how vedic calender 's originated /concepts

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Vedic calenders

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Tropical Solar Year

-----------------------------This is the time taken by the Sun to make a circuit of the Tropical Zodiac. This is 365 days 5 hours 48 minutes and 45.2 seconds. This is 20 minutes and 24.6 seconds less. This is because the First Point of Aries moves 50.3 seconds per year. Sidereal Period of the Moon

-------The time taken by Luna to make a circuit of the Sidereal Zodiac. This is 27 days 7 hours 43 minutes 11.5 seconds. Synodic Period

-------------------------------SP is the the time between 2 successive conjunctions. For the Moon, it is the time taken from New Moon to New Moon.

Solar Month & the Laws of Planetary Motion

-------------------SM is the time taken by the Sun to traverse one Sign. The motion of the Sun is fastest at Perigee ( near the earth ) and slowest at Apogee ( away from the Earth . ( This is the Earth-in-reflex, as it is the earth which is moving and not the Sun ) . In other words, the motion of the earth is fastest at Perihelion and slowest at Aphelion. During the sidereal months of Sagittarius and Capricorn, the Sun is nearest to the earth. It takes only 29 days to traverse 30 degrees of a sign. During the months of Gemini and Cancer, the Sun is away from the earth and it takes 31.477 days for the Sun to traverse 30 degrees of a sign. The slowest motion of he Sun is 57 minutes and 11 seconds. The fastest motion of the Sun is 61 minutes 10 seconds. That is why some Sagittarius and Capricorn ( Vedic months ) have 29 days and Cancer and Gemini ( Vedic months ) have 32 days, as per the Vedic Calender. The orbit of a planet is always elliptical, with the Sun as the focus of the ellipse. ( Suryaha Jagata Chakshu ). The orbital period of a planet ( Bhagana Kala ) bears relationship to the Madhyama Manda Karna ( Semi-major axis ) of the planet. ( O P = MMK^1.5 ). ( These principles, discovered by Aryabhata, Bhaskara & Brahmagupta earlier were rediscovered in the West by Kepler as the Laws of Planetary Motion. ) Kali Era & Kali Day The beginning of the Kali Era was 3102 BC, February 18 on a Friday. Then the First Tropical & Sidereal Points were in 0 degrees Beta Arieties ( Aswini ). All planets were in the same point at that time. If you add 3102 to the English era, you get the Kali Era. Ahargana is the elapsed Kali day number, the days elapsed from the start of the Kali Era. If you divide Ahargana by 7 and find the modulus, you can know the day of the week. If the remainder is one, it is Saturday, if it is two, it is Sunday and so on. Day of the Week = Ahargana%7 ( % is the modulus operator in Foxpro ).

Njattu Vela ---------------The constellation tenanted by the Sun is called Njattu Velu. In a day, the Sun traverses less than one degree ( less 59.13 seconds ). Sol takes 13,14 days to traverse 13 degrees 20 minutes and so the duration of a Njattu Vela is 13, 14 days. Njattu Velas are important from the perspective of Agriculture. Karthika Njattu Vela is the time when the Sun transits the constellation of Karthika & Thiruvathira Njattu Vela is the time when the Sun transits the constellation of Aridra ( Thiruvathira ). Aridra, Karthika, Chothi and Chitra Njattuvelas give plenty of rains and farmers use this time productively.

 

 

Various lunar months

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In general, a lunar month is the time it takes the Moon to orbit the earth. Like other planets, the Moon moves from west to east along the Zodiac. Three types of lunar months are important in Vedic astrology: the Sidereal month, the Synodic month and the Nodical month.

In general, a lunar month is the time it takes the Moon to orbit the earth. Like other planets, the Moon moves from west to east along the Zodiac. Three types of lunar months are important in Vedic astrology:

 

The Synodic month: This is a period of time which elapses between one New Moon and the next. Its duration is 29.5306 mean solar days (or approximately 29 days, 12 hours and 44 minutes). The synodic month is also called a lunation. The New Moon is a conjunction of the Sun and the Moon. The synodic month is larger than a sidereal month because it involves a relation of the Moon with the Sun. During one revolution of the Moon, the Sun too moves along the Zodiac by slightly less than one sign. To catch up with the Sun (in order to complete a synodic month) the Moon has to take more than two days of extra time. The Sidereal month: This is a period of time during which the Moon makes one round of the Zodiac, as observed from the earth. Its duration is 27.3217 mean solar days (or approximately 27 days, 7 hours and 43 minutes). During this period the Moon, when observed against a fixed star, moves around the zodiac once and returns to the same star. The Nodical month: The intersection of the ecliptic by the Moon's path results in the formation of the ascending and the descending nodes of the Moon, known as Rahu and Ketu, respectively. They move in the reverse or retrograde direction along the zodiac. A nodical month is the time that the Moon takes to complete one round from Rahu to Rahu. Since Rahu moves in a retrograde direction, it meets the Moon slightly earlier along the zodiac. The duration of the nodical month is therefore shorter than the Sidereal month, about 27.2122 mean solar days.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Since the lunar year is eleven days shorter than the solar year, there is a difference of over a month every three solar years. To compensate for this, roughly once in three years there is an intercalary month; during this year, there are thirteen lunar months. The nineteen-year Vedic lunar-solar cycle is so accurate that the Tithis or lunar dates recur or fall on similar days after exactly nineteen years.

The year used for the Vedic calendar is a synodic lunar year, consisting of twelve synodic months of 30 tithis or lunar days, or 360 tithis in a synodic year. This year is about 354 solar days, about eleven days shorter than the solar year of 365.25 days.

Adhika-Mâsa or the Intercalary month:

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Since the lunar year ends eleven days earlier than the solar year, there is a difference of over a month every three solar years. To compensate for this, an extra lunar month is added every two or three years. This extra lunar month is called an intercalary month. Seven intercalary months are added over a period of nineteen solar years. This means that in a period of 19 solar years or 228 solar months, there are 235 synodic lunar months (New Moons and Full Moons). The Vedic nineteen-year lunar-solar cycle is so accurate that the tithis or lunar dates recur or fall on similar days after exactly nineteen years. Even astronomical phenomenon such as eclipses recur with fair precision at nineteen-year intervals. The Sun changes its sign or Râúi every month. The day it enters a sign is called as its ingress into that sign. A lunar month in which there is no solar ingress into a sign is considered an intercalary month. An intercalary month occurs once in 32 (solar) months and 16 days. Therefore, roughly once in three years there is an intercalary month; during that year, there are thirteen lunar months. Ká¹£aya Mâsa or Omitted month: This happens when there are two solar ingresses (i.e., the Sun enters two signs) during one lunar month. This happens very infrequently. When there is an omitted month, there occur two intercalary months during one year. Paká¹£a: A paká¹£a consists of fifteen lunar dates. Two paká¹£as make a lunar month. The Kṛṣṇa-paká¹£a extends from Pûrṇimâ (or Full Moon) to Amâvasyâ (or New Moon). The Úukla-paká¹£a extends from Amâvasyâ to Pûrṇimâ. The Metonic Cycle: Consistent with the above observations is the discovery by Meton (433 BC) that there occur 235 lunations in a period of nineteen solar years. It will be seen that total number of days in nineteen years (19 x 365.2422) comes to 6939.60 days. Total number of days in 235 lunar synodic months (235 x 29.5306) comes to 6939.69 days. The two figures are remarkably close. This means that a period of nineteen years or 228 solar months (19 x 12.228) is equal to 235 lunar months or 19 lunar years plus seven lunar months. We have already observed above that there occur seven intercalary months in nineteen years

Written by David Bruce Hughes