Hindu calendar

A page from the Hindu calendar 1871-72.

The Hindu calendar used in ancient times has undergone many changes in the process of regionalization, and today there are several regional Indian calendars, as well as an Indian national calendar.

Most of these calendars are inherited from a system first enunciated in Vedanga Jyotisha of Lagadha, a late BCE adjunct to the Vedas, standardized in the Surya Siddhanta (3rd century CE) and subsequently reformed by astronomers such as Aryabhata (499 CE), Varahamihira (6th c. CE), and Bhaskara (12th c. CE). There are differences and regional variations abound in these computations, but the following is a general overview of Hindu lunisolar calendar.

Contents

Day

In the Hindu calendar, the day starts with local sunrise. It is allotted five "properties", called angas. They are:

  1. the tithi (one of 30 divisions of a synodic month) active at sunrise
  2. the vaasara or weekday
  3. the nakshatra (one of 27 divisions of the celestial ecliptic) in which the moon resides at sunrise
  4. the yoga (one of 27 divisions based on the ecliptic longitude of the sun and moon) active at sunrise
  5. the karana (divisions based on tithis) active at sunrise.

Together these are called the panchāngas (Sanskrit: pancha = five). An explanation of the terms follows.

Vaasara

Vaasara refers to the days of the week and bear striking similarities with the names in many cultures, especially western (Hindi and English analogues in parentheses):

No. Sanskrit name of the weekday English name of the weekday Celestial object
1 Ravi vāsara
रविवासरः
Sunday Ravi = Sun
2 Soma vāsara
सोमवासरः
Monday Soma = Moon
3 Mangala vāsara
मंगलवासरः
Tuesday Mangala = Mars
4 Budha vāsara
बुधवासरः
Wednesday Budha = Mercury
5 Guru vāsara
गुरुवासरः
or
Bruhaspati vāsara
बृहस्पतिवासरः
Thursday Guru (Brihaspati) = Jupiter
6 Shukra vāsara
शुक्रवासरः
Friday Shukra = Venus
7 Shani vāsara
शनिवासरः
Saturday Shani = Saturn

The term -vaasara is often abbreviated as vaara or vaar in Sanskrit-derived languages. There are many variations of the names in the regional languages, mostly using alternate names of the celestial bodies involved.

Nakshatra

The ecliptic is divided into 27 nakshatras, which are variously called lunar houses or asterisms. These reflect the moon's cycle against the fixed stars, 27 days and 7¾ hours, the fractional part being compensated by an intercalary 28th nakshatra. Nakshatra computation appears to have been well known at the time of the Rig Veda (2nd–1st millennium BCE).

The ecliptic is divided into the nakshatras eastwards starting from a reference point which is traditionally a point on the ecliptic directly opposite the star Spica called Chitrā in Sanskrit. (Other slightly different definitions exist.) It is called Meshādi or the "start of Aries"; this is when the equinox — where the ecliptic meets the equator — was in Aries (today it is in Pisces, 28 degrees before Aries starts). The difference between Meshādi and the present equinox is known as ayanāngsha or fraction of ecliptic. Given the 25,800 year cycle for the precession of the equinoxes, the equinox was directly opposite Spica in 285 CE, around the date of the Surya Siddhanta[1][2].

The nakshatras with their corresponding regions of sky are given below, following Basham[3]. As always, there are many versions with minor differences. The names on the right-hand column give roughly the correspondence of the nakshatras to modern names of stars. Note that nakshatras are (in this context) not just single stars but are segments on the ecliptic characterised by one or more stars. Hence there are more than one star mentioned for each nakshatra.

