The Indian national calendar, called the Shaka calendar or Śaka calendar, is a solar calendar that is used alongside the Gregorian calendar by The Gazette of India, in news broadcasts by All India Radio, and in calendars and official communications issued by the Government of India.[1] Śaka Samvat is generally 78 years behind the Gregorian calendar, except from January–March, when it is behind by 79 years.
Through historical Indian influence, the Śaka calendar is also used in Java and Bali among Indonesian Hindus. Nyepi, the "Day of Silence", is a celebration of the Śaka new year in Bali. Nepal's Sambat evolved from the Śaka calendar. The Śaka calendar was also used in several areas in the modern-day Philippines as written in the Laguna copperplate inscription.
In India, Yugabda is also used with corresponding months of Śaka / Sambat. Yugabda is based on Kaliyuga Sankhya preserved by Indian astrology. The Kali Yuga began 5,125 years ago and has 426,875 years left as of 2024 CE.[2][3][a][4][b] Kali Yuga will end in the year 428,899 CE.
Calendar structure
editThe calendar months follow the signs of the tropical zodiac rather than the sidereal zodiac normally used with the Hindu and Buddhist calendars.
Indian national calendar structure # Name
(Sanskrit)Length Start date
(Gregorian)Tropical
zodiac
(Latin)Tropical
zodiac
(Sanskrit)1 Chaitra 30 21–22 March Aries Meṣa 2 Vaisakha 31 20–21 April Taurus Vṛśabha 3 Jyeshtha 31 21–22 May Gemini Mithuna 4 Ashadha 32 21–22 June Cancer Karkaṭa / Karka 5 Shraavana 31 23–24 July Leo Siṃha 6 Bhadrapada 31 23–24 August Virgo Kanyā 7 Ashvina 30 23–24 September Libra Tulā 8 Kārtika 30 23–24 October Scorpio Vṛiścika 9 Agrahayana 30 22–23 November Sagittarius Dhanur 10 Pausha 29 (30) 22–23 December Capricorn Makara 11 Magha 30 20–21 January Aquarius Kumbha 12 Phalguna 30 19–20 February Pisces Mīna
Pausha is the tenth month of the calendar and begins on the December solstice,[5] similar to Dey, the tenth month of the Iranian Solar Hijri calendar. Pausha has 29 days and starts on 22 December, except in leap years, when it has 30 days.[6] The months in the first half of the year all average out to having 31 days but Ashadha has 32 days, to take into account the slower movement of the sun across the ecliptic at this time.
The names of the months are derived from the older Hindu lunisolar calendar, so variations in spellings exist, and there is a possible source of confusion as to what calendar a date belongs to.
The names of the weekdays are derived from the seven classical planets (see Navagraha). The first day of the week is Ravivāra (Sunday).[7] The official calendar reckoned by the government of India has Sunday as the first and Saturday as the last day of the week.[1]
Weekdays of the Shaka calendar[7] Ordinal
numberSanskrit
weekday nameSanskrit
planetIconic image English
planetEnglish
weekday1 Ravivāra[c] Ravi 
Sun Sunday 2 Somavāra Soma 
Moon Monday 3 Maṅgalavāra Maṅgala 
Mars Tuesday 4 Budhavāra Budha 
Mercury Wednesday 5 Bṛhaspativāra[d] Bṛhaspati 
Jupiter Thursday 6 Śukravāra Śukra 
Venus Friday 7 Śanivāra Śani 
Saturn Saturday
Years are counted in the Shaka era, which starts its year 0 in the year 78 CE of the Common Era. To determine leap years, add 78 to the Shaka year – if the result is a leap year in the Gregorian calendar, then the Shaka year is a leap year as well.[8]
History
editŚaka Period
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According to the Indian government sources, the Satavahana king Shalivahana is believed to have created the calendar that came to be known as the Śaka Calendar after he defeated Śaka rulers.[citation needed] But the origin date of the Shaka era is highly controversial: According to scholars, the beginning of the Shaka era is widely equated to the ascension of Indo-Scythian king Chashtana in 78 CE.[9]
Adoption
editSenior Indian Astrophysicist Meghnad Saha was the head of the Calendar Reform Committee under the aegis of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research.[e] It was Saha's effort, which led to the formation of the committee. The task before the committee was to prepare an accurate calendar based on scientific study, which could be adopted uniformly throughout India. The committee had to undertake a detailed study of thirty different calendars prevalent in different parts of the country. The task was further complicated by the integration of those calendars with religion and local sentiments. India's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, in his preface to the Report of the committee, published in 1955, wrote:
- "They (different calendars) represent past political divisions in the country ... . Now that we have attained Independence, it is obviously desirable that there should be a certain uniformity in the calendar for our civic, social, and other purposes, and this should be done on a scientific approach to this problem."[10]
Usage started officially at 1 Chaitra 1879, Shaka Era, or 22 March 1957.
