a northward motion, and from the summer solstice to the winter solstice, described as southward motion. In that case, the duration of an ayana would be the half tropic year. See KauzItaki Br. 19.3 by instance,

Regards,

J.M.Delire