# Sanskrit name
संस्कृतम्
Malayalam name
മലയാളം
Tamil name
தமிழ்
Western star name
1 Ashvinī
अश्विनी
Ashvati
അശ്വതി
Aswini
அஸ்வினி
β and γ Arietis
2 Bharanī
भरणी
Bharaṇi
ഭരണി
Baraṇi
பரணி
35, 39, and 41 Arietis
3 Krittikā
कृत्तिका
Kārttika
കാർത്തിക
Kārthikai
கார்த்திகை
Pleiades
4 Rohini
रोहिणी
Rōhiṇi
രോഹിണി
Rōhiṇi
ரோகிணி
Aldebaran
5 Mrigashīrsha
म्रृगशीर्षा
Makayiram
മകയിരം
Mirugasīridam
மிருகசீரிடம்
λ, φ Orionis
6 Ārdrā
आद्रा
Ātira or Tiruvātira
ആതിര (തിരുവാതിര)
Thiruvādhirai
திருவாதிரை
Betelgeuse
7 Punarvasu
पुनर्वसु
Puṇartam
പുണർതം
Punarpoosam
புனர்பூசம்
Castor and Pollux
8 Pushya
पुष्य
Pūyam
പൂയം
Poosam
பூசம்
γ, δ and θ Cancri
9 Āshleshā
आश्ळेषा / आश्लेषा
Āyilyam
ആയില്യം
Ayilyam
ஆயில்யம்
δ, ε, η, ρ, and σ Hydrae
10 Maghā
मघा
Makam
മകം
Magam
மகம்
Regulus
11 Pūrva or Pūrva Phalgunī
पूर्व फाल्गुनी
Pūram
പൂരം
Pooram
பூரம்
δ and θ Leonis
12 Uttara or Uttara Phalgunī
उत्तर फाल्गुनी
Utram
ഉത്രം
Uthiram
உத்திரம்
Denebola
13 Hasta
हस्त
Attam
അത്തം
Astham
அஸ்தம்
α, β, γ, δ and ε Corvi
14 Chitrā
चित्रा
Chittira
ചിത്തിര (ചിത്ര)
Chithirai
சித்திரை
Spica
15 Svātī
स्वाती
Chōti
ചോതി
Swathi
சுவாதி
Arcturus
16 Vishākhā
विशाखा
Vishākham
വിശാഖം
Visakam
விசாகம்
α, β, γ and ι Librae
17 Anurādhā
अनुराधा
Anizham
അനിഴം
Anusham
அனுஷம்
β, δ and π Scorpionis
18 Jyeshtha
ज्येष्ठा
Kēṭṭa (Trikkēṭṭa)
കേട്ട (തൃക്കേട്ട)
Kettai
கேட்டை
α, σ, and τ Scorpionis
19 Mūla
मूल
Mūlam
മൂലം
Mūlam
மூலம்
ε, ζ, η, θ, ι, κ, λ, μ and ν Scorpionis
20 Pūrva Ashādhā
पूर्वाषाढा
Pūrāṭam
പൂരാടം
Pūradam
பூராடம்
δ and ε Sagittarii
21 Uttara Ashādhā
उत्तराषाढा
Utrāṭam
ഉത്രാടം
Uthirādam
உத்திராடம்
ζ and σ Sagittarii
22 Shravana
श्रवण
Tiruvōnam
ഓണം (തിരുവോണം)
Tiruvōnam
திருவோணம்
α, β and γ Aquilae
23 Shravishthā or Dhanishta
श्रविष्ठा or धनिष्ठा
Aviṭṭam
അവിട്ടം
Aviṭṭam
அவிட்டம்
α to δ Delphinus
24 Shatabhishā or Shatataraka
शतभिषक् / शततारका
Chatayam
ചതയം
Sadayam
சதயம்
γ Aquarii
25 Pūrva Bhādrapadā
पूर्वभाद्रपदा / पूर्वप्रोष्ठपदा
Pūruruṭṭāti
പൂരുരുട്ടാതി
Pūruruṭṭādhi
பூரட்டாதி
α and β Pegasi
26 Uttara Bhādrapadā
उत्तरभाद्रपदा / उत्तरप्रोष्ठपदा
Uttṛṭṭāti
ഉത്രട്ടാതി
Uttṛṭṭādhi
உத்திரட்டாதி
γ Pegasi and α Andromedae
27 Revati
रेवती
Rēvati
രേവതി
Rēvathi
ரேவதி
ζ Piscium

