Organization of the Indian Calendar by SIDH

[Guest guest]

Namaskar Mitra,

 

'Organisation of the Indian Calendar' by Society for Integrated Development of

Himalayas. The article tells you about how the Indian calendar is a combined

solar & lunar one, samvatsars (traditional Hindu calendar year), panchang,

concepts of time and compares the Vikrama Samvat calendar with the existing

Christian calendar.

http://esamskriti.com/html/inside.asp?cat=678&subcat=677&cname=samyojna

 

Excerpts from article - "Thee Indian calendar is a combined lunar and solar

calendar as it is based on the position of both sun and moon. When referring to

the lunar cycle we talk of tithi and paksha and when referring to the solar

cycle we talk in terms of sankrant and gate. Indian festivals and other

religious occasions are based both on the solar and the lunar cycles. For

example some of the sankrants (first day of the solar calendar) like the Mesh

sankrant (more popularly known as Baishakhi), Kark Sankrant, etc., are based on

the solar calendar while on the other hand important festivals like Basant

Panchami, Mahashivratri, Holi, Diwali, Janmashtami, Ramnavami, etc are decided

as per the lunar calendar.

The names of the months like Chaitra, Baishaka, etc., are the same in both the

lunar and solar cycles. These two cannot be separated and seen in isolation.

But it should also be remembered that these two cycles are not in step. This

creates a slight difficulty, for those unacquainted with the Hindu calendar, as

this following example will demonstrate. Baishaki falls on 14 April 2003.

According to the solar calendar this is the first day (or sankrant) of the

month of Baishaka but according to the lunar cycle it is Chaitra shukla

dwadashi (or the twelfth day of the bright half/waxing phase of the month of

Chaitra). So it can be seen that as per the lunar cycle it is the month of

Chaitra but according to the solar cycle the month of Baishaka has started."

About SIDH- "Since 1989, the journey at SIDH has been about negotiating spaces

through education for a more meaningful exploration and dialogue, not only in

social & political spheres but within individual mindsets. Ideally shiksha, or

education, is about understanding the relationship of the self with the body,

with the family, with society, with nature and all that exists. It is about

eliciting a samajh, or understanding, and to live our lives accordingly. At

SIDH, we feel it is important to challenge today's dominant notions of who is

'civilized', who is 'backward', or what is 'scientific' and what is 'modern'.

We hope to enhance the low self-esteem and self-confidence through our

experiments at Bodhigram, a space to explore and identify 'relevant' education.

If you like to know more about SIDH go to www.sidh.org or call 91 0135 2630338,

2621304 ie Mussoorie, Uttaranchal, India.

cheers om sanjeev