History of the Hindu Calendar

History of the Hindu Calendar

HistoryIndia has used the Hindu calendar to measure time since their ancient days. Over the years, the calendar has been edited and changed as the regional face of India has changed. There are several variations of the Hindu calendar in use today, specific to the various regions of the country. Each version of the calendar has small characteristicsthat differ them, however, one thing is the same for all of them: the names of the twelve months. The calendar is made up of both solar and lunisolar calendars, and also centers on astronomy and religion.

The early Hindu calendar was born from the astronomical philosophies developed in the late BC time. Lunarmonths are the basis of the calendar and are determined around the phases of the moon. The calendar marks important religious festival and worship days. While there are many different variations of the Hindu calendar, there is a standard version of the calendar that serves as the national calendar of India.In 1957, a Calendar Reform Committee met to establish a standard lunisolar calendar to synchronize leap years with those observed by the Western calendar. The first standard Hindu calendar marked Saka Era, Chaitra 1, 1879 as theinitial date of the newly reformed calendar system. In Western calendar terms, this date would be written as March 22, 1957.DaysAccording to the Hindu calendar, dawn tends to mark the beginning of the new day. Where the Western calendar divides the day into hours, the Hindu calendar counts the passage of time through fifteen muhurtas, each of which last approximately forty-eight minutes. The first two muhartas are typically used for spiritual time.

Sunrise, noon, and sunset are considered to be the most important times of the day, and the chanting of the Gayatri mantra by brahmanas marks the occasions.The Hindu calendar marks the days of the week by referring to them as the V?sara. In some variations of the calendar, the days of the week are written in traditional Sanskrit. Beginning withthe day corresponding with Sunday, the days are as follows: Ravi, Soma, Mangala, Budha, Guru or Brhaspati, Sukra, and Sani.MonthsThe Hindu calendar marks twelve months by the same cycle as the lunar phases, approximately 29.5 days each month depending on celestial movement. The month is broken down into two fortnights, a Dark one (waning moon) and a Light one (waxing moon), each lasting fifteen lunar days. In some months, a day of the cycle may need to be dropped to correlate with a shorter lunar cycle. The first day of the month varies from calendar to calendar. Generally, in North India, the full moon marks the first day of the month, while in South India, the occasion is marked by the new moon.The names of the months are the same in each version of the Hindu calendar. The names are assigned their appropriate lunar month based on the Zodiac signs, following the transition of the sun throughout the year. The names of the months and their corresponding Zodiac signs areas follows: Chaitra (Aries), Vaisakha (Taurus), Jyaistha (Gemini), Asadha (Cancer), Sravana (Leo), Bhadrapada (Virgo), Asvina (Libra), Kartika (Scorpio), Agrahayana (Sagittarius), Pausa (Capricorn), Magha (Aquarius), and Phalguna (Pisces).New YearFor the Hindu calendar, the Makara Sankranti marks the beginning of a new year, as the sun passes into the zodiacal territory of Capricorn. It is most commonly measured as the day after the new moon during the month of Chaitra.

The calendar divides the year into six seasons. The years are numbered in eras, with the most commonly used numbering according to the Vikrami Era.The numbering of the years also correlates to the epoch of the current era. In terms of the Western Calendar, the epoch of the current era is marked as January 23, 3102 BC. This date is chosen for spiritual reasons, as the date revered for the eternal return of Sri Krishna. The numbering of the years counts the years that have elapsed since the moment Sri Krishna's return.Hindu years also have specific names. There are sixty names corresponding to individual years, and they are rotated on a cycle as each year passes. The first year, called Prabhava was marked at the epoch of the calendar, and every sixty years, another Prabhava is observed.Names of the Months in the Indian CalendarsNames of the monthsThe complexity of the Indian calendar system is not just in the plethora of calendars available, butalso in the manner in which they link up with one another.