An additional 28th intercalary nakshatra, Abhijit (अभिजित्)(α, ε and ζ Lyrae - Vega - between Uttarasharha and Sravana. Last two (third and fourth) Padas of Uttrashada and first two (first and second) Padas of Sravana are considered to be Abhijit. Unless specifically mentioned it is not included in the list of the 27 constellations.

The nakshatra in which the moon lies at the time of sunrise of a day is the nakshatra for the day.

Yoga

First one computes the angular distance along the ecliptic of each object, taking the ecliptic to start at Mesha or Aries (Meshādi, as defined above): this is called the longitude of that object. The longitude of the sun and the longitude of the moon are added, and normalized to a value ranging between 0° to 360° (if greater than 360, one subtracts 360). This sum is divided into 27 parts. Each part will now equal 800' (where ' is the symbol of the arcminute which means 1/60 of a degree). These parts are called the yogas. They are labeled:

  1. Vishkumbha
  2. Prīti
  3. Āyushmān
  4. Saubhāgya
  5. Shobhana
  6. Atiganda
  7. Sukarman
  8. Dhriti
  9. Shūla
  10. Ganda
  11. Vriddhi
  12. Dhruva
  13. Vyāghāta
  14. Harshana
  15. Vajra
  16. Siddhi
  17. Vyatīpāta
  18. Varigha
  19. Parigha
  20. Shiva
  21. Siddha
  22. Sādhya
  23. Shubha
  24. Shukla
  25. Brāhma
  26. Māhendra
  27. Vaidhriti

Again, minor variations may exist. The yoga that is active during sunrise of a day is the yoga for the day.

Karana

A karana is half of a tithi. To be precise, a karana is the time required for the angular distance between the sun and the moon to increase in steps of 6° starting from 0°. (Compare with the definition of a tithi above.)

Since the tithis are thirty in number, one would expect there to be sixty karanas. But there are only eleven. There are four "fixed" karanas and seven "repeating" karanas. The four "fixed" karanas are:

  1. Kimstughna
  2. Shakuni
  3. Chatushpād
  4. Nāgava

The seven "repeating" karanas are:

  1. Bava
  2. Bālava
  3. Kaulava
  4. Taitula
  5. Garajā
  6. Vanijā
  7. Vishti (Bhadrā)

The karana active during sunrise of a day is the karana for the day.

(Rashi)
Saur Maas
(solar months)
Ritu
(season)
Gregorian
months
Zodiac
Mesh Vasant
(spring)
March/April Aries
Vrishabh April/May Taurus
Mithun Grishma
(summer)
May/June Gemini
Karkat June/July Cancer
Simha Varsha
(monsoon)
July/Aug Leo
Kanya Aug/Sept Virgo
Tula Sharad
(autumn)
Sept/Oct Libra
Vrishchik Oct/Nov Scorpius
Dhanu Hemant
(autumn-winter)
Nov/Dec. Sagittarius
Makar Dec/Jan Capricornus
Kumbha Shishir
(Winter-Spring)
Jan/Feb Aquarius
Meen Feb/Mar Pisces

Months of the lunisolar calendar

When a new moon occurs before sunrise on a day, that day is said to be the first day of the lunar month. So it is evident that the end of the lunar month will coincide with a new moon. A lunar month has 29 or 30 days (according to the movement of the moon).

The tithi at sunrise of a day is the only label of the day. There is no running day number from the first day to the last day of the month. This has some unique results, as explained below:

Sometimes two successive days have the same tithi. In such a case, the latter is called an adhika tithi where adhika means "extra". Sometimes, one tithi may never touch a sunrise, and hence no day will be labeled by that tithi. It is then said to be a tithi kshaya where kshaya means "loss".

