According to the Vaiṣṇava almanac, the twelve months of the year are named according to the twelve Vaikuṇṭha forms of Lord Kṛṣṇa, and these forms are known as the predominating Deities for the twelve months. This calendar begins with the month of Mārgaśīrṣa, which is equivalent to late November and early December. The Vaiṣṇavas call this month Keśava. December–January is called Nārāyaṇa, January–February Mādhava, February–March Govinda, March–April Viṣṇu, April–May Śrī Madhusūdana, and May–June Trivikrama. June–July is called Vāmana, July–August Śrīdhara, August–September Hṛṣīkeśa, September–October Padmanābha, and October–November Dāmodara. This Dāmodara is different from the Dāmodara in Vraja. The name Dāmodara was given to Kṛṣṇa when He was bound with ropes by His mother, but the Dāmodara form who is the predominating Deity of the month of October–November is a different manifestation.
Just as the months of the year are known according to the twelve different names of the Supreme Lord, members of the Vaiṣṇava community mark twelve parts of the body according to these names. For instance, the tilaka mark on the forehead is called Keśava, and on the stomach, chest and arms the other names are also given. These are the same names as those given the months.
Vāsudeva, Saṅkarṣaṇa, Pradyumna and Aniruddha expand in eight additional vilāsa-mūrtis. Their names are Puruṣottama, Acyuta, Nṛsiṁha, Janārdana, Hari, Kṛṣṇa, Adhokṣaja and Upendra. Adhokṣaja and Puruṣottama are the vilāsa forms of Vāsudeva. Similarly, Upendra and Acyuta are the vilāsa forms of Saṅkarṣaṇa; Nṛsiṁha and Janārdana the vilāsa forms of Pradyumna; and Hari and Kṛṣṇa the vilāsa forms of Aniruddha. (This Kṛṣṇa is different from the original Kṛṣṇa.)
These twenty-four forms—the four original Viṣṇu forms, the twelve Vaikuṇṭha forms, and the eight vilāsa-mūrtis mentioned above—are known as vilāsa manifestations of the prābhava (four-handed) form, and they are named differently according to the position of the symbolic representations (mace, disc, lotus flower and conch shell). Out of these twenty-four vilāsa forms, some are vaibhava forms, such as Pradyumna, Trivikrama, Vāmana, Hari and Kṛṣṇa, which have different features. Thus Vāsudeva, Saṅkarṣaṇa, Pradyumna and Aniruddha are prābhava-vilāsa forms of Kṛṣṇa, and there are a total of twenty further variations. All of these have Vaikuṇṭha planets in the spiritual sky and are situated in eight different directions. Although each of them resides eternally in the spiritual sky, some of them nonetheless appear in the material world also.