Hindu Calendar

A page from the Hindu calendar 1871-72.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hindu calendar is a collective name for most of the lunisolar calendars and solar calendarsused in India since ancient times. Since ancient times it has undergone many changes in theprocess of regionalization and today there are several regional Indian Hindu calendars. It hasalso been standardized as Indian national calendar. Nepali calendar, Assamese Calendar,Bengali calendar, Malayalam calendar, Tamil calendar, Telugu calendar, Kannada calendaretc. are some prominent regional Hindu calendars.[1] The common feature of all regionalHindu calendars is that the names of the twelve months are the same (because the names arebased in Sanskrit) though the spelling and pronunciation have come to vary slightly fromregion to region over thousands of years. The month which starts the year also varies fromregion to region. The Buddhist calendar and the traditional lunisolar calendars of Cambodia,Laos, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Thailand are also based on an older version of the Hinducalendar.

Most of the Hindu calendars are inherited from a system first enunciated in VedgaJyotia's of Lagadha, a late BCE adjunct to the Veda-s, standardized in the Srya Siddhnta(3rd century CE) and subsequently reformed by astronomers such as ryabhaa (499 CE),Varhamihira (6th century CE), and Bhskara II (12th century CE). Differences and regionalvariations abound in these computations, but the following is a general overview of Hindulunisolar calendar.

Contents

1 Day1.1 Vsara1.2 Nakatra1.3 Yoga1.4 Karaa

2 Months of the lunisolar calendar2.1 Month names

2.1.1 Extra months (Adhika Msa)2.1.2 Lost months (Kaya Msa)

2.2 Religious observances in case of extra and lost months2.3 Vaiava calendar

3 Year of the lunisolar calendar4 Another kind of lunisolar calendar5 Correspondence of the lunisolar calendar to the solar calendar6 Year numbering7 Year names8 Eras9 History10 Regional variants

10.1 Vikrama and Shalivahana calendars10.2 Samvat calendars10.3 Months and approximate correspondence

11 Time cycles in India12 Date conversion13 The Kali "Samvat"14 Variations15 National calendars in South and South East Asia16 Correspondence between calendars17 See also18 References19 Further reading20 External links

Hindu calendar - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindu_calendar

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Day

In the Hindu calendar, the day starts with the sunrise. It is allotted five "properties" or "limbs", called aga-s. They are:the Tithi (one of 30 divisions of a synodic month) active at sunrise1.the Vsara (ancient nomeclature), vra (modern nomeclature), like in ravi-vra, som-vra, etc. or weekday2.the Nakatra (one of 27 divisions of the celestial ecliptic) in which the moon resides at sunrise3.the Yoga (one of 27 divisions based on the ecliptic longitude of the sun and moon) active at sunrise time4.the Karaa (divisions based on tithis) active at sunrise.5.

Together 5 limbs or properties are labelled under as the pacga-s (Sanskrit: paca = five). An explanation of the terms follows.

VsaraVsara refers to the weekdays and the names of the week in many western cultures bear striking similarities with the Vsara:

No.

Sanskritname ofthe day

(Daybegins atsunrise)

Marathiname

Kannadaname

Teluguname Tamil name

Malayalamname

English &Latin names

of theapproximate

day(Day beginsat 00:00Hrs)

Celestialobject

1Ravi vsara

Ravivra

Bhnuvra

divra

Nyayiru

Njaayar

Sunday/diesSolis

Ravi,Aditya =

Sun

2Soma vsara

Somavra

Smavra

Smavra

Thingal

Thinkal

Monday/diesLunae

Soma =Moon

3Magalavsara

Magaavra

Magaavra

Magaavra

Chevvai

Chovvav

Tuesday/diesMartis

Magala =Mars

4Budha vsara

Budhavra

Budhavra

Budhavra

Arivan(Tamiltradition) or

buthan(religioustradition)

(-

r)

Budhan

Wednesday/diesMercurii

Budha =Mercury

5

Guru vsara

orBrhaspati

vsara

Guruvra

Guruvra

Guruvra,Brhaspativra

,,

Vyazhan

Vyaazham

Thursday/diesIovis

Deva-GuruBhaspati =

Jupiter

6ukra vsara

ukravra

ukravra

ukravra

Velli

Vellill

Friday/diesVeneris

ukra =Venus

7ani vsara

anivra

anivra

anivra

kaari(Tamiltradition) orsani(religious

tradition)r ( -

r)

Shani

Saturday/diesSaturnis

ani =Saturn


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The term -vsara is often realized as vra or vaar in Sanskrit-derived and influenced languages. There are many variations of the namesin the regional languages, mostly using alternate names of the celestial bodies involved.