Naming lunar months

There are twelve lunar month names:

  1. Chaitra
  2. Vaishākh
  3. Jyaishtha
  4. Āshādha
  5. Shrāvana
  6. Bhaadra or, Bhādrapad
  7. Āshwin
  8. Kārtik
  9. Agrahayana or, Mārgashīrsha
  10. Paush
  11. Māgh
  12. Phālgun

Determining which name a lunar month takes is somewhat indirect. It is based on the rāshi into which the sun transits within a lunar month, i.e. before the new moon ending the month.

There are twelve rāshi names, there are twelve lunar month names. When the sun transits into the Mesha rāshi in a lunar month, then the name of the lunar month is Chaitra. When the sun transits into Vrishabha, then the lunar month is Vaishākh. So on.

The Sanskrit grammatical derivation of the lunar month names Chaitra etc., is: the (lunar) month which has its central full moon occurring at or near the nakshatra Chitrā is called Chaitra. Similarly, for the nakshatras Vishākhā, Jyeshthā, (Pūrva) Ashādhā, Shravan, Bhādrapad, Ashvinī (old name Ashvayuj), Krittikā, Mrigashīrsha, Pushya, Meghā and (Pūrva/Uttara) Phalgunī the names Vaishākh etc. are derived.

The lunar months are split into two pakshas of 15 days. The waxing paksha is called shuklapaksha, light half, and the waning paksha the krishnapaksha, dark half. There are two different systems for making the lunar calendar:

Extra months

When the sun does not at all transit into any rāshi but simply keeps moving within a rāshi in a lunar month (i.e. before a new moon), then that lunar month will be named according to the first upcoming transit. It will also take the epithet of adhik or "extra". For example, if a lunar month elapsed without a solar transit and the next transit is into Mesha, then this month without transit is labeled adhik Chaitra. The next month will be labeled according to its transit as usual and will get the epithet nija ("original") or shuddha ("clean"). [Note that an adhik māsa (month) is the first of two whereas an adhika tithi is the second of two.]

Extra Month, or adhik mas māsa (mas = lunar month) falls every 32.5 months. It is also known as purushottam mas, so as to give it a devotional name. Thus 12 Hindu mas (māsa) is equal to approximate 356 days, while solar year have 365 or 366 (in leap year) which create differece of 9 to 10 days, which is offset every 3rd year. No adhik mas falls during Kartik to Magh.

A month long fair is celebrated in Machhegaun during adhik māsa. It is general belief that one can wash away all one's sins by taking a bath in the Machhenarayan's pond.

Lost months

If the sun transits into two rāshis within a lunar month, then the month will have to be labeled by both transits and will take the epithet kshay or "loss". There is considered to be a "loss" because in this case, there is only one month labeled by both transits. If the sun had transited into only one raashi in a lunar month as is usual, there would have been two separate months labeled by the two transits in question.

For example, if the sun transits into Mesh and Vrishabh in a lunar month, then it will be called Chaitra-Vaishaakh kshaya. There will be no separate months labeled Chaitra and Vaishākh.

A kshay māsa occurs very rarely. Known gaps between occurrence of kshaya māsas are 19 and 141 years. The last was in 1983. January 15 through February 12 were Pausha-Māgha kshay. February 13 onwards was (adhik) Phālguna.

Special Case:

If there is no solar transit in one lunar month but there are two transits in the next lunar month,

This is a very very rare occurrence. The last was in 1315. October 8 to November 5 were adhik Kārtik. November 6 to December 5 were Kārtik-Mārgashīrsh kshaya. December 6 onwards was Paush.