A principal point of linkage of most Indian calendars is in their names of the months; as we shall see, the similar sets of month names are used in more than one calendar. In this section, we aim to formulate rules determining the naming of the months. Our motivation is not just taxonomic; month names, we shall see, are critical to understanding the Indian calendar system.We propose that there are two types of month names:1) Months named after nakshatrasThe set of month names named after nakshatras is used by both solar and lunisolar calendars, adding to seeming complexity of the Indian calendar system.

Indeed, as we shall see, this type should actually called months initially named after nakshatras; there has been an infusion of solar rules into an essentially lunar convention.Let us then, first consider the original rule. Saha and Lahiri mention that pakshas or fortnights were differentiated based on the nakshatra where the Moon is full [16]. That is to say, if a particular full Moon occurs near, say, the lunar asterism, Visakha, the full Moon would be called as Vaisakha Purnimasi, and the month would be Vaisakha. The earliest lunisolar months, then, were purnimanta, that is, the name of the full Moon corresponded to the name of the month. Of course, the full Moon occurs at all nakshatras. Fifteen were taken into account for naming of the month, spaced more or less equally.We thus have the following set of names along with their respective nakshatrasNakshatra on purnima-------------------------------Month nameChitra--------------------------------------------------------ChaitraVisakha-----------------------------------------------------VaisakhaJyestha------------------------------------------------------Jyaistha(Purva & Uttara) Aashaadha--------------------------AashaadhaSravana-----------------------------------------------------Sraavana(Uttara & Purva) Bhaadrapada-----------------------BhaadrapadaAsvini---------------------------------------------------Asvayuja (Aasvina)Krittika-------------------------------------------------------KaarthikaMrugasira--------------------------------------------------MaarghasiraPushyami ----------------------------------------------Pausa (Pushyam)Maghaa------------------------------------------------------Maagha(Uttara and Purva) Phalguni----------------------------PhalgunaIt may be noted that the months of Aashaadha, Bhadrapada and Phalguna are linked to two nakshatras respectively. Chatterjee and Chakravarthy give the following criteria for choosing nakshatras for month namesThe yogataaras or the identifying stars of the nakshatras are prominent or have traditional significance.They are spaced more or less equidistant from one another.It must be mentioned that this rule now no longer matches the sky due to Earth's precession; for instance, this year's Chitra Purnimaasi had Swatias its nakshatra. Also, possibly for historical reasons, and allowing for regional variation in pronunciation, the Oriya, Bengali, Assamese, Punjabi and Tamil solar calendars also use the same set of month names.