NakatraThe ecliptic is divided into 27 Nakatra-s, which are variously called lunar houses or asterisms. These reflect the moon's cycle against thefixed stars, 27 days and 7 hours, the fractional part being compensated by an intercalary 28th nakatra titled Abhijit. Nakatra'scomputation appears to have been well known at the time of the gveda (2nd1st millennium BCE).The ecliptic is divided into the nakatras eastwards starting from a reference point which is traditionally a point on the ecliptic directlyopposite the star Spica called Citr in Sanskrit. (Other slightly different definitions exist.) It is called Medi - "start of Aries"; this iswhen the equinox where the ecliptic meets the equator was in Aries (today it is in Pisces, 28 degrees before Aries starts). Thedifference between Medi and the present equinox is known as Ayana - denoting by how much of a fraction of degrees & minutesthe ecliptic has progressed from its fixed (sidereal) position. Given the 25,800 year cycle for the precession of the equinoxes, the equinoxwas directly opposite Spica in 285 CE, around the date of the Srya Siddhnta.[2][3]

The nakatra-s with their corresponding regions of sky are given below, following Basham.[4] As always, there are many versions withminor differences. The names on the right-hand column give roughly the correspondence of the nakatra-s to modern names of stars.Note that nakatras are (in this context) not just single stars but are segments on the ecliptic characterised by one or more stars. Hencethere are more than one star mentioned for each nakatra.


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# SanskritMalayalam name

Tamil name

Telugu name

Kannadaname Western star name

1Avin

Ashvatia

Aswini

Avin

Avin and Arietis

2Bhara

Bharai

Barai

Bharai

Bharai 35, 39, and 41 Arietis

3Kttik

Krttikat

Krthikai

Kttika

Kruthike Pleiades

4Rohi

Rhii

Rhii

Rhii

Rhii Aldebaran

5Mgairas

Makayiram

Mirugasridamr

Mgaira

Mgaira , Orionis

6rdr

tira or Tiruvtira()

Thiruvdhirai

Arudra

Aridra Betelgeuse

7Punarvasu

Puartam

Punarpoosam

Punarvasu

Punarvasu Castor and Pollux

8Puya

Pyam

Poosam

Puyami

Puya , and Cancri

9Ale /

yilyam

Ayilyam

Alea

Alea , , , , and Hydrae

10Magh

Makam

Magam

Makha or Magha or

Makha Regulus

11Prva or PrvaPhalgu

Pram

Pooram

Prva Phalgu orPubba or

Pubba and Leonis

12Uttara or UttaraPhalgu

Utramu

Uthiram

Uttara Phalgui orUttara or

Utthara Denebola

13Hasta

Attamat

Astham

Hasta

Hasta , , , and Corvi

14Citr

Chittira (Chitra)t ()

Chithirai

Citt or Citr or

Citta Spica

15Svti

Chti

Swathi

Svti

Svti Arcturus

16Vikha

Vishkham

Visakam

Vikha

Vikhe , , and Librae

17Anurdh

Anizhama

Anusham

Anurdh

Anurdh , and Scorpionis

18Jyeha

Ka (Trikka) (k)

Kettai

Jyeha

Jyeha , , and Scorpionis


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19Mla/

Mlam

Mlam

Mla

Mla

, , , , , , , and Scorpionis

20Prvha

Pram

Pradam

Prvha

Prvha and Sagittarii

21Uttarha

Utramu

Uthirdam

Uttarha

Uttarha and Sagittarii

22ravaa

Tiruvnam()

Tiruvnam

ravaa

ravaa , and Aquilae

23ravih or Dhaniha or

Aviama

Aviam

Dhaniha

Dhaniha to Delphinus

24atabhiak oratatrak /

Chatayam

Sadayam

atabhia

atabhia Aquarii

25

Prva Bhdrapad /

Pruruti

Pradhi

Prvbhdra

Prvbhdra and Pegasi

26

Uttara Bhdrapad /

Utttiu

Uttdhi

Uttarbhdra

Uttarbhdra

Pegasi and Andromedae

27Revat

Rvati

Rvathi

Rvati

Rvati Piscium

Yoga

The Sanskrit word Yoga means "union", but in astronomical calculations it is used in the sense of "alignment". First one computes theangular distance along the ecliptic of each object, taking the ecliptic to start at Mea or Aries (Medi, as defined above): this is calledthe longitude of that object. The longitude of the sun and the longitude of the moon are added, and normalized to a value ranging between0 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 symbolof the arcminute which means 1/60 of a degree). These parts are called the yogas. They are labeled:

1. Vikambha2. Prti3. yumn4. Saubhgya5. obhana6. Atigaa7. Sukarma8. Dhti9. la

10. Gaa11. Vddhi12. Dhruva13. Vyghat14. Haraa15. Vajra16. Siddhi17. Vyatipta18. Variyas

19. Parigha20. iva21. Siddha22. Sdhya23. ubha24. ukla25. Brahma26. Mhendra27. Vaidhti

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

KaraaA karaa is half of a tithi. To be precise, a karaas is the time required for the angular distance between the sun and the moon toincrease in steps of 6 starting from 0. (Compare with the definition of a tithi above.)