Religious observances in case of extra and lost months

Among normal months, adhika months, and kshaya months, the earlier are considered "better" for religious purposes. That means, if a festival should fall on the 10th tithi of the Āshvayuja month (this is called Vijayadashamī) and there are two Āshvayuja months caused by the existence of an adhika Āshvayuja, the first adhika month will not see the festival, and the festival will be observed only in the second nija month. However, if the second month is āshvayuja kshaya then the festival will be observed in the first adhika month itself.

When two months are rolled into one in the case of a kshaya māsa, the festivals of both months will also be rolled into this kshaya māsa. For example, the festival of Mahāshivarātri which is to be observed on the fourteenth tithi of the Māgha krishna paksha was, in 1983, observed on the corresponding tithi of Pausha-Māgha kshaya krishna paksha, since in that year, Pausha and Māgha were rolled into one, as mentioned above. When two months are rolled into one in the case of a kshaya māsa, the festivals of both months will also be rolled into this kshaya māsa.

Vaishnava calendar

Month Predominating Deity-name of month
Agrahayana Kesava
Pausha Narayana
Magha Madhava
Phalguna Govinda
Caitra Vishnu
Vaisakha Madhusudana
Jyeshta Trivikrama
Ashadha Vamana
Sravana Sridhara
Bhadra Hrishikesa
Asvina Padmanabha
Karttika Damodara

Year of the lunisolar calendar

The new year day is the first day of the shukla paksha of Chaitra. In the case of adhika or kshaya months relating to Chaitra, the aforementioned religious rules apply giving rise to the following results:

Another kind of lunisolar calendar

There is another kind of lunisolar calendar which differs from the former in the way the months are named. When a full moon (instead of new moon) occurs before sunrise on a day, that day is said to be the first day of the lunar month. In this case, the end of the lunar month will coincide with a full moon. This is called the pūrnimānta māna or "full-moon-ending reckoning", as against the amānta māna or "new-moon-ending reckoning" used before.

This definition leads to a lot of complications:

It must be noted, however, that none of these above complications cause a change in the day of religious observances. Since only the name of the krishna paksha-s of the months will change in the two systems, festivals which fall on the krishna paksha will be defined by the appropriate changed name. That is, the Mahāshivarātri, defined in the amānta māna to be observed on the fourteenth of the Māgha krishna paksha will now (in the pūrnimānta māna) be defined by the Phālguna krishna paksha.

Correspondence of the lunisolar calendar to the solar calendar

A lunisolar calendar is always a calendar based on the moon's celestial motion, which in a way keeps itself close to a solar calendar based on the sun's (apparent) celestial motion. That is, the lunisolar calendar's new year is to kept always close (within certain limits) to a solar calendar's new year.

Since the Hindu lunar month names are based on solar transits, and the month of Chaitra will, as defined above, always be close to the solar month of Mesha, the Hindu lunisolar calendar will always keep in track with the Hindu solar calendar.

The Hindu solar calendar by contrast starts on April 14–15 each year. This signifies the sun's "entry" into Mesha rashi and is celebrated as the New Year in Assam, Bengal, Orissa, Manipur, Kerala, Punjab, Tamil Nadu and Tripura. The first month of the year is called "Chitterai (சித்திரை" in Tamil, "Medam" in Malayalam and Bohag in Assamese, Baisakh in Bengali/Punjabi and Nepali. This solar new year is celebrated on the same day in Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, Nepal and Thailand due to Hindu influence on those countries.

Year numbering

The epoch (starting point or first day of the zeroth year) of the current era of Hindu calendar (both solar and lunisolar) is February 18, 3102 BCE in the proleptic Julian calendar or January 23, 3102 BCE in the proleptic Gregorian calendar. Both the solar and lunisolar calendars started on this date. After that, each year is labeled by the number of years elapsed since the epoch.

This is a unique feature of the Hindu calendar. All other systems use the current ordinal number of the year as the year label. But just as a person's true age is measured by the number of years that have elapsed starting from the date of the person's birth, the Hindu calendar measures the number of years elapsed. As of May 18, 2010, 5111 years had elapsed in the Hindu calendar. However, the lunisolar calendar year usually starts earlier than the solar calendar year, so the exact year will not begin on the same day every year.