India has adopted pie Ephemeris Time in the Indian Ephemeris from 1960 onwards in pursuance of the resolution passed by the International Astronomical Union in 1955 to adopt the Ephemeris Time in all national ephemeredes, in order to have uniformity with other nations in indicating the position of the planets in the ephemeris.[f]
See also
edit- Astronomical basis of the Hindu calendar
- Bengali calendar, a related Indic calendar
- Bangladeshi national calendar, a revised form of Bengali calendar used in Bangladesh
- Bisuddhasiddhanta Panjika
- Hindu calendar
- History of calendars
- Indian New Year's days
- Malayalam calendar
- List of calendars
- Solar Hijri calendar
- Ritu (Indian season)
- Shaka era
- Tamil calendar
- Vikram Samvat
Explanatory notes
edit- ^
- HINDUISM
- Myths of time and eternity: ... Each yuga is preceded by an intermediate 'dawn' and 'dusk'. The Krita yuga lasts 4,000 god-years, with a dawn and dusk of 400 god-years each, or a total of 4,800 god-years; Treta a total of 3,600 god-years; Dvapara 2,400 god-years; and Kali (the current yuga) 1,200 god-years. A mahāyuga thus lasts 12,000 god-years ... Since each god-year lasts 360 human years, a mahāyuga is 4,320,000 years long in human time. Two thousand mahāyugas form one kalpa (aeon) [and pralaya], which is itself but one day in the life of Brahma, whose full life lasts 100 years; the present is the midpoint of his life. Each kalpa is followed by an equally long pralaya (period of abeyance), in which the universe is asleep. Seemingly the universe will come to an end at the end of Brahma's life, but Brahmas too are innumerable, and a new universe is reborn with each new Brahma.[2](p 445)
- YUGA
- Each yuga is progressively shorter than the preceding one, corresponding to a decline in the moral and physical state of humanity. Four such yugas (called ... after throws of an Indian game of dice) make up a mahayuga ("great yuga") ... The first yuga (Krita) was an age of perfection, lasting 1,728,000 years. The fourth and most degenerate (Kali) yuga began in 3102 BCE and will last 432,000 years. At the close of the Kali yuga, the world will be destroyed by fire and flood, to be re-created as the cycle resumes. In a partially competing vision of time, Vishnu's 10th and final AVATAR, KALKI, is described as bringing the present cosmic cycle to a close by destroying the evil forces that rule the Kali yuga and ushering in an immediate return to the idyllic Krita yuga.[2](p 1159)
- ^
A deva day equals one solar year. Deva lifespan (36,000 solar years) equals 100 × 360 day years, each 12 lunar phase months.
- Satya Yuga (4 charnas of 1,728,000 solar years),
- Treta Yuga (3 charnas of 1,296,000 solar years),
- Dvapara Yuga (2 charnas of 864,000 solar years), and
- Kali Yuga (1 charna of 432,000 solar years).