Since the tithis are 30 in number, and since 1 tithi = 2 karaa, therefore one would logically expect there to be 60 karaa-s. But there areonly 11 such karaa which fill up those slots to accommodate for those '30 tithi'-s. There are actually 4 "fixed" (sthira) karaa-s and 7


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The astronomical basis of the Hindulunar day. Also illustrates Kshaya Tithi(Vaishaka-Krishna-Chaturdashi (i.e.14th)) and Adhika Tithi (Jyeshta-Shukla-Dashami(i.e. 10th))

"repeating" (cara) karaa.The 4 "fixed" karaa-s are:

akuni ()1.Catupda ()2.Nga ()3.Kistughna()4.

The 7 "repeating" karaa-s are:

Vava or Bava ()1.Valava or Blava ()2.Kaulava ()3.Taitila or Taitula ()4.Gara or Garaja ()5.Vaija ()6.Vii (Bhadra) ()7.Now the first half of the 1st tithi (of ukla Paka) is always Kitughna karaa. Hence this karaa' is "fixed".Next, the 7-repeating karaa-s repeat eight times to cover the next 56 half-tithis. Thus these are the "repeating" (cara) karaa-s.The 3 remaining half-tithi-s take the remaining "fixed" karaa-s in order. Thus these are also "fixed" (sthira).Thus one gets 60 karaa-s from those 11 preset karaa-s.

The karaa-s at sunrise of a particular day shall be the prevailing karaa-s for the whole day. Note. The day changes at every sunrise i.e.from Sunrise 1 to Sunrise 2 - is 1 Vedic day.

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 lunarmonth. So it is evident that the end of the lunar month will coincide with a new moon. A lunarmonth 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 thefirst 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 adhikatithi where adhika means "extra". Sometimes, one tithi may never touch a sunrise, and hence noday will be labeled by that tithi. It is then said to be a Tithi Kaya where Kaya means "loss".

Month names

There are 12 months in Hindu lunar Calendar:

Chaitra (, , , , ) Mea (Aries)[5]1.Vaikha (,, , , i) Vabha (Taurus)[6]2.Jyaiha (, , , , ) Mithuna (Gemini)[7]3.ha (, , , , k) Karka (Cancer)[7]4.rvaa (, , , , ) Siha (Leo)[7]5.Bhdrapada or Bhdra also Prohapada (, ,,, , , n) Kany (Virgo)[7]6.


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vina in,sometimes Avayuja (,,, , , ) Tula (Libra)[7]7.Krtika (, , , , ) Vcika (Scorpio)[7]8.Agrahyaa or, Mrgara (, ,, , , ) Dhanus (Sagittarius)[7]9.Paua (, , , , ) Makara (Capricorn)[7]10.Mgha (, , , , ) Kumbha (Aquarius)[7]11.Phlguna (, , , , )Mna (Pisces)[7]12.

Determining, which name a lunar month takes is somewhat indirect. It is based on the rshi (Zodiac sign) into which the sun transitswithin a lunar month, i.e. before the new moon ending the month.

There are 12 ri names, there are twelve lunar month names. When the sun transits into the Mea ri in a lunar month, then the nameof the lunar month is Caitra. When the sun transits into Vabha, then the lunar month is Vaikha. So on.If the transits of the Sun through various constellations of the zodiac (Ri) are used, then we get Solar months, which do not shift withreference to the Gregorian calendar. The Solar months along with the corresponding Hindu seasons and Gregorian months are:

(Ri)SauraMsa(solar

months)

tu(season) Kannada name Telugu name Tamil name

GregorianTropicalmonths

Sidereal VedicZodiac

Mea Vasanta(spring)

(Vasata tu)

(Vasatatuvu)

(ilavenil)

Mar-Apr Aries

Vabha Apr-May TaurusMithuna Grma

(summer) (Grma

tu) (Grma

tuvu)

(mudhuvenil)MayJune Gemini

Karkaa JuneJuly CancerSiha Var

(monsoon) (Vara

tu) (Vara

tuvu) (kaar)July-Aug Leo

Kany Aug-Sept VirgoTul arad

(autumn) (aradtu) (aradtuvu) (koothir) Sept-Oct Libra

Vcika Oct-Nov ScorpiusDhanu Hemanta

(winter)

(Hmata tu) (Hmata tuvu) (munpani)

Nov-Dec Sagittarius

Makara Dec-Jan Capricornus

Kumbha iira(prevernal)