Year names

Apart from the numbering system outlined above, there is also a cycle of 60 calendar year names, called Samvatsaras, which started at the first year (at elapsed years zero) and runs continuously:

  1. Prabhava
  2. Vibhava
  3. Shukla
  4. Pramoda
  5. Prajāpati
  6. Āngirasa
  7. Shrīmukha
  8. Bhāva
  9. Yuva
10. Dhātri
11. Īshvara
12. Bahudhānya
13. Pramādhi
14. Vikrama (2000-2001)
15. Vrisha (2001-02)
16. Chitrabhānu (2002-03)
17. Svabhānu (2003-04)
18. Tārana (2004-05)
19. Pārthiva (2005-06)
20. Vyaya (2006-2007)
21. Sarvajeeth (2007-08)
22. Sarvadhāri (2008-09)
23. Virodhi (2009-10)
24. Vikrita (2010-11)
25. Khara (2011-12)
26. Nandana (2012-13)
27. Vijaya
28. Jaya
29. Manmadha
30. Durmukhi
31. Hevilambi
32. Vilambi
33. Vikāri
34. Shārvari
35. Plava
36. Shubhakruti
37. Sobhakruthi
38. Krodhi
39. Vishvāvasu
40. Parābhava
41. Plavanga
42. Kīlaka
43. Saumya
44. Sādhārana
45. Virodhikruthi
46. Paridhāvi
47. Pramādicha
48. Ānanda
49. Rākshasa
50. Anala
51. Pingala
52. Kālayukthi
53. Siddhārthi
54. Raudra
55. Durmathi
56. Dundubhi
57. Rudhirodgāri
58. Raktākshi
59. Krodhana
60. Akshaya

Eras

Hinduism has of four eras or ages, of which we are currently in the last. The four are:

  1. Krita Yuga or Satya Yuga
  2. Treta Yuga
  3. Dvāpara Yuga
  4. Kali Yuga

They are often translated into English as the golden, silver, bronze and Iron Ages. (Yuga means era or age.) The ages see a gradual decline of dharma, wisdom, knowledge, intellectual capability, life span and emotional and physical strength. The epoch provided above is the start of the Kali Yuga. The Kali Yuga is 432,000 years long. The Dvāpara, Tretā and Krita (Satya) Yuga-s are two, three and four times the length of the Kali Yuga respectively. Thus they together constitute 4,320,000 years. This is called a Chaturyuga.

A thousand and a thousand (i.e. two thousand) chaturyuga-s are said to be one day and night of the creator Brahmā. He (the creator) lives for 100 years of 360 such days and at the end, he is said to dissolve, along with his entire Creation, into the Eternal Soul or Paramātman.

A samkhya view of the timespan of a yuga is given by Swami Sri Yukteswar Giri, the guru of Paramahansa Yogananda. This is detailed in his book, The Holy Science. According to this view, one complete yuga cycle is equal to one complete "precession of the equinox", a period of approximately 24,000 years. The ascending phase consists of a 1200 year Kali, 2400 year Dwapara, 3600 year Treta and 4800 year Krita (Satya) yuga. The descending phase reverses this order, thus both ascending and descending phases equal 24,000 years. According to calculations given in the book, the most recent yuga change was in 1699, when the Earth passed from Kali Yuga (the lowest material age) to Dvāpara Yuga (the second age associated with electrical, atomic and finer forces). We are in an ascending spiral right now, and will pass into the Tretā Yuga in 4100 CE. According to the book, the motion of the stars moving across the sky (a.k.a.precession) is the observable of the Sun's motion around another star. The quality of human intellect depends on the distance of the Sun and Earth from a certain point in space known as the Grand Center, Magnetic Center or Vishṇunābhi Vishnu. The closer the Sun is to it, the more subtle energy the Solar System receives, and the greater is the level of human spiritual and overall development. As the Sun moves around its companion star, it brings us closer to or drives us farther away from Vishnunabi, resulting in the rising and falling ages here on Earth.

