WELCOME IN THE NEW YEAR

The last Sun of the year sets amidst omicrons and now we are entering into 2022 amid a pandemic. So don't think more about this. Let's celebrate the new year with new knowledge. Each one celebrates the happy new year but very few of them know about the calendar. Do you know? The word calendar came from the Roman word ' calends' or ' kalends' meaning a way of allocating time into certain periods adopted for the purpose of civil life. CALENDAR help you visualize your daily schedule and remind you of important events. What if there was no calendar? Think 🤔 about it.

The Saka Era marked the beginning of the Saka Samvat, a historic Hindu calendar that was later introduced as the ‘Indian National Calendar’ in 1957. The Saka Era is believed to was founded by King Shalivanhana of the Shatavahana dynasty. The Saka calendar consists of 365 days and 12 months which is similar to the structure of the Gregorian Calendar. The first month of the Saka Samvat is Chaitra which begins on March 22 which corresponds with March 21 during the leap year.

Saka Samvat	Gregorian Calender
Chaitra	March 21 – April 20
Vaishakha	April 21-May 21
Jyeshtha	May 22-June 21
Ashadha	June 22- July 22
Shravana	July 23-AugustBhadr
Bhandra	August 22-September 22
Ashwin	September 23-October 22
Kartika	October 23-November 21
Agrahayana	November 22-December 21
Pausha	December 22-January 20
Magha	January 21- February 19
Phalguna	February 20-March 20/21

Facts about National Calendar of India / Saka Calendar

1. It is a historical calendar era corresponding Julian's year 78.
2. It is also known as Shalivahana Saka era or Mahasakkarat Era.
3. Saka era marks the remembrance of King Shalivahana’s chief military triumphs.
4. The first indication of a relationship between King Shalivahana and the Saka era was authenticated by the Kannada work Udbhatakavya by Somaraja.
5. The Saka calendar is used also by the Indonesian Hindus in Bali and Java.
6. The Gazette of India uses this calendar along with the Gregorian Calendar.

VIKRAM SAMVAT

The Vikram Samvat also regarded as the Vikrami calendar is a historical calendar for the Hindus in India. Vikram Samvat is also the official calendar of Nepal and is named after king Vikramaditya. This calendar came into focus after the 9th century with the beginning of epigraphical artwork. Before the 9th century, the same calendar system was known with other names such as Krita and Malava.

Some of the unique features of the Vikrami calendar are mentioned below:

1. It marks the beginning of the Vikrama era that prevailed in India and Nepal.
2. The period is named after King Vikramaditya to mark his triumph over the Saka rulers.
3. It started at 57 B.C. before the 9th century with Vikramaditya.
4. This is a calendar based on the movement of the moon and has 354 days in a year.
5. The Vikram Samvat has 12 months with each month divided into two phases:

• Shukla paksha (15 days) – begins with the new moon and ends with a full moon
• Krishna paksha (15 days) – begins with a full moon and ends with the new moon

Division of a year in Vikram Samvat

The first day of the Vikram Samvat calendar is celebrated after Diwali in Gujarat and Maharashtra. The Vikram Samvat is similar in design to the Gregorian calendar and has been used by the Hindus and the Sikhs. This calendar system is one of the lunisolar calendars developed by ancient human cultures. It uses the lunar months and solar sidereal years for the division of a year.

The 12 months of Vikram Samvat that correspond to the 12 months of the Gregorian Calendar are mentioned in the table below:

Vikram Samvat	Gregorian Calendar
Baishakh	April-May
Jestha	May-June
Ashadh	June-July
Shrawan	July-August
Bhadra	August-September
Ashwin	September-October
Kartik	October-November
Mangsir	November-December
Poush	December-January
Magh	January-February
Falgun	February-March
Chaitra	March-April

Hijri/Hijra calendar

The Hijri calendar is an Islamic lunar calendar consist of 12 lunar months and 354/355 days. The Hijri calendar is used to determine the Islamic holidays and rituals such as the annual period of fasting and the pilgrimage time to Mecca.

Some of the important facts about the Hijri calendar are mentioned below:

1. The Islamic year began in AD 622 during which the migration of Prophet Muhammad from Mecca to Medina, known as the Hijra happened.
2. The Islamic year has 12 months that are grounded on a lunar cycle.
3. It has 354 days.
4. It is used to date events in many Muslim countries simultaneously with the Gregorian calendar.
5. Muslims everywhere in the World use this calendar to decide the proper days on which to observe Ramadan, to attend Hajj, and to celebrate other Islamic festivals.
6. There are 12 months in the Hijri calendar which are mentioned below:
   • Muharram
   • Safar
   • Rabia Awal
   • Rabia Thani
   • Jumaada Awal
   • Jumaada Thani
   • Rajab
   • Sha’ban
   • Ramadan
   • Shawwal
   • Dhul-Qi’dah
   • Dhul-Hijjah

Gregorian Calendar

The Gregorian calendar which was developed as a correction to the Julian Calendar was introduced in October 1582. This calendar is named after Pope Gregory XIII and is the most used calendar in the world. This calendar determines the Earth’s revolution around the Sun and spaces leap years to make the average year 365.2425 days long.

Some of the unique features of the Gregorian calendar are:

1. The Gregorian calendar is used as the civil calendar. 
2. It began to be used from  1582.
3. It is named after Pope Gregory XIII, who introduced the calendar.
4. It substituted the earlier Julian calendar because the Julian calendar had a miscalculation regarding leap year.
5. The Julian year had 365.25 days.
6. The Gregorian calendar sustained to employ the Julian months.
   • January
   • February
   • March
   • April
   • May
   • June
   • July
   • August
   • September
   • October
   • November
   • December