(iiratu)

(iiratuvu) (pinpani)

Jan-Feb Aquarius

Mna Feb-Mar Pisces

The Sanskrit grammatical derivation of the lunar month names Caitra etc., is: the (lunar) month which has its central full moon occurringat or near the Citr nakatra is called Caitra. Another example is let's say when Prim occurs in or near Vikha nakatra, this in turnresults to the initiation of the lunar month titled Vaikha Msa.[8]

Similarly, for the nakatra-s Vikha, Jyeh, (Prva) h, ravaa, Bhdrapad, Avin (old name Avayuj), Kttik, Mgairas,Puya, Megh and (Prva/Uttara) Phalgu the names Vaikha etc. at prim, the other Lunar names are derived subsequently.The lunar months are split into two Pakas of 15 days. The waxing paksha is called ukla Paka, light half, and the waning paksha theKa Paka, dark half. There are two different systems for making the lunar calendar:

Amvsyanta or mukhya mana system a month begins with a new moon and ends at new moon, mostly followed in the southernstatesPrimnta or gauna mana system a month begins with a full moon and ends at full moon, followed more in the North.

p.s. Primnta is also known as uklnta Msa. And this system is recommended by Varhamihira.

Extra months (Adhika Msa)


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The astronomical basis of the Hindulunar months. Also illustrates AdhikaMasa (Year 2-Bhadrapada) repeatstwice; the first time the Sun movesentirely within Simha Rashi thusrendering it an Ashika Masa

When the sun does not at all transit into any ri but simply keeps moving within a ri in a lunarmonth (i.e. before a new moon), then that lunar month will be named according to the firstupcoming transit. It will also take the epithet of adhika or "extra". For example, if a lunar monthelapsed without a solar transit and the next transit is into Mea, then this month without transit islabeled Adhika Caitra Msa. The next month will be labeled according to its transit as usual andwill get the epithet nija ("original") or uddha ("unmixed"). In the animation above, Year 2illustrates this concept with Bhadrapada repeating twice; the first time the Sun stays entirelywithin Simha rashi thus resulting in an Adhika Bhakradapada.

Extra Month, or adhika msa (msa = lunar month in this context) falls every 32.5 months. It isalso known as puruottama msa, so as to give it a devotional name. Thus 12 Hindu mas (msa) isequal to approximate 356 days, while solar year have 365 or 366 (in leap year) which createdifference of 9 to 10 days, which is offset every 3rd year. No adhika msa falls during Krtika toMgh.A month long fair is celebrated in Machhegaun during adhika msa. It is general belief that one can wash away all one's sins by taking abath in the Machhenarayan's pond.

Lost months (Kaya Msa)If the sun transits into two rshis within a lunar month, then the month will have to be labeled by both transits and will take the epithetkaya 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 hadtransited into only one raashi in a lunar month as is usual, there would have been two separate months labeled by the two transits inquestion.

For example, if the sun transits into Mea and Vabha in a lunar month, then it will be called Caitra-Vaikha kaya-msa. There will beno separate months labeled Caitra and Vaikha.A Kaya-Msa occurs very rarely. Known gaps between occurrence of Kaya-Msas are 19 and 141 years. The last was in 1983.January 15 through February 12 were Paua-Mgha kaya-msa. February 13 onwards was (Adhika) Phlguna.Special Case:

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

the first month will be labelled by the first transit of the second month and take the epithet Adhika andthe next month will be labelled by both its transits as is usual for a Kaya-Msa

This is a very very rare occurrence. The last was in 1315. October 8 to November 5 were Krtika Adhika-Msa. November 6 toDecember 5 were Krtika-Mrgara Kaya-Msa. December 6 onwards was Paua.

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 afestival should fall on the 10th tithi of the shvayuja month (this is called Vijayadasham) and there are two vayuja (vina)' monthscaused by the existence of an adhika vayuja, the first adhika month will not see the festival, and the festival will be observed only inthe second nija month. However, if the second month is shvayuja kshaya then the festival will be observed in the first adhika monthitself.

When two months are rolled into one in the case of a kshaya msa, the festivals of both months will also be rolled into this Kaya Msa'.For example, the festival of Mahshivartri which is to be observed on the fourteenth tithi of the Mgha Ka-Paka was, in 1983,observed on the corresponding tithi of Paua-Mgha Kaya Ka-Paka, since in that year, Paua and Mgha were rolled into one, asmentioned above. When two months are rolled into one in the case of a Kaya Msa, the festivals of both months will also be rolled intothis kaya msa.