To reconcile all this, we might frame a new rule. The amanta lunar month takes its number from the solar month that starts in it, but its name from the solar month in which it starts, while following the purnimanta months in chronological order. That is to say, since Chitra occurred during the purnima of this year's first purnimanta month, we call this month as ‘Chaitra'. Consequently, the first amanta month would also be ‘Chaitra', which also would be the name of the solar month during which the amanta Chaitra started. However, the number of the solar month (1 in the case of amanta and purnimanta Chaitra) is not quite the same; the solar Chaitra is the last (i.e., 12th) month of the year. The lunisolar Chaitra's number is taken by the solar month that begins in it, namely the solar Vaisakha. All this can be seen in the picture below.The relationships for all the months may be mapped according to the following table. The Assamese, Punjabi and Tamil versions have beenprovided to give an idea of the linguistic variation.Rasi------- Approximate---------Lunar month ---------Solar month..................nakshatra.. ..... ..........name........................name................on purnimaMesha...........Chitra......................Chaitra....................VaisakhaVrshava........Visakha...................Vaisakha...................JyaisthaMithuna.........Jyestha.....................Jaishta................AashaadhaKarkata......(Purva & Uttara).........Aashaadha..............Sraavana.....................AashaadhaSimha............Sravana...................Sraavana............BhaadrapadaKanya........(Purva & Uttara)........Bhaadrapada.............Asvayuja .................... Bhaadrapada............................................(Aasvina)Tula.................Asvini...............Asvayuja (Aasvina).........KaarthikaVrischika.........Krittika.....................Kaarthika.............MaarghasiraDhanus.........Mrugasira...........Maarghasira.......Pausa (Pushyam)Makara.........Pushyami.............Pausa (Pushyam)............MaaghaKumbha.........Maagha.....................Maagha...................PhalgunaMina..........(Uttara and Purva) ........Phalguna....................Chaitra.......................PhalguniThat is to say, the month shares its name with that of its corresponding samkranti. For instance, if Mesha samkranti occurs on a certain day, then the period until the next samkranti would be Mesha masa (Medham masa).This naming rule is followed primarily in the Malayalam calendar. Abhayankar says that the Oriya calendar also follows this ruleFestivalsWe provide a list of Indian festivals, along with their (Indian) dates and the calendar used to reckon the particular festival. The list of festivals is by no means exhaustive; the entries are mostly public holidays in India.Festival : - Makara samkranti, PongalIndian date:- Makara samkrantiAdditional rules:- NoneCalendar:- SolarFestival : - Maha Siva RaatriIndian date:- Magha K 14Additional rules:- Must cover a nisitaCalendar:- LunisolarFestival : - HoliIndian date:- Phalguna PurnimaAdditional rules:- Holika Dahana is observed on the night of the Purnima; Holi is observed on the solar day after Holika DahanaCalendar:- LunisolarFestival : - Ugadi, Gudi PadwaIndian date:- Chaitra S 1Additional rules:- NoneCalendar:- LunisolarFestival : - Ugadi, Gudi PadwaIndian date:- Chaitra S 1Additional rules:- NoneCalendar:- LunisolarFestival : - Rama NavamiIndian date:- Chaitra S 9Additional rules:- Must cover MadyahnaCalendar:-Festival : - Tamil New Year, Vishu, Bengali New YearIndian date:- Mesha samkrantiAdditional rules:- Respective samkranti rulesCalendar:- SolarFestival : - Ganesh ChaturtiIndian date:- Bhadrapada S 4Additional rules:- Must cover MadyahnaCalendar:- LunisolarFestival : - Buddha PurnimaIndian date:- Vaisakhi PurnimaAdditional rules:-Calendar:- LunisolarFestival : - Raksha BandanIndian date:- Sravana PurnimaAdditional rules:-Calendar:- LunisolarFestival : - JanmashtamiIndian date:- Sravana K 8Additional rules:-Calendar:- LunisolarFestival : - OnamIndian date:- Moon is in Sravana nakshatra in Solar BhadrapadaAdditional rules:-Calendar:- Lunisolar and SolarFestival : - MahanavamiIndian date:- Asvayuja S 9Additional rules:- Mahanavami is reckoned before the other 8 days of DussehraCalendar:- LunisolarFestival : - VijayadasamiIndian date:- The tithi after MahanavamiAdditional rules:- Must cover a NisitaCalendar:- LunisolarFestival : - DeepavaliIndian date:- Asvayuja AmavasyaAdditional rules:- Must cover pradoshaCalendar:- LunisolarA bit of explanation is necessary. First, the terms.

Nisita is defined to be a time-period measured by two ghatikas (1/60th of a solar day; approximately 20 minutes) stretching on either side of midnight. Pradosha is the time-period stretching for two muhurtas (1/15th of the time between sunrise and sunset; approximately 1 hour 36 minutes) after sunset. Madhyahna is one-third of the time-period between sunrise and sunset. This fraction covers mid-day.Second, these dates are valid only on non-intercalarytithis for all lunisolar festivals. Both leap days and non-leap days in leap monthsare deemed unfit for festivals. (Kshaya masas arenot an issue here because jugma months are deemed fit for religious observance and in the eastern and northwestern schools, the extra intercalary month is deemed to be normal.)And finally, if the given tithi doesn't cover the given time, or covers the given time on two solar days, then the second solar day is reckoned to be the festival.By Niclas Marie, Helmer Aslaksen and Akshay Regulagedda