Yukteswar tells us that the calendars of the higher ages were based on the Yugas, with each era named after its Yuga. Hence, the year 3000 BCE was known as descending Dwapara 102 (because the last descending Dwapara yuga began 102 years earlier in 3102 BCE). He stated that this method was used up until the recent Dark Ages, when knowledge of the connection with the yugas and the precession cycle was lost; "The mistake crept into the almanacs for the first time during the reign of Raja Parikshit, just after the completion of the last descending Dwapara Yuga. At that time Maharaja Yudhisthira, noticing the appearance of the dark Kali Yuga, made over his throne to his grandson, the said Raja Parikshit. Maharaja Yudhisthira, together with all the wise men of his court, retired to the Himalaya Mountains... thus there was no one who could understand the principle of correctly calculating the ages of the several Yugas". Thus, Yukeswar assumed that Raja Parikshit was not trained in any vedic principles even though he alone ruled the world many years. Thus, he interpreted that Yugas are not calculated correctly. Consequently, he gave the theory that when the Dwapara was over and the Kali era began no one knew enough to restart the calendar count. They knew they were in a Kali Yuga (which is why the old Hindu calendar now begins with K.Y.) but the beginning of this calendar (which in 2006 stands at 5108) can still be traced to 3102 BCE, (3102+2006=5108) the start of the last descending Dwapara Yuga. To this day there is still much confusion why the Kali starts at this date or what the correct length of the Yugas should be. Yukteswar suggests that a return to basing the Yuga calendar on the motion of the equinox would be a positive step.

History

The Hindu Calendar descends from the Vedic times. There are many references to calendrics in the Vedas. The Vedānga (adjunct to Veda) called Jyautisha (literally, "celestial body study") prescribed all the aspects of the Hindu calendars. After the Vedic period, there were many scholars such as Āryabhata (5th century CE), Varāhamihira (6th century) and Bhāskara (12th century) who were experts in Jyautisha and contributed to the development of the Hindu Calendar.

The most widely used authoritative text for the Hindu Calendars is the Sūrya Siddhānta, a text of uncertain age, though some place it at 10th century.

The traditional Vedic calendar used to start with the month of agrahayan (agra=first + ayan = travel of the sun, equinox) or Mārgashirsha. This is the month where the Sun crosses the equator, i.e. the vernal equinox. This month was called mārgashirsha after the fifth nakshatra (around lambda orionis). Due to the precession of the Earth's axis, the vernal equinox is now in Pisces, and corresponds to the month of chaitra. This shift over the years is what has led to various calendar reforms in different regions to assert different months as the start month for the year. Thus, some calendars (e.g. Vikram) start with Chaitra, which is the present-day month of the vernal equinox, as the first month. Others may start with Vaisakha (e.g. Bangabda). The shift in the vernal equinox by nearly four months from agrahaayana to chaitra in sidereal terms seems to indicate that the original naming conventions may date to the fourth or fifth millennium BCE, since the period of precession in the Earth's axis is about 25,800 years.

Regional variants

The Indian Calendar Reform Committee, appointed in 1952 (shortly after Indian independence), identified more than thirty well-developed calendars, all variants of the Surya Siddhanta calendar outlined here, in systematic use across different parts of India. These include the widespread Vikrama and Shalivahana calendars and regional variations thereof. The Tamil calendar, a solar calendar, is used in Tamil Nadu and Kollavarsham Calendar is used in Kerala.

Vikrama and Shalivahana calendars

The two calendars most widely used in India today are the Vikrama calendar followed in Western and Northern India and Nepal, and the Shalivahana or Saka calendar which is followed in South India, Maharashtra and Goa.