Vaiava calendarMain article: Gaurabda


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Month Presiding Deityof the monthAgrahyaa KeavaPaua NryaaMagh MdhvaPhlguna GovindaCaitra ViuVaikha MadhusudanaJyeha Trivikramaha Vmanarvaa rdharaBhdrapada Hkeavina PadmanbhaKrtika Dmodara

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 Caitra, theaforementioned religious rules apply giving rise to the following results:

If an adhika Chaitra is followed by a nija Chaitra, the new year starts with the nija Caitra.If an adhika Chaitra is followed by a Chaitra-Vaishkha kshaya, the new year starts with the adhika Caitra.If a Caitra-Vaikha Kaya occurs with no adhika Chaitra before it, then it starts the new year.If a Caitra-Phlguna Kaya' occurs, it starts the new year.

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 ofnew 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 monthwill coincide with a full moon. This is called the primnta mna - full-moon-ending reckoning, as against the amnta mna -new-moon-ending reckoning used before.

This definition leads to a lot of complications:

The first paka of the month will fall on Ka-Paka whilst the second will be ukla-Paka in Primnta system.The new year is still on the first day of the Caitra ukla-Paka. The subsequentPaka-s will, for example, be -

Lunar MonthCandra Msa First Paka Ending (2nd) PakaVaikha Ka-Paka ukla-PakaJyaiha Ka-Paka ukla-Pakaha Ka-Paka ukla-Pakarvaa Ka-Paka ukla-PakaBhdrapada Ka-Paka ukla-Pakavina Ka-Paka ukla-PakaKrtika Ka-Paka ukla-PakaMrgara Ka-Paka ukla-PakaPaua Ka-Paka ukla-PakaMgha Ka-Paka ukla-PakaPhlguna Ka-Paka ukla-PakaCaitra Ka-Paka ukla-Paka


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Note:

Phlguna Msa is the last Lunar month, with the last paka of the year in this primnta system being Phlguna ukla-Paka.1.The ukla Paka of a given month, say Caitra, comprises the same actual days in both systems, as can be deduces from a carefulanalysis of the rules. However, the Caitra Ka-Paka-s defined by the 2 systems will be on different days, since the CaitraKa-Paka precedes the Caitra ukla-Paka in the prnimnta system but follows it in the amnta system.Though the regular months are defined by the full moon, the adhika and kaya lunar months are still defined by the new moon.That is, even if the prnimnta system is followed, adhika or kaya months will start with the first sunrise after the new moon, andend with the new moon.The adhika month will therefore get sandwiched between the 2paka-s of the nija months. For example, a rvaa Adhika Msawill be inserted as follows:

nija rvaa Ka-Paka1.adhika rvaa ukla-Paka2.adhika rvaa Ka-Paka and3.nija Shrvana ukla-Pakaafter which Bhdrapada Ka-Paka will follow subsequently as usual.

4.

If there is an adhika Caitra, then it will follow the (nija) Caitra Kra-Paka at the end of the year. Only with the nija Caitraukla-Paka will the new year start. The only exception is when it is followed by a kaya, and that will be mentioned later.The kaya month is more complicated. If in the amnta system there is a Paua-Mgha Kaya Msa, then in the prnimntasystem there will be the following paka-s:

Paua Ka-Paka1.Paua-Maagha kshaya ukla-Paka2.Mgha-Phlguna Kaya Ka-Paka and a3.Phlguna ukla-Paka.4.

The special Kaya case where an adhika msa precedes a kshaya msa gets even more convoluted. First, we should remember thatthe vina ukla-Paka is the same in both the systems. After this come the following Paka-s:

nija Krtika Ka-Paka1.adhika Krtika ukla-Paka2.adhika Krtika Ka-Paka3.Krtika-Mgara Kaya ukla-Paka4.Mgarsa-Paua Kaya Ka-Paka5.Paua ukla-Pakafollowed by the Mgha Ka-Paka etc., as usual.

6.

The considerations for the new year are:If there is a Caitra-Vaikha Kaya ukla-Paka:

if an adhika Caitra' precedes it, then the adhika Caitra ukla-Paka starts the new year1.if not, the Kaya ukla-Paka starts the new year2.

1.

If there is a Phlguna-Caitra Kaya ukla-Paka then it starts the new year2.However, none of these above complications cause a change in the day of religious observances. Since only the name of the Ka-Paka-s of the months will change in the two systems, festivals which fall on the Ka-Paka will be defined by the appropriatechanged name. That is, the Mahivartri, defined in the amnta mna to be observed on the fourteenth of the Mgha krishna pakshawill now (in the prnimnta mna) be defined by the Phlguna 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 basedon the sun's (apparent) celestial motion. That is, the lunisolar calendar's new year is to kept always close (within certain limits) to a solarcalendar's new year.

