Fwd: GREETINGS - INTERESTING & MUST KNOW FACTS ABOUT NEW YEAR

Courtesy:Shri R B Kishore

As usual New calendar years begin at one moment after 12 midnight of 31 st December every year as per 'Gregorian calendar'. I take this opportunity to greet you all on the eve of New Year 2016 and send my & my family's best wishes to all of you not only for this New Year but also for many more years. 

Wishing everyone all the best, Yours cordially

ACN Prasad
A.C.NAGARAJA PRASAD, 30-12-2015
 

 

 

"Do all the good you can,
By all the means you can,
In all the ways you can,
In all the places you can,
At all the times you can,
To all the people you can,
As long as ever you can."
 

 

 

 

INTERESTING & MUST KNOW FACTS ABOUT NEW YEAR

 

Many will be surprised to know that the New Year starting on January First is not the New Year for a vast majority of people. Even in the western countries it is not as widespread as we are led to believe. Different countries follow different dates as New Year and in some cases it varies within a country also. It surely varies according to Religions and in addition it also varies within sects and sub-sects of a Religion.

 

Westerners especially Europeans claim that the Romans had first created the calendar. Those who studied History will know how the Roman Rulers changed the calendar and the number of days of a month according to their whims & fancies. The number of days in the month of February became truncated (reduced) because of the ego of the Roman Rulers who increased the number of days in the month named after them (from 30 to 31 days).     It has been established that there is no basis or logical reason for the creation and many of the changes in the calendar. Even among Roman Era there had been many changes and they finally settled for the JULIAN CALENDAR implemented by the Chief of Roman Triumvirate and defacto Ruler Julius Caesar as amended by Emperor Augustus Caesar before the birth of the Jesus Christ (BCE).

 

As an improvement over the Julian calendar Pope Gregory the 13th presented a calendar which was started in 16 th Century (1582 A.D or so). It used the initials of CE, BC or BCE, & AD. CE stands for 'Christian Era', BC or BCE stands for 'Before the Christian Era' or the birth of Christ and A.D stands for 'ANNO DOMINI' meaning 'Annunciation of the birth of Jesus to Mary'. Modern historical research suggests the current A.D. date is wrong, as Jesus was born 4-7 years earlier than the year 1 date the Gregorian calendar works from.

 

However, in the modern age the actual meaning of A.D. is widely forgotten or misunderstood and the term simply signifies a different era from B.C. It was called as the Gregorian calendar which is the actual modern day Calendar that is commonly accepted in the majority of the western world. It took quite some time to get one particular start day of the Calendar year and slowly & finally in the 18 th Century (in or about the year1752 A.D) the date of January First came to be recognized as the official starting date for New Years in several western countries and Leap Year was defined when February will have 29 days.

 

The westerners have found recently many facts about ancient History hitherto unknown and one among them is that the oldest known measurement of a calendar year was by the Mayans. They purposely ignored the very ancient civilisations of the Eastern World and as is their wont had not acknowledged the innumerable facts & greatness about them. The logical & astronomically provable calendars that prevailed in India & China from times immemorial which were staring at them were undermined to the extent that many living in India itself ignored them and followed the Christian era. At least now, we, Indians should know fully about the calendar, which was prevalent in ancient India from the Vedic period, based on studies on the Cosmos, Stellar, Lunar, Solar & Planetary positions.

 

The axis, declinations, movements, positions etc., of the Ecliptic, Stars, Solar system, Planets, Earth's rotation etc. were deeply & carefully studied, multiple & difficult calculations made and the day, the month & the year were precisely defined. These were checked & confirmed with Astronomical phenomena and 'Druk/Drik Ganita' (calculations based on actual position of stars & planets watched directly). From this 'Jyotisha' (Astrology) was developed.