- ^ Ravivāra is also called Adivara.
- ^ Bṛhaspativāra is also called Guruvara.
- ^
Other members of the Calendar Reform Committee were:
- A.C. Banerjee
- K.L. Daftari
- J.S. Karandikar
- Gorakh Prasad
- R.V. Vaidya
- N.C. Lahiri
- ^
A statement is appended to the Indian Ephemeris since 1960 gives the technical reason:
References
edit- ^ a b "Gg holiday calendar". india.gov.in (official website). Government of India.
- ^ a b c Godwin, Joscelyn (2011). Atlantis and the Cycles of Time: Prophecies, traditions, and occult revelations. Rochester, VT: Inner Traditions. pp. 300–301. ISBN 9781594778575 – via Google books.
- ^ Doniger, Wendy; Hawley, John Stratton, eds. (1999). "Hinduism / Yuga". Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of World Religions. Merriam-Webster. pp. 445 (Hinduism), 1159 (Yuga). ISBN 0877790442 – via archive.org.
- ^ a b
Gupta, S.V. (2010). "§ 1.2.4 Time measurements". In Hull, Robert; Osgood, Richard M., Jr.; Parisi, Jurgen; Warlimont, Hans (eds.). Units of Measurement: Past, present, and future: International System of Units. Springer Series in Materials Science. Vol. 122. Springer. pp. 6–8. ISBN 9783642007378.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: editors list (link) - ^ "National calendar". National identity elements. Know India: National portal of India (knowindia.gov.in). Archived from the original on 19 August 2017. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
- ^ Bromberg, Irv. "The lengths of the seasons". Kalendis. Toronto, CA: University of Toronto. Retrieved 6 July 2013.
- ^ a b "Happy 'Saka' New Year 1941: Story Behind India's National Calendar". The Quint (thequint.com). 22 March 2019. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
- ^ "Chronology – reckonings dated from a historical event". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 21 February 2023 – via britannica.com.
- ^ Bhandare, Shailendra (2006). "Numismatics and history: The Maurya-Gupta interlude in the Gangetic plains". In Olivelle, Patrick (ed.). Between the Empires: Society in India 300 BCE to 400 CE. Oxford University Press. p. 69. ISBN 9780199775071.
- ^ "Meghnad Saha, a pioneer in astrophysics". Vigyan Prasar science portal (vigyanprasar.gov.in). Archived from the original on 23 February 2015. See also Meghnad Saha.
- ^ "[regarding the] Indian Ephemeris and Nautical Almanac". Lok Sabha Debates (PDF) (parlementary record). Second. Vol. XXXIV. New Delhi, IN: Lok Sabha Secretariat. 10 September 1959. column 7424 – via nic.in.
Sources
edit- Saha, M.N. (chairman); Banerjee, A.C.; Daftari, K.L.; Karandikar, J.S.; Prasad, Gorakh; Vaidya, R.V.; Lahiri, N.C. (1955). Report of the Calendar Reform Committee (PDF) (Report). New Delhi: Council of Scientific and Industrial Research – via dspace.gipe.ac.in.
- Richards, Edward Graham (1998). Mapping Time: The calendar and its history (illstd., reprint, rev. ed.). Oxford University Press. pp. 184–185. ISBN 978-0-19-286205-1 – via Google books.
External links
edit- Doggett, L.E. "Calendars and their history". NASA / Goddard Space Flight Center.
- Lian, Leow Choon. "Indian calendars" (PDF). Department of Mathematics. National University of Singapore. Archived from the original (PDF, 1.22 MB) on 17 April 2018 – via math.nus.edu.sg.
- Indian National Calendar (Report). National identity elements. New Dehli, IN: Government of India – via india.gov.in.
- Current and past issues of the Rashtriya Panchang and the Indian Astronomical Ephemeris. Positional Astronomy Centre (Report). India Meteorological Department – via packolkata.gov.in.