Since the Hindu lunar month names are based on solar transits, and the month of Caitra will, as defined above, always be close to thesolar month of Mea (Aries), the Hindu lunisolar calendar will always keep in track with the Hindu solar calendar.The Hindu solar calendar by contrast starts on April 1415 each year. This signifies the sun's "entry" into Mesha rashi and is celebrated asthe New Year in Assam, Bengal, Odisha, Manipur, Kerala, Punjab, Tamil Nadu and Tripura. The first month of the year is called"Chitterai ()" in Tamil, "Medam" in Malayalam and Bohag in Assamese, Baisakh in Bengali/Punjabi and Nepali. This solarnew year is celebrated on the same day in Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, Nepal and Thailand due to Tamil influence on thosecountries[citation needed].

Year numbering


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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. According to the Pura-s thiswas the moment when r Ka returned to his eternal abode.[9][10] 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 an unusual feature of the Hindu calendar. Most systems use the current ordinal number of the year as the year label. But just as aperson's true age is measured by the number of years that have elapsed starting from the date of the person's birth, the Hindu calendarmeasures the number of years elapsed. As of May 18, 2010, 5119 years have elapsed in the Hindu calendar. However, the lunisolarcalendar year usually starts earlier than the solar calendar year,[citation needed] 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 thefirst year (at elapsed years zero) and runs continuously:

1. Prabhava 2. Vibhava 3. Shukla 4. Pramoda 5. Prajpati 6. ngirasa 7. Shrmukha 8. Bhva 9. Yuva10. Dhtri11. shvara12. Bahudhnya13. Pramdhi14. Vikrama (2000-2001)15. Vrisha (2001-02)16. Chitrabhnu (2002-03)17. Svabhnu (2003-04)18. Trana (2004-05)19. Prthiva (2005-06)20. Vyaya (2006-2007)

21. Sarvajeeth (2007-08)22. Sarvadhri (2008-09)23. Virodhi (2009-10)24. Vikrita (2010-11)25. Khara (2011-12)26. Nandana (2012-13)27. Vijaya (2013-14)28. Jaya29. Manmadha30. Durmukhi31. Hevilambi32. Vilambi33. Vikri34. Shrvari35. Plava36. Shubhakruti37. Sobhakruthi38. Krodhi39. Vishvvasu40. Parbhava

41. Plavanga42. Klaka43. Saumya44. Sdhrana45. Virodhikruthi46. Paridhvi47. Pramdicha48. nanda49. Rkshasa50. Anala51. Pingala52. Klayukthi53. Siddhrthi54. Raudra55. Durmathi56. Dundubhi57. Rudhirodgri58. Raktkshi59. Krodhana60. Akshaya

This system contains the concept of leap year also.Every 4th year will have 366 days and the others only 365.The starting point isMeshadi or Mesha Sankranti, ( 1st of the month Mea or the Hindu solar new year).It is also calculated a day by day mode.beginningfrom 1 presently it runs 1864000+.... days.This means these much days have passed in the present Kaliyuga (1/10 of Catur-Yuga's total)

Eras

Hinduism follows Hindu units of time containing four eras (Technically Yuga) or ages, of which we are currently in the last. The fouryugas are:

Kta Yuga or Satya Yuga1.Treta Yuga2.Dvpara Yuga3.Kali Yuga4.

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

A thousand and a thousand (i.e. two thousand) Catur-Yuga-s are said to be one day and night of the creator Brahm. 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 orParamtman.


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History

The Hindu Calendar descends from the Vedic times. There are many references to calendrics in the Vedas. The (6) Vedga-s (auto Veda)called Jyotia (literally, "celestial body study") prescribed all the aspects of the Hindu calendars. After the Vedic period, there were manyscholars such as ryabhaa (5th century CE), Varhamihira (6th century) and Bhskara (12th century) who were experts scholars inJyotia and contributed to the development of the Hindu Calendar.The most widely used authoritative text for the Hindu Calendars is the Srya Siddhnta, a text of uncertain age, though some place it at10th century.

The traditional Vedic calendar used to start with the month of agrahayan (agra=first + ayan = travel of the sun, equinox) or Mrgaa.This is the month where the Sun crosses the equator, i.e. the vernal equinox. This month was called mrgashirsha 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 ofchaitra. This shift over the years is what has led to various calendar reforms in different regions to assert different months as the startmonth for the year. Thus, some calendars (e.g. Vikram) start with Caitra, which is the present-day month of the vernal equinox, as the firstmonth. Others may start with Vaikha (e.g. Bangabda). The shift in the vernal equinox by nearly four months from Agrahyaa toCaitra in sidereal terms seems to indicate that the original naming conventions may date to the fourth or fifth millennium BCE, since theperiod 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 thirtywell-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, isused 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 theShalivahana or Saka calendar which is followed in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Goa.