Both the Vikrama and the Shalivahana eras are lunisolar calendars, and feature annual cycles of twelve lunar months, each month divided into two phases: the 'bright half' (shukla) and the 'dark half' (krishna); these correspond respectively to the periods of the 'waxing' and the 'waning' of the moon. Thus, the period beginning from the first day after the new moon and ending on the full moon day constitutes the shukla paksha or 'bright half' of the month; the period beginning from the day after the full moon until and including the next new moon day constitutes the krishna paksha or 'dark half' of the month.

The names of the 12 months, as also their sequence, are the same in both calendars; however, the new year is celebrated at separate points during the year and the "year zero" for the two calendars is different. In the Vikrama calendar, the zero year corresponds to 58 BCE, while in the Shalivahana calendar, it corresponds to 78 CE. The Vikrama calendar begins with the month of Baishakh (April), or Kartak (October/November) in Gujarat. The Shalivahana calendar begins with the month of Chaitra (March) and the Ugadi/Gudi Padwa festivals mark the new year.

Another little-known difference between the two calendars exists: while each month in the Shalivahana calendar begins with the 'bright half' and is followed by the 'dark half', the opposite obtains in the Vikrama calendar. Thus, each month of the Shalivahana calendar ends with the no-moon day and the new month begins on the day after that, while the full-moon day brings each month of the Vikrama calendar to a close (This is an exception in Gujarati Calendar, its month (and hence new year) starts on a sunrise of the day after new moon, and ends on the new moon, though it follows Vikram Samvat).

In Gujarat, Diwali is held on the final day of the Vikram Calendar and the next day marks the beginning of the New Year and is also referred as ‘Annakut’ or Nutan Varsh or Bestu Varash. In the Hindu calendar popularly used in North India the year begins with Chaitra Shukala Pratipadha (March – April).

National calendars in South and South East Asia

A variant of the Shalivahana Calendar was reformed and standardized as the Indian National calendar in 1957. This official calendar follows the Shalivahan Shak calendar in beginning from the month of Chaitra and counting years with 78 CE being year zero. It features a constant number of days in every month (with leap years).

The Bengali Calendar, or Bangla calendar (introduced 1584), is widely used in eastern India in the state of West Bengal, Tripura and Assam. A reformation of this calendar was introduced in present-day Bangladesh in 1966, with constant days in each month and a leap year system; this serves as the national calendar for Bangladesh. Nepal follows the Bikram Sambat. Parallel months and roughly the same periods apply to the Buddhist calendars used in Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

Correspondence between calendars

As an indicator of this variation, Whitaker's Almanac reports that the Gregorian year 2000 CE corresponds, respectively with:

  1. Year 5101 in the Kaliyuga calendar;
  2. Year 2544 in the Buddha Nirvana calendar;
  3. Year 2543 in the Buddhist Era (BE) of the Thai solar calendar
  4. Year 2057 in the Bikram Samvat calendar;
  5. Year 1922 in the Saka calendar;
  6. Year 1921 (shown in terms of 5-yearly cycles) of the Vedanga Jyotisa calendar;
  7. Year 1407 in the Bengali calendar;
  8. Year 514 in the Gaurabda Gaudiya calendar;
  9. Year 1176 in the Kolla Varsham calendar.

See also

References

  1. Chatterjee, S.K. (1998). Indian Calendric System. Publications Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India. 
  2. Chia Daphne and Helmer Aslaksen (April 2001). "Indian Calendars: Comparing the Surya Siddhanta and the Astronomical Ephemeris" (PDF). http://www.math.nus.edu.sg/aslaksen/projects/dc-urops.pdf. Retrieved 2004-04-04. 
  3. Basham, A.L. (1954). The Wonder that was India. Macmillan (Rupa and Co, Calcutta, reprint),. , Appendix II: Astronomy

Further reading

External links