 

Later it developed into a uniform & improved system first enunciated in 'Vedaanga Jyotisha' of Lagadha several centuries before Christ and was known as 'Hindu Saastreeya Panchaanga' – Indian orthodox calendar. This calendar consists of 'Pancha Angaas' Viz. Thithi, Vaara (or Vaasaram), Nakshatra, Yoga & Karana (Five important criteria of each day). These & the names of the lowest & highest measures of time including Raasis, Lagnaas, Months etc., were named and the periods were defined with logic & precision. Moreover the exact timings of Sunrise, Mid Noon and Sunset throughout the year and also the occurrence of eclipses and its duration were meticulously calculated. In addition to the innumerable Astronomical & Astrological  works of  Sri Bhaaskara, Sri Varaahamihira, Sri Kaalidaasa and several others, there exist great texts like 'Dharmasindhu, Nirnayasindhu' etc.

 

The epoch (starting point or first day of the zeroth year) of the current era of Hindu calendar (both solar and lunar) is the beginning of the 'Kaliyuga' in the present cycle of 'Chatur Yugaas'. It corresponds to February 18, 3102 BCE in the proleptic Julian calendar or January 23, 3102 BCE in the proleptic Gregorian calendar. Both the solar and lunar calendars started on this date. After that, each year is labelled by the number of years elapsed since the epoch and the number of the present 'Kaliyuga' year is 5117. In fact the identification and counting of years remained the same for millenniums. Moreover the Panchaangs devised long ago were reafiirmed and the pre-calculations of Equinoxes and Eclipses are astonishingly remained minutely correct.

 

The New Year of Lunar calendar called 'Yuga Aadi' or Yugaadi' (Called also as Ugaadi) – 5117 fell on 21 st March, 2015 (actual time of starting is      15-05 hrs on 20-3-15).  Likewise New Year 'Yugaadi' 5118 ( named Durmukha) will fall on 8 th April 2016 (actual time of starting is 16:53 on 7 th April 2016. This is followed throughout India excepting in some places where Solar calendar is in vogue when the New year usually starts on 14 th April. The official Indian calendar starts from 'Yugaadi' and the year 5117 corresponds to the year 1937 of a new Era called 'Saka' which is 'Shaalivaahana Saka'. This Saka (Era) was named after the Indian Emperor Shaalivaahana who defeated Emperor Vikramaaditya and both ruled from 'Ujjain' which was the capital city of their respective empires. Vikrama Saka/Samvat Era is also followed in India especially in North and the year 2073 begins at 16:53 on 7 th April 2016.

 

City of 'Ujjain' or 'Ujjayini' (old name 'Avantika') was near the centre of 'Akhanda Bhaarat' (Larger India) from the period of 'Mahaabhaarata' which is about 5200 years ago.  The astronomy & astrology of that time was so well developed that scholars were able to define the Prime / First Meridian, the centre line which divides the earth longitudinally corresponding to '0' degree longitude, several centuries before Christ. Meridian was reckoned from the city of Ujjain for many centuries before & after the Christ and the time & distance calculations were based on this. In other words Ujjain was the Greenwich of the world at that time and it was placed as the centre of the world in numerous ancient world maps.

 

The Greenwich Mean Time shortly & popularly known as GMT was adopted by UK in only late 19 th Century (1880-1884) and because of the vast areas controlled by UK & its power especially maritime, the world accepted this and also agreed to the starting time of midnight 00-00 hrs. The Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) was introduced on 1 January 1972 replacing GMT, and now UTC is the standard with minute corrections with the aid of Atomic Clock and is now regarded as the universally accepted time.

 

We would have heard the saying 'when you are in Rome be a Roman' meaning if one travels to Rome, he should understand their culture, habits etc. and try to be one among them. Let us question why we, Indians being in India should not be Indians following our customs, culture & habits. It is earnestly requested that we should strive our best to have awareness about them, learn them, understand them and adopt them wholeheartedly. It will be a great service to our society and India if we practise our customs, culture & habits regularly not only in India but also all over the world and spread them to our family, future generations, relatives and friends.

 

Originally prepared by A.C. NAGARAJA PRASAD on 30-12-2013

Revised on 30-12 -2015 – with changes at the appropriate places and few additions. – Please note that all timings given are for Chennai, Tamizhnaadu, India - ACN Prasad - Mobile: 9381043643

                                                                            

RB Kishore

VP,AIRIEF,

ED(Retd),LIC

Life Member,Probus Club

044-2815 5810 & 098 4034 0591