New Year Celebrations in India

There are three distinct New Years in India, celebrated in different places at different times. And yet they are all part of one system. As with so many things in the wonderfully complex cultural mosaic in India, what are apparent contradictions to the outsider are resolved with a little basic information on some of the underlying factors that provide the unity across regions and cultures. The different New Years can be comprehended by understanding the lunar calendar that is common to all of the subcontinent, and with a little appreciation of the flow of history in Bharat.

It is useful to note that the lunar calendar system used in the subcontinent is upheld, and has endured, partly because of the prevalence of Jyotish. Jyotish is one of the main cross-cultural threads that is common throughout India. Even though there are several distinct systems and sub-systems of Jyotish found in different regions, Jyotish is practiced and sought by people from the four corners of India, and all Jyotish uses the same lunar system, even when different meaning may be attributed to various components of that same calendar.

The lunar calendar is made up of 12 months, each consisting of 29 or 30 solar days, and is calculated based on the phases of the moon. Each month consists of two fortnights or pakshas. (Note: a fortnight is an English word meaning "two weeks" – hence, a paksha is a two-week period.) Shukla Paksha is the waxing phase, and ends with the full moon or Purnima, which is always the 15th tithi (or portion of 12 degrees). Krsna Paksha, the waning fortnight, ends with Amavasya-–the dark night, or new moon.

The Rg Veda describes this lunar system, which means that it has been in place in all of what is now India, Pakistan and Bangladesh (as far as we know the Rg Veda to have been in use) for at least 5,000 years. The 12 months are called:

Chaitra (March/April)
Vaishakh (April/May)
Jyeshta (May/June)
Aashaadh (June/July)
Shravaan (July/August)
Bhadrapad (August/September)
Ashvin (September/October)
Kaartik (October/November)
Mrgasheersh (November/December)
Paush (December/January)
Maagh (January/February)
Phalgun (February/March)

These 12 months are in turn each coupled up to form the six seasons in India.

The calendar is based on the phases of the moon, and the total duration of the twelve months takes 354 days, 8 hours and 34 seconds (give or take a little). This differs from the length of time it takes our planets orbit around the sun by some 10 days – so we need to align the solar year with the lunar one somehow. This is accomplished by adding in an extra month, called the Adhika Maas, every time the accumulated difference reaches 29 days and 12 hours, 45 minutes (more or less). Generally speaking, there are 7 Adhikas every 19 years, or one approximately every three years.

Now to New Years. There are two primary beginnings of the year, both with historical events that are known to us. The Shalivan Shaka calendar was initiated by King Shalivan in the year 78 AD, and the New Year for this day begins with the first day of Shukla Paksha (the waxing phase of the new moon) of the month of Chaitra. It therefore occurs immediately after the day of Holi, and as with the Holi celebrations this system is followed in North Central India, where the good King ruled his territories. The second major calendrical system is Vikram Samvat, started with the great King Vikramaditya of Ujjain, following his victory over the Saka in 56 BC. The New Year begins with the first day of Kartik following the Amavasya celebrations of Deepvali. Though Deepvali, commonly known as the Festival of Lights, is now celebrated throughout north and west India, the tradition to take the New Year from the day after Deepvali is practiced mostly in the western reaches of India (Gujarat, Maharashra, etc.). Finally, Bengalis celebrate the New Year on the first day of Vaishakh, where it is called Naba Barsha. The last day of the last month of the Bengali year (in both Bangladesh and West Bengal) is known as Chaitra Sankrant, and is celebrated with equal fervor.

And, of course, in different parts of India, these key days are the starting point for different festivals and observances. For example, in Sindh, for Kasmiris and others, Chaitra is the key to Navaratri, or some version of nine days honoring the Goddess. Ugadi is the festival in Maharastra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh; the New Year is rung in with the Pancanga Shravanam, the hearing of the major tithis of the year. Here we see the explicit links to the prevalence of Jyotish in these locales.

Chaitra is the first day of spring, and everywhere in the southern half of India, there are green mangoes around somewhere. (In the north this is not necessarily so, and we therefore get some idea of why local festivals will use different substances and seek to propitiate different deities for different purposes). In southern India, there is also the first new jaggery from the sugarcane and tamarinds can also be harvested. Neem trees are flowering as are jasmine. Sweet, sour and bitter flavors together in one fresh dish signals the beginning of the growing season.

In the far north in Kashmir, pandits bathe to wash off impurities. They then take prasad of an herb called Wye mixed with rice powder into cakes. A bowl of rice early in the morning is taken by householders to symbolize fertility and wealth, and to support a plentiful future. A new Panchang will have been prepared and so the dates for major festivals and spiritual observances (based on the coming year's lunar calendar) are known to all on the first day of the year. Navreh/Navaratri begins in Kashmir also from this day, as in west India, and in contrast to the autumnal Navaratri of Bengali culture.

So yes, you can celebrate New Years at least thrice in India in the course of one solar year, provided you are prepared to travel a little. Everywhere you should expect common threads of early morning bathing in rivers, offerings to the major local forms of the Goddess, and usually some significant puja in which the coming year's major dates are presented.

Happy New Year! May you be blessed with health and plenty.

About the Author: Margaret Mahan has been a student of Jyotisha for the past 13 years, and of related subjects, including Ayurveda, since 1988. She has been trained in Parasari and Tajika Varshaphal Jyotisha by the renowned Hart de Fouw, and in the special techniques of Prasna and Astakavarga found in Kerala, India, by the wonderful Mr. G. Ramesh Nayak.

Margaret co-founded Sushakti with Dr. Robert Svoboda in order to promote the growth of Ayurveda in the West. Dr. Svoboda was a long time coach in Ayurveda and also in medical astrology, and Tantra Shastra.

Margaret has been a purebred cattle rancher, organic food producer, community activist and college executive, among other things. She holds graduate degrees in public policy and public administration, and diplomas in community development and adult education.

She continues to study and practice Jyotisha, Sanskrit and Ayurveda from her home in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Margaret Mahan's email address is mjm108@uniserve.com.

From the February/March 2006 issue of Michael Laughrin's North American Jyotish Newsletter. Click to subscribe to this free Jyotish newsletter.