In the year 56 BCE, Vikrama Samvat era was founded by the emperor Vikramaditya of Ujjain following his victory over the Sakas. Later,in a similar fashion, Satavahana king Gautamiputra Satakarni initiated the Saka era to celebrate his victory against the Sakas in the year78 CE.

Both the Vikrama and the Shalivahana eras are lunisolar calendars, and feature annual cycles of twelve lunar months, each monthdivided into two phases: the 'bright half' (ukla Paka) and the 'dark half' (Ka Paka); these correspond respectively to the periods ofthe 'waxing' and the 'waning' of the moon. Thus, the period beginning from the first day after the new moon and ending on the full moonday constitutes the ukla Paka, 'bright part' of the month; the period beginning from the day after Prim (the full moon) until andincluding the next new moon day constitutes the Ka Paka, the'dark part' 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 separatepoints during the year and the "year zero" for the two calendars is different. In the Vikrama calendar, the zero year corresponds to 56BCE, while in the Shalivahana calendar, it corresponds to 78 CE. The Vikrama calendar begins with the month of Baikha or Vaikha(April), or Kartak (October/November) in Gujarat. The Shalivahana calendar begins with the month of Chaitra (March) and theUgadi/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 'brighthalf' and is followed by the 'dark half', the opposite obtains in the Vikrama calendar. Thus, each month of the Shalivahana calendar endswith the no-moon day and the new month begins on the day after that, while the full-moon day brings each month of the Vikramacalendar to a close (This is an exception in Gujarati Calendar, its month (and hence new year) starts on a sunrise of the day after newmoon, 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 alsoreferred as Annakut or Nutan Varsh or Bestu Varash. In the Hindu calendar popularly used in North India the year begins with ChaitraShukala Pratipadha (March April).

Samvat calendars

Samvat is one of the several Hindu calendars in India:


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Vikram Samvat: lunar months, solar sidereal yearsShaka Samvat (traditional): lunar months, solar sidereal yearsShaka Samvat (modern): solar tropicalBangla Calendar: solar tropical yearsTamil Nadu/Kerala: solar tropical years such as Tamil calendarNepali calendar with Bikram Sambat: solar tropical years

Most holidays in India are based on the first two calendars. A few are based on the solar cycle, Sankranti (solar sidereal) and Baisakhi(solar tropical).

Months and approximate correspondence

Indian months are listed below. Shaka and Chaitradi Vikram (UP, Rajasthan, Maharashtra etc.) start with Chaitra, Kartikadi Vikram(Gujarat) start in Kartika.

# Indian Gregorian1 Chaitra AprilMay2 Vaiskha MayJune3 Jyeshta JuneJuly4 shda JulyAugust5 Shraavana AugustSeptember6 Bhdrapada SeptemberOctober7 Ashwina OctoberNovember8 Kartika NovemberDecember

9 Mrgasirsa(Agrahayana) DecemberJanuary10 Pausha JanuaryFebruary11 Mgha FebruaryMarch12 Phlguna MarchApril

Nakshatras are divisions of ecliptic, each 13 20', starting from 0 Aries. The purnima of each month is synchronized with a nakshatra.

Time cycles in India

The time cycles in India are:

60-year cycleYear6 seasons of a yearabout 60 days (2 months) in a seasonMonth (lunar)2 pakshas in a month, shukla (waxing) and krishna (waning)15 tithis in a paksha (1-14, 15th is purnima or amavasya)60 ghatikas (or 30 muhurtas or 8 praharas) in a 24-hour period (ahoratra).30 Kala (approx) in 1 muhurta30 Kastha in 1 kala15 Nimisha in 1 kastha

Years are synchronized with the solar sidereal year by adding a month every three years. The extra month is termed as "Adhik Mass"(extra month). This extra month is called Mala Masa (impure month) in Eastern India.

Date conversion

Converting a date from an Indian calendar to the common era can require a complex computation. To obtain the approximate year in thecommon era (CE):

Chaitradi Vikram (past) : Chaitra-Pausha: subtract 57; Pausha-Phalguna: subtract 56.


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Shaka: add 78-79Kalachuri: add 248-249Gupta/Valabhi: add 319-320Bangla: add 593-594Vira Nirvana Samvat: subtract 527-526Yudhishthira Samvat: Subtract 3101 (Ascension of Lord Krishna at age 125) from common eraSri Krishna Samvat: Subtract 3226 (Birth of Lord Sri Krishna) from common eraBalabhi Samvat: add 320 to common eraKyoto University Panchanga Converter Program (http://www.cc.kyoto-su.ac.jp/~yanom/pancanga/)

The Kali "Samvat"

The Kali Era is not called a "Samvat" in common Indian usage, but since it Is also an era, it might be useful to mention it here too. TheHindu calendar article has more information on the Kali Era. The conversion is given here:

Add 3101 or 3100 (using the same guidelines as above) to the Gregorian year to get the number of elapsed Kali years.Add 3102 or 3101 to get the current Kali yuga number.Remember that the former (of the above two) is the standard, as explained at the Hindu calendar article.This era also corresponds with Yudhisthira Samvat in which we have present year as 5115 (April 2013 AD)

Variations

In Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, and many northern region of India months are Purnimanta (means month ends on Purnima orFull Moon). In Gujarat, Maharashtra, and other parts of many south Indian region, months are Amanta (months end on Amavasya).In inscriptions, the years may be gata (past) or current.

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 calendarfollows the Shalivahan Shak calendar in beginning from the month of Chaitra and counting years with 78 CE being year zero. It featuresa constant number of days in every month (with leap years).

The Bengali Calendar, or Bengali calendar (introduced 1584), is widely used in eastern India in the state of West Bengal, Tripura andAssam. A reformation of this calendar was introduced in present-day Bangladesh in 1966, with constant days in each month and a leapyear system; this serves as the national calendar for Bangladesh. Nepal follows the Bikram Sambat. Parallel months and roughly the sameperiods 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:

Year 5101 in the Kaliyuga calendar;1.Year 2544 in the Buddha Nirvana calendar;2.Year 2543 in the Buddhist Era (BE) of the Thai solar calendar3.Year 2057 in the Bikram Samvat calendar;4.Year 1922 in the Saka calendar;5.Year 1921 (shown in terms of 5-yearly cycles) of the Vedanga Jyotisa calendar;6.Year 1407 in the Bengali calendar;7.Year 1362 in the Burmese Calendar;8.Year 514 in the Gaurabda Gaudiya calendar;9.Year 1176 in the Malayalam calendar or Kolla Varsham calendar.10.

See also

Hindu astrologyHindu chronologyHindu units of measurementList of Hindu festivalsPanchangam


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PanjikaAncient Vedic units of measurementPerpetual Calendar of 800 YearsPambu Panchangam

References^ Time Measurement and Calendar Construction (http://books.google.com/books?id=wwEVAAAAIAAJ). Brill Archive. Retrieved2011-09-18.

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"(http://www.math.nus.edu.sg/aslaksen/projects/dc-urops.pdf) (PDF). Retrieved 2004-04-04.

3.

^ Basham, A.L. (1954). The Wonder that was India. Macmillan (Rupa and Co, Calcutta, reprint),., Appendix II: Astronomy4.^ Notable Horoscopes - Bangalore Venkat Raman - Google Books (http://books.google.co.in/books?hl=en&lr=&id=sXJ02csFd5kC&oi=fnd&pg=PA149&dq=jyotish+shastra+b+v+raman&ots=HVjh9wbhqf&sig=LOlXrQr71MO0_G4KWN6eEc-fZeA). Books.google.co.in. Retrieved2012-08-13.

5.

^ Sarma (2008), Astronomy in India6.^ a b c d e f g h i j Charak, Dr. K.S. (1996). Essentials of Medical Astrology, Uma Publications, pp.56.7.^ Hindu Lunar Month Names (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnmfuTxgDa4)8.^ Bhgavata Pura 12.2.29-339.^ Yano, Michio, "Calendar, astrology and astronomy" in Flood, Gavin (Ed) (2003). Blackwell companion to Hinduism. Blackwell Publishing.ISBN 0-631-21535-2.

10.

Further reading

Reingold and Dershowitz, Calendrical Calculations, Millennium Edition, Cambridge University Press, latest 2nd edition 3rdprinting released November 2004. ISBN 0-521-77752-6S. Balachandra Rao, Indian Astronomy: An Introduction, Universities Press, Hyderabad, 2000.Rai Bahadur Pandit Gaurishankar Hirachand Ojha, The Paleography of India, 2 ed., Ajmer, 1918, reprinted ManshuramManoharlal publishers, 1993.Mughal, Muhammad Aurang Zeb. 2012. Temporal rhythm of change in Village Jhokwala, Pakistan: Ethnographic insights fromcalendars (http://dro.dur.ac.uk/10880/1/10880.pdf). Giovanni Bennardo (ed.), Cultural Models of Nature and the Environment:Self, Space, and Causality Workshop. ESE Working Paper No. 1. DeKalb, IL: Institute for the Study of the Environment,Sustainability, and Energy, Northern Illinois University, pp. 6165.

External links

Hindu Chronology (http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Hindu_Chronology), Encyclopdia Britannica Eleventh Edition (1911)The Astronomical Basis of the Hindu Lunisolar Calendar (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpqLuB-T7h0)Reinventing the Indian(Hindu) Calendar (http://gonitsora.com/reinventing-the-indian-hindu-calendar/)Hindu Calendars in various Indian Languages (http://www.indiancalendars